<p><br />

A Mykhaylo Sazhyn’s watercolour<br />

with a view of Podil representing an idyllic image of Kyiv. It is<br />

interesting that in the same year the author also created a<br />

“realistic” drawing from the same angle; comparing the two<br />

pictures, one can single out some elements of his romantic image of<br />

the city. Where the Merchant Assembly park (now the park where the<br />

Peoples Friendship Arch is situated) was arranged in the<br />

mid-nineteenth century, a shepherd and some oxen with big horns and<br />

goats are shown against the background of wild nature. Instead of a<br />

chaotic view of the industrial harbour, an almost empty bank and<br />

approaching boats – in particular some sailboats – are depicted<br />

there. The author highlights the outlines of churches and belfries<br />

while in reality the silhouette of the city was already shaped by row<br />

housing.</p><p>Oleksandrivsky (now Volodymyrsky) Uzviz, filled with<br />

transport of one or another kind, is hidden, wild precipices depicted<br />

instead. Stylistically, the drawing is divided into black chutes and<br />

a lowland, Podil being represented as a separate town situated at<br />

some distance. The monument to St. Volodymyr can be seen atop a hill<br />

on the left; one can also see the All Saints church located far away<br />

on the Shchekavytsia mountain.</p><p>Olga Martyniuk</p>