Resumen de Der heilige Nikolaj und die Todesstrafe. Bemerkungen zu einem Gemälde Il'ja Repins
The writer discusses a Russian realist history painting (Russian State Museum, St Petersburg) by Ilya Repin (1888) showing St Nikolai preventing the execution of three innocent men. It is clear from the painting that Repin doubts whether the simple moral example of Christianity can lead to the triumph of goodness and justice. The writer addresses other works by Repin from the 1880s which show political prisoners before their execution, and he considers the opposition of authors such as Turgenev and Dostoevsky to the death penalty.
