The size is continental 6" x 4", postally unused and unmarked, published by the Visual Arts Publishing House, Moscow, circulation 35,000 copies, very low by Soviet standards. The artist's name, I. Repin, is printed in the lower left-hand corner on the verso. The artwork is an offset print of Repin's sketch for his painting Zaporozhian Cossacks are Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan, а monumental work which took him eleven years to complete (1880 - 1891). This sketch is exhibited in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The painting, bought by Alexander III for 35,000 r

The size is continental 6" x 4", postally unused and unmarked, published by the Visual Arts Publishing House, Moscow, circulation 35,000 copies, very low by Soviet standards. The artist's name, I. Repin, is printed in the lower left-hand corner on the verso. The artwork is an offset print of Repin's sketch for his painting Zaporozhian Cossacks are Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan, а monumental work which took him eleven years to complete (1880 - 1891). This sketch is exhibited in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The painting, bought by Alexander III for 35,000 rubles, is now at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

In mint condition, no wear to either side of the card.

The painting is also known as Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and Cossacks of Zaporog Are Drafting a Manifesto. The plot of the painting was based on supposedly historical events that happened in 1676. The Russian Empire had an agreement with the Cossacks occupying the region around the lower Dnieper River in Ukraine that they would defend Russia against the Ottoman Empire and all other invaders in exchange for freedoms and the level of self-governance the rest of the Russian peasantry could only dream about. The Turkish Sultan Mehmed IV, after suffering a defeat at the hand of the Cossacks, still sent a demand that the Cossacks submit to the Ottoman rule. As the legend went, the Cossacks wrote a reply to the Sultan's demands, replete with insults and profanities.

Ilya Repin (Илья Ефимович Репин, 1844 - 1930) was a Russian painter who became one of the most renowned artists in Russia in the 19th century. His major works include Barge Haulers on the Volga, Religious Procession in Kursk Province, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan, and of course, Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.
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