The Art of Lawrence Supino

I painted this for a gentleman who wanted me to replicate a painting originally by Russian artist Konstantin Makovskii in 1883. It took me 8 months to complete.
It's a painting depicting one of the most important social and political events of old Russia, an arranged marriage uniting two families of the powerful Boyar class of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The big man in red (center) holding up the goblet is saying the traditional chant of "gor 'ko, gor 'ko" meaning bitter, bitter, in reference to the wine which has turned bitter so the newlyweds must kiss to make the wine sweet again. But the bride is not in love with the groom and does not want to kiss him. The mother is behind the bride pushing her to kiss him. The nanny (upper left side of the painting) has a sad face because she really knows how unhappy the brides is.
Story has it that the bride is really in love with the man behind the big man in red...and the woman in the middle is jealous, she wants to marry the groom.