The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia

Between 1911 and 1926 Mucha’s energy was taken up with the creation of theSlav Epic.For this project he rented a studio and an apartment in Zbiroh Castle in Western Bohemia to benefit from the spacious studio enabling him to work on enormous canvases.In the series, he depicted twenty key episodes from the Slavic past, ancient to modern, ten of which depict episodes from Czech history and ten on historical episodes from other Slavonic regions.

1911至1926年间，穆夏全身心投入了《斯拉夫史诗》的创作。为此，他特意在西波西米亚的兹比罗赫城堡租了一间画室和一个公寓，画室宽敞，利于其创作巨幅画作。在系列组画中，他描绘了从古至今斯拉夫历史上的20个重要事件，其中10个取自捷克历史，另外10个来自其他斯拉夫地区。

[2]Although the subject is one of the most contemporaneous to Mucha’s lifetime,The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia(egg tempera on canvas, 610cm × 810cm,1914) was one of the first of theSlav Epiccanvases to be completed.Mucha visited Russia in 1913 and discovered that the great Slavic nation and ally that he so revered was in fact besieged with poverty and suffering and significantly less advanced than the rest of Europe.

[2]尽管《俄国废除奴隶制》（布面蛋彩画，610厘米×810厘米，1914）所反映的主题几乎贯穿穆夏一生，但这幅画是《斯拉夫史诗》系列组画中最早完成的画作之一。1913年，穆夏造访俄罗斯，发现他如此崇敬的这个伟大的斯拉夫伙伴国实际上深陷贫困和痛苦，远远落后于欧洲其他国家。

[3]When Tsar Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, he instigated a number of reforms, including the Emancipation Edict1解放法令，又称“二一九法令”，指1861年3月3日（俄历2月19日）由沙皇亚历山大二世签署的有关废除农奴制、解放农奴的法令。法令由《1861年2月19日宣言》《关于脱离农奴依附关系的农民的一般法令》等17个文件组成，规定农奴在法律上享有人身自由和一般公民权，地主不能买卖农奴；规定土地仍归地主所有，农奴可以得到一定数量份地，但须出钱向地主赎买。法令的颁布使农奴的人身得到解放，为资本主义发展提供了大量自由劳动力，收取的巨额份地赎金为资本主义发展积累了大量资金，但改革并没有满足农民的土地要求，“解放”后的农民其实已变得一贫如洗。in 1861 which gave Russian serfs personal freedom.For Mucha, this reform was too long overdue to be of any virtue.

[3]1855年沙皇亚历山大二世登基后，推行了多项改革，其中包括1861年颁布的“解放法令”，给予了俄罗斯农奴人身自由。在穆夏看来，这项改革早该实施，有百利而无一害。

[4]Uncertain of how the reform will improve their condition, Mucha’s subdued crowd of Russian peasants looks on anxiously as the official reads the edict.St Basil’s cathedral and the Kremlin beyond are barely discernible through the thick shroud of fog which captures the uncertainty of the moment.The distant sun is just palpable through the cloud and offers a faint flicker of hope for a brighter future.Again, Mucha includes the figure of a mother and child to express both the fear and hope associated with future generations.

[4]穆夏笔下沉默的俄罗斯农民不知道这项改革会如何改善自己的生活，他们面带焦色，听着官员宣读法令。远处，圣巴西尔大教堂和克里姆林宫在浓雾笼罩下依稀难辨，充分体现了那一刻的难以预料。透过云层，可以感知到太阳在遥远的天边，展现出一丝微弱的希望——未来也许更加光明。穆夏在画中再次描绘了一对母子，以此表达伴随后代人生的恐惧与希望。