Music

A man in a scarlet embroidered kaftan and tall gold hat plays a flute beside a young woman in an elaborate gold sarafan with blue floral patterns. Behind them rises a dense arrangement of roses, irises, lilies and delphiniums, populated by songbirds, a woodcock, a caged blue tit and a ginger cat, with fruit heaped on the table below.

Saturated reds, golds and greens intermingle in tightly detailed, almost tapestry-like brushwork, every bloom and feather rendered with equal precision. The crowded, jewel-toned composition and calm gazes of the two figures create a decorative, fairy-tale atmosphere.