The Don Cossacks

Starting with Ivan the Terrible, the Russian Tsars recruited the help of the Don Cossacks – named after the river of the same name. Their hour of glory came during the wars between Russia and Napoleon 1st. They crossed the Alps which were renowned to be impassable and travelled as far as Paris where they set up camp on the Champs-Elysées.

Large-format paintings (250 x 200cm) on the history of the Don Cossacks, from the 16th to the 19th century, involving Denys Ilovaïsky, a descendant of one of the most illustrious Cossack families, whose portrait gallery is at the Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg.

The series was bought by an American collector of Russian origin.