Released in 1889, the figures are actually characters in a literary work of art, a romantic poem by M. Yu. Lermontov entitled “The Demon”. Artist Konstantin Makovsky created an expressive artistic composition which were inspired by lines of the poem, specifically Tamara meeting with the winged youth known as “the spirit of exile.”
The young demon sympathizes with a dying girl as he observes the last few minutes of her earthly life. Here, we see Tamara’s soul already leaving her body.
Read more about Tamara and Demon here.
