[12] In 1853–1862 Grigory Myasoedov studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in the history painting class, where his mentors were Timoleon Neff and Alexey Markov.

In 1862, Myasoedov was awarded a large gold medal of the Academy of Arts for his painting the Flight of Grigory Otrepiev from a Tavern on the Lithuanian Border (now in the National Pushkin Museum).

[22] In the late 2000s and early 2010s publications, art historian Anatoly Khvorostov described how he managed to establish some details related to Myasoedov's work on the painting.

The artist's father —Grigory Andreyevich Myasoedov— was a minor nobleman, and his estate was located in the village of Pankovo, Novosilsky uyezd, Tula province (now part of Novoderevenkovsky district, Oryol region).

The director of the museum, Maria Andreyevna Kaznacheyeva, said that "the district zemstvo was completely destroyed during the war and after the restoration lost its former appearance" and that there were no photographs of the old building.

Additional information was found in the written testimony of Anany Semyonovich Remnyov, a native of the village of Pankovo, who worked in the building of the former zemstvo in the first years after the revolution.

In particular, in a review published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, the writer Pavel Kovalevsky, while praising Myasoedov's intention "to convey far from comic, and quite a different property, the situation of the members of the zemstvo," noted that the artist "was not fully prepared for his picture: idealist in vocation and manner, he did not align with the mundane resignation of a simple, non-protesting and non-casual drama in its real and coarse shell".

In a letter to Tretyakov, written in January 1873, Myasoedov wrote: "I am, of course, pleased with your desire to place my work in your gallery and, considering it an honor to get into your collection, I am ready to make every possible concession from the appointed price.

In the same letter, Myasoedov asked Tretyakov: "Be kind, Pavel Mikhailovich, inform me of your final intentions so that I can freely decide on my actions and not be confused by a vain desire to enter your collection".

In response to this proposal, in a letter to Tretyakov on January 11, 1873, Myasoedov wrote: "Dear Pavel Mikhailovich, my sincere desire is to make every possible concession just to reach mutual satisfaction, although a hundred rubles are much more important to me than to you...".

[9] Concerned about this development, Myasoedov, who was in Kharkiv at the time, wrote to Tretyakov in a letter dated December 9, 1876: "I assure you, Pavel Mikhailovich, that I am very pleased that you have my painting and not someone else.

[9] Myasoedov agreed, and in his letter, dated December 1876, he wrote to Tretyakov: "I would make any correction in The Zemstvo Dines, if you find an opportunity to send it..." and "I will do everything I can to eliminate the shortcomings that have been noticed."

According to Anatoly Khvorostov, "the hen's playful gait in the direction of the chickens left no doubt about his intentions", and this distracted viewers from focusing on the seriousness of the plot and composition.

[10][34] In 1878, two paintings by Grigory Myasoedov —The Zemstvo Dines and Reading of the Regulations of February 19, 1861— were exhibited in the Department of Russian Art at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.

[2][11] In the catalog of the Paris exhibition, the canvas appeared under the French title Intervalle d'une séance du Zemstvo (Assemblée provinciale) (G. G.

[48] Subsequently, Myasoedov used a similar image in the sketch Peasant Mower (canvas on cardboard, oil, 37 × 17 cm, State Tretyakov Gallery, inv.

[49] Although both figures are executed in a similar color scheme, they differ in that the seated peasant is immersed in deep thought, while the mower depicted in the sketch is full of strength and energy.

[38] In the center of the painting, under an open window, is a good-natured peasant "with a lively, sly look" who holds a bundle of young green onions in his hand.

[48] Art historian Mikhail Alpatov also noted that "the two on the edges are deliberately placed strictly frontally, symmetrically — this is an attempt to give the scene monumentality".

The shadow on the left of the building and a spot of sunlight in the right part create the effect of "pushing" the scene deep into the space of the canvas, giving it a natural and relaxed look.

To convey this effect, the artist uses "whitewashing": according to Masalina, "the blinding sun as if helps him to extinguish the bright colors that would be incompatible with the character of the work".

Describing the plot of the painting, Stasov wrote that the peasants, dressed in traditional clothes, dine on bread and onions while waiting for their more affluent comrades "to finish their fried pheasants and champagne and then come to judge and argue with 'these' about all important matters".

[55] The artist and critic Alexander Benois, in his book History of Russian Painting in the XIX Century, the first edition of which was published in 1902, recognized the prominent role of Myasoedov in the history of Russian fine art not only as "the main instigator and organizer of traveling exhibitions," but also as the author of "two of the most progressive works once in the Itinerant camp" —The Zemstvo Dines and Reading of the Regulations of February 19, 1861.

Nevertheless, Benois criticized the first of these works: describing the plot of The Zemstvo Dines, which implies the inequality of rich and poor members of the assembly, he noted that it "can directly serve as a sample of false 'itinerant style'".

[12] Shuvalova also noted that The Zemstvo Dines, which depicts an important page in the life of post-reform Russia, became "an integral part of the great and glorious artistic heritage of Peredvizhnostvo".

According to Manin, "what Perov had a direct and unambiguous denunciation" (present in such works of the 1860s as Troika, The Drowned Woman, and Seeing the Dead Man Off), Myasoedov in Zemstvo Dining shows indirectly, emphasizing only one side of the relationship between the two estates, while implying the other through mental opposition.