The Great Sacrifice. Setting for I.F.Stravinsky’s Ballet «Sacred Spring» (Supplemental)

The setting was created by N. Roerich during his cooperation with Igor Stravinsky for the Ballet “Sacred Spring” (“Le sacre du printemps”). The premiere of the ballet took place in the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, on May 29, 1913.
Nicholas Roerich closely studied the culture of ancient Slavonic tribes, their sacred rituals, songs, and dances from the scientific and artistic point of view. The world-view of these tribes is the main subject of the ballet. The artist wrote the libretto and created costumes and sketches of setting for the first and second acts.

In the painting we can see the elders dressed in their ritual ancient garments who are going up the sacred hill. Their heads and backs are covered with clothes made of animal skins. In the foreground there is an archer who is ready to shoot. In the distance there is a girl sitting on the stone who is also participating in the ritual. The sky has become a stage for a colorful extravaganza: the white-blue and yellow clouds in the greenish sky look like a huge head of a hairy old man.