Zhivopisets Explained

Zhivopisets (which may be translated as Painter) was a Russian weekly magazine, published by Nikolay Novikov^[1] in Saint Petersburg from April 1772 to June 1773.^[2]

Zhivopisets was notable for its political sharpness and variety of satirical genres. The magazine published Отрывок путешествия в*** И*** Т*** (A Fragment of a Journey to*** I*** T***) and Письма к Фалалею (Letters to Falaley), which contained harsh criticism of the Russian serfdom. Zhivopisets ridiculed a blind admiration with everything French, careerism, and vices of the gentry. The magazine was closed down by the authorities in 1773.

Notes and References

1. Book: Gary Marker. Publishing, Printing, and the Origins of the Intellectual Life in Russia, 1700-1800. 29 September 2015. 14 July 2014. Princeton University Press. 978-1-4008-5494-3. 96.
2. Book: Raffaella Faggionato. A Rosicrucian Utopia in Eighteenth-Century Russia: The Masonic Circle of N.I. Novikov. 29 September 2015. 18 January 2006. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-1-4020-3487-9. 270.