Our people very Nice

In Berezan, on the estate of Platon Lukashevich, on October 9, 1843, Shevchenko wrote the poem "Diggered Grave". This is the earliest work that will be included in the manuscript book of poems "Three summers" (1843-1850). The immediate impetus for writing the poem was the archaeological excavations of burial mounds in the 1830s and 1840s, carried out in Ukraine by the archeographic commission (there were many graves near Berezan). Shevchenko, like other Ukrainian romantic poets, had a negative attitude towards this phenomenon, considering these burial mounds monuments of the Cossack era and a symbol of its heroic past.[76] In addition, in 1843, Yevhen Hrebinka's poem "Bohdan" was published in Russian, which strengthened Shevchenko's negative attitude towards Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (some excerpts of the poem were printed as early as 1839)[77]. In the poem, Hrebinka glorified Khmelnytsky for the fact that he "laid his hetman's kleinods at the feet of the Tsar of Moscow and directly pointed happiness to Ukraine from generation to generation." Hrebinka's laudatory tirade caused Shevchenko's indignation against "Bohdan", which did not pass until the end of his life. After that, Shevchenko, according to researchers, cooled down to Hrebinka, and perhaps stopped being friends with him

Getting to know the Repnin family became one of the most important events in Shevchenko's life. In this family, the poet found not only admirers of his talent, but also loyal friends, the most loyal of whom was Princess Varvara, whom he later called an "unforgettable friend", and he became love for her.[67][72] While in Yagotyn, Shevchenko wrote the poem "Tryzna", which he dedicated to the princess.[73] In the same summer, the poet visited the estates of his new acquaintances: the Zakrevskys in Berezova Rudka, Jacob de Balmain in Lynovytsia, Peter Seletskyi in Malyutsy, Oleksandr Afanasiev-Chuzhbynskyi in Iskivtsy and was with him at the fair in Lubny, the Revutskys [74] in Irzhavka, the Galagans in Sokyryntsy and Digtyary. On October 2, 1843, he visited his sisters and brothers in his native village of Kyrylivtsi, Zvenygorod District, Kyiv Oblast[75]. He also traveled through such villages and towns of Cherkasy region as: Budyshche, Lysyanka, Shenderivka, Gudzivka, Moshny, Zvenigorodka, Trakhtemiriv and others.

Peter and Paul — visited with him a sumptuous reception at the godmother of Hrebinka, the widow of General Tetyana Vilkhivska in her "Ukrainian Versailles" in Moysivka, where he met the poet Oleksandr Afanasyev-Chuzhbynsky and the officer Yakov de Balmain (he later dedicated the poem "Caucasus" to him ).[67] In July 1843, in Kovalivka, Shevchenko visited Oleksiy Kapnist, a member of the Decembrist movement, the son of Vasyl Kapnist, the author of "Ode to Slavery" and the comedy "Yabed". In both of them, they went to Yagotyn, to Mykola Repnin-Volkonsky, where, living during October-December 1843, Shevchenko made two copies of the portrait of Mykola Repnin (the work of the Swiss artist J. Hornung) by order of Oleksii Kapnist.

Then the poet visited the famous "contract fairs" in Podil.[67] During this time, he met the future Cyril-Methodist V. Bilozerskyi. The poet also got to know many students of Kyiv University, the youth warmly welcomed him as their favorite poet.[70] Examining and admiring the historical sights and landscapes of Kyiv, Shevchenko made sketches in his album, which was started in St. Petersburg.[70] Together with Kulish, Shevchenko visited Vyshhorod and Mezhyhirya, where they toured the monastery, the history of which is closely connected with Zaporizhzhya Sich, in his album the poet made a pencil drawing of the Kyiv-Mezhyhirya monastery. In the Poltava region, he visited Yevhen Hrebinka in his Ubizhyshche[71]. July 11, 1843 — on the day of St

On May 25, 1843, Shevchenko left St. Petersburg for Ukraine. Visited the poet Viktor Zabyla at his Kukurikivshchyna farm near Borzna.[67] He stayed in Kachanivka, Chernihiv Oblast, in the estate of landowner Hryhoriy Tarnovskyi[68]. Shevchenko also visited neighboring towns and villages: Ivanytsia, Ichna, Hryhorivtsi, Baturyn and Vlasivtsi.[67] In Hryhorivka, he stayed at the estate of the landowner P. Skoropadskyi. In June 1843, Shevchenko arrived in Kyiv, where he met Mykhailo Maksymovych, Panteleimon Kulish, and many artists, in particular, Oleksiy Senchylo-Stefanovsky

Shevchenko's application to the board of the Academy of Arts about issuing a ticket for the right to live in St. Petersburg (1839)
Having certified his leave of absence in the St. Petersburg Civil Court Chamber, Shevchenko became a student of the Academy of Arts, where K. Bryullov became his mentor.[54] According to Shevchenko: "the brightest days of his life have come, the unforgettable, golden days" of studying at the Academy of Arts, to which he dedicated his autobiographical novel "The Artist" in 1856.

In the spring of 1838, Karl Bryullov and Vasyl Zhukovsky decided to redeem the young poet from serfdom. Engelhardt agreed to release the serf for a lot of money — 2,500 rubles [51]. To get such money, Karl Bryullov painted a portrait of Vasyl Zhukovsky, the tutor of the heir to the throne Alexander Mykolayovych, and the portrait was drawn in a lottery in which the imperial family took part[52]. The lottery was held on May 4, 1838, and on May 7, Shevchenko was given a leave of absence

Apollo Mokrytskyi, an artist, Bryullov's student and friend of Shevchenko, who took the initiative to involve Bryullov in the cause of freeing Taras from serfdom, noted in his diary that on Wednesday, March 31, 1837, he showed Bryullov Shevchenko's poem. Bryullov was "very pleased with him and, seeing the thoughts and feelings of a young man in him, decided to get him out of a taxable (serf) state".[49] Shevchenko began to practice poetry under the impression of his meeting with Ukrainian works in Hrebinka in July 1836.[50] Hrebinka was the first to notice and support Shevchenko's poetic talent and became his first literary inspiration and teacher.[44] Shevchenko's first recognized poetic "masterpiece" is the ballad "Prychynna".[44] Literary evenings were held every week at Hrebinka's apartment, which Shevchenko attended as well.[

At night, in his free time from work, Shevchenko went to the Summer Garden and painted statues. In the summer of 1836, during one of the night painting sessions in the Summer Garden, he met his countryman, the artist Ivan Soshenko, and through him, Yevhen Hrebinka, Vasyl Hryhorovych, and Oleksiy Venetsianov, who introduced Taras to Vasyl Zhukovsky, an influential poet at court.[47] . Soshenko persuaded Shiryaev to let Shevchenko go for a month so that he could visit the painting halls of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists[48]. The committee of this society, having "reviewed the drawings of an outside student of Shevchenko", decided to "keep him in mind for the future

As early as 1835-36, Shevchenko created several complex multi-figure compositions on the themes of ancient history and Kievan Rus. In 1836-37, Shevchenko created the painting "Death of Bohdan Khmelnytsky".[44] But the most perfect drawing on a historical theme of this period is "The Death of Socrates" of 1837, which is distinguished by the confidence of the drawing, the transmission of lighting, and the grouping of figures. During these years, Shevchenko had the greatest success in the genre of watercolor portraits, thanks to mastering the experience of other artists, in particular P. Sokolov. He painted the first watercolor portrait back in 1833 — it was a portrait of Pavel Engelhardt[46]. During these years, Shevchenko intensively engaged in self-education, got acquainted with works of art - originals and engravings from them