Vasilisa the Beautiful/Baba Yaga

This attractive Palekh box is a creation of Gelisheva Ludmila. Ludmila currently resides in Palekh, as a well-established Palekh artist. The themes of her works are for the most part folklore and genre scenes.
The box shows a scene from the Russian folk fairy-tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful". Here we can see the moment when Vasilisa meets two of three riders. Baba-Yaga is looking at the girl from out the tree.
The scene is painted in various shades of green and orange tempera paints against the black lacquered background. Bogachyova enhances details with brilliant gold paint that makes the composition radiate with a tremendous glow.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. The exterior of the box is painted with black lacquer while the interior is completed with dark red lacquer. The edges of the lid are adorned with a gold pattern, whereas the box's sides are decorated with more complex gold ornament. A hinge is fastened to the top of the composition and the box rests on a flat bottom. The work is signed with the artist's name, Palekh, and the year of 2012.