Christmastide Divination
Painting by Konstantin Makovsky
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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.
| Christmastide Divination | |
|---|---|
| |
| Artist | Konstantin Makovsky |
| Year | c. 1905 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 160 cm × 232 cm (63 in × 91 in) |
| Location | State Museum of the History of Religion, Saint Petersburg |