Vasili Vladimirovich Pukirev (Russian: Василий Владимирович Пукирев; 13 December [O.S.

By sheer luck, he was able to enroll at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MSPSA), where he studied from 1847 to 1858 under the direction of Sergey Zaryanko and Apollon Mokritsky.

Pukirev appears at the far right of the canvas (possibly as best man), giving rise to the story that it represented an episode of lost love in his own life.

[2] In 1863, on the basis of this work, he was named an honorary Professor at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

It also spawned a heated debate in the press, with his supporters praising it for presenting a serious theme from modern life,[2] unlike the usual genre scenes, which tended to be nostalgic or sentimental.