Battle of Kerzhenets (sketch) Roerich N.K. (Part 2)

The composition presents a chaotic scene of armed conflict unfolding across a landscape dominated by intense color and flattened perspective. Here we see a multitude of figures engaged in combat; soldiers on horseback clash with those on foot, their forms rendered with simplified shapes and bold outlines. The artist has chosen to depict the battle not through realistic representation but through an expressive distortion of form and space.
The palette is striking – predominantly reds, oranges, yellows, and greens – creating a sense of heightened drama and emotional intensity. The sky blazes with a fiery orange hue, punctuated by stylized representations of birds or perhaps projectiles, adding to the overall feeling of turmoil. A winding river cuts through the foreground, its green color providing a visual contrast to the warm tones dominating the rest of the scene.
The arrangement of figures is not organized according to traditional military formations; instead, they are clustered and intertwined, suggesting a melee rather than a structured battle line. Several shields bearing religious iconography are visible amongst the combatants, hinting at a spiritual dimension to the conflict – a possible invocation for divine protection or justification for the violence.
The artist’s use of color and simplified forms suggests an interest in conveying not just the physical event but also its emotional weight. The flatness of the perspective contributes to this effect, compressing the space and intensifying the sense of immediacy. It is likely that the work aims to communicate a narrative – perhaps one rooted in historical events – but it does so through a highly stylized and emotionally charged visual language.
The overall impression is not one of detached observation but rather of visceral participation in the conflict. The artist seems less concerned with accurate depiction than with conveying the raw energy and emotional intensity of war, filtered through a lens of symbolic representation.