Levitan unites his various impressions of the Volga reflected repeatedly in studies, in this large canvas. Summarising his plein-air impressions, he comes to a kind of Impressionism, where everything is hinged on the finest tonal relations – values. The landscape achieves a polyphonic sound of various spatial rhythms and visual impressions. A smooth curved line guides the viewer’s gaze along the shore to a town, whose roofs are glittering after the rain. The boats on the shore, the diagonally placed barges and ship in the distance lead the eye to the river expanse, to the vistas melting in the streams of rain. The multilayered clouds unite horizontal and diagonal rhythms. Mixing the colours of the sky, the sensitive surface of the water acquires a silvery shade. The three vertical barge masts in the center of the composition balance these multidirectional movements.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow