Colonel Ivan Bohun Print

I have been creating for over 13 years a picturesque series of portraits "Heroes of Cossack Ukraine". In cooperation with lead historians, reconstruction specialists, and those with an expert knowledge of the Cossack era, I try to recreate the image and appearance of historical figures of Ukraine's past and restore the true images of our ancectors. I think this will allow us to touch the real story. Ivan Fedorovych Bohun was a prominent Cossack military leader of the 1648–76 Ukrainian national liberation revolution. As a historical figure, Ivan Bohun is one of the most enigmatic characters of mid-17th century Ukraine. I worked on this portrait for a year before finishing it in 2021. The circumstances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the process significantly. But as it happened, everything worked out for the best: thanks to the scheduling delays, I was able to obtain and use in my work the only extant image of Ivan Bohun, provided to me by researcher Serhii Shamenkov. The provided etching depicts Bohun among a Cossack starshyna delegation to Sweden, headed by Anton Zhdanovych. Ivan Bohun is supposed to be the one walking behind Zhdanovych. It is difficult to confirm, however, as the etched images are very small and do not offer detailed portrait characteristics. Had I begun working on this portrait much earlier, without this historical source available to me, I would not have been able to create such an accurate likeness of Bohun. A substantial number of 17th - century Polish historical portraits depicting persons dressed in a similar fashion and with identical hair styles has survived to date. There is also a historical detail that Ivan Bohun was captured by the Poles in the middle of the night, as they noticed his “light armor” (corselet) gleam in the moonlight. Fortunately, he was able to escape that time. The Polish King Jan II Casimir, who ordered the killing of Ivan Bohun, is also depicted wearing a similar corselet and metal arm plates.