One of the most famous Russian paintings depicting people suffering but thriving in harsh conditions is The Barge Carriers on the Volga by realist genre painter, Ilya Repin. This painting was painted in 1873 based on numerous studies and portrait sketches collected by the young painter during a trip along the Volga River in 1870, and was a testimony to his creative spiritual maturity. In one of the letters to Stasov, Repin wrote that the theme of the painting was born under the impression seen on the scenes of the Neva River and the Volga River: festively dressed gentlemen strolling and transporters in the next belt, pulling the barge. There are eleven characters, all as one, - poor and disadvantaged, but each - with personality and character. According to Burlak Kanin. This elderly philosopher with a barge hauler embodies the best features of the Russian peasant: serenity, wisdom, perseverance. Next to him - the bearded embodiment of primordial power, and Ilka, the sailor with the stern and fierce look from his disheveled hair, thief... boatmen's hands left helpless, legs outstretched, and in...