Secret Office

The artist is Ge

Outstanding portraitist and historical painter, GE gravitated to images and topics performed by ethical and philosophical significance. "Secret Office" – The first big work of the artist, a recent student, then a pensioner of the Academy of Arts. The opposition of Christ and Judas, the tragedy of the teacher who foresaw the betrayal of the disciple ("One of you will betray me"), but ready for self -sacrifice, is the basis of the dramatic conflict of the canvas. It was written in Florence, then it was transported to St. Petersburg and caused a stormy polemic. The Academy of Arts found a picture of the completed "With special art". However, the non -canonical interpretation of the gospel plot, embodied, in the words of a contemporary, "Bold" with a brush, brought to the author of the charges of "materialism" and "vulgarity". "This is an ordinary quarrel of very ordinary people", – So it seemed even f. M. Dostoevsky. Church authorities spoke out against the picture, she was banned from reproducing. At the same time, advanced criticism appreciated the significance of the work, the deeply human interpretation of the traditional plot, the importance of the socio-moral problem of the picture, which is very relevant for the era. For this picture in 1863. Ge received the title of professor.