DEAD SOULS
Book cover
Book cover
The illustrated cover of Gogol's poem Dead Souls (rus. "Мертвые души") depicts five landowners as chairs.
By "sitting on each chair" or talking to each new landowner, the main character Chichikov changes beyond recognition and adjusts himself to make a good impression.
The road leads Chichikov from one sinful landowner to another, as if he is traveling through hell. The image of fire also symbolizes the fact that Gogol burned the second volume of the book, unable to find a way for his characters into "purgatory" and "paradise".
Despite its tragedy, the poem is filled with the author's satire and irony, which ridicule the characters, so my illustration is simultaneously cheerful, yet somewhat ominously dramatic.
Despite its tragedy, the poem is filled with the author's satire and irony, which ridicule the characters, so my illustration is simultaneously cheerful, yet somewhat ominously dramatic.
At first, I highlighted the diversity of characters depicted as different chairs. Then, I decided to make them more similar and representative of the 19th-century era. I expanded the idea of the work using other elements: the road, fire, and dead souls.
Allow me to introduce the landowners:
The illustrated cover consists of three parts: front, back, and spine
Thank you for watching!
