Hidden City Curiosities

ghoulnextdoor:

Ivan Tsarevich riding the Gray Wolf by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1889.
Ivan Tsarevich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remember the post from yesterday? I cannot claim credit for it, so I want to point out it was reblogged from verhextliebe and from dreamboatcourtney. I cannot stand not knowing the sources of things, it drives me nuts. I know some people don’t care, they just like to look at beautiful things and there is nothing wrong with that. But I like to be able give a little background, or history with regard to the thing in question! I almost want to go back to the original poster of it, a flickr account and say THIS IS WHO THIS IS, but maybe they don’t even want to know so I will keep my mouth shut. I like to know where things come from, don’t you?
ETA: The owner of the flickr account kindly contacted me, unsolicited, to let me know that she does indeed know the source & background of the card, etc - it’s a good thing I didn’t send her a note or else I would have felt like a jerk!

Ivan Tsarevich (Russian: Ива́н Царе́вич or Иван-царевич, literally John the Prince) is one of the main heroes of Russian folklore, usually a protagonist, often engaged in a struggle with Koschei. Along with Ivan the Fool, Ivan Tsarevich is a placeholder name rather than a certain character.

He is often, but not always, the youngest son of three. In the tale “The Three Kingdoms”, he is a son of Nastasya the Golden Braid. Different legends describe Ivan as having various wives, including Yelena the Beautiful, Vasilisa the Wise and Marya Morevna.

(I get the feeling that these cards might be a little confusing; my source originally told me it said: “This is a picture of the Russian artist Vasily Vasnetsov. The picture to the Russian folk tale “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf. Here Ivan Tsarevich on the gray wolf and his fiancee, Helen.”)

Ah, so it was YOU I was trying to help!