Ignatius S. Schedrovsky is one of the most important Russian artists. He was one of the first
Russian artist to depict scenes involving ordinary (not wealthy) people found in 19th century
Russia. Thus Schedrovsky is our "photographer" of this period of history. Most Russians
were familiar with art that depicted nobles and aristocrats (for example, the portraits of serf
artist Ivan Argunov), or imagined heroic historic events, such as found in Ivan Aivazovsky's
wonderful paintings. Artists soon copied Schedrovsky, and his art was forgotten. However,
what Schedrovsky saw and faithfully depicted remains as a visual record of a Russia that
Nikolai Nekrasov wrote about in his "Petersburg: The Physiology of a City".