N.M. Tarabukin on Composition in Art. Part 2

This article for the first time presents selected chapters from the unpublished second part of a study written by Nikolai M. Tarabukin (1889–1956), dedicated to the analysis of composition in painting from the Renaissance to the 19th century. The scholar focuses on tracing the evolution of pictorial composition through an examination of key artworks essential to understanding this theme. These include Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Hans Kulmbach’s The Adoration of the Magi, Raphael’s The School of Athens, Titian’s The Flaying of Marsyas, Tintoretto’s The Flight into Egypt, as well as Rubens’s The Holy Family, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion, Guardi’s The Death of Darius, and Fedotov’s The Fastidious Bride and The Major’s Marriage Proposal. The preface includes a comparative table, compiled from three extant archival sources, which lists all surviving chapters of Tarabukin’s study Analysis of Composition in Painting, beginning with the Renaissance period. These chapters contain analyses of 31 paintings. When combined with the first ten chapters on the art of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages, a total of 41 chapters analysing individual artworks have been preserved, in addition to a general analytical section. This allows a full appreciation of the ambitious scope of Tarabukin’s project. The archival foundation of this publication consists of typewritten fragments from 1933– 1934, sourced from the author’s personal collection and from copies held in the Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library. The article introduces previously unpublished authorial texts and compositional diagrams into scholarly discourse for the first time. The appendix features a chapter on the general analysis of Renaissance composition, which includes annotations of the author’s later revisions. This work constitutes a significant contribution to the study of the legacy of Russian art history and theory, demonstrating the continued relevance of Tarabukin’s approach for contemporary visual studies.