Christmastide Divination
ArtistKonstantin Makovsky
Yearc. 1905
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions160 cm × 232 cm (63 in × 91 in)
LocationState Museum of the History of Religion, Saint Petersburg

Christmastide Divination (Russian: "Святочное гадание") is a painting by Russian artist Konstantin Makovsky from around 1905. The painting shows a moonlit Russian folk divination during Eastern Orthodox Christmastide (svyatki) in a rural log house (izba). Five out of seven depicted women gathered around a rooster pecking the grain, the alectryomancy which foretells a marriage in the near future.[1] The girls count the grains pecked by the rooster, watching if he did not peck more than twelve.[2] If the number of remaining grains would be even, then the marriage will happen soon, and if odd, then it will be in the next year.[2] A sleeping elder woman is depicted sitting on a bench to the left. The upper left part of the painting shows a candlelit icon corner.

References

  1. ↑ "Картина "Святочное гадание"" (in Russian). Vm1.culture.ru. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Маковский К.Е. "Святочные гадания". Описание картины" (in Russian). Hudojnik-peredvijnik.ru. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
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