Many of Ilya Repin’s contemporaries believed that the incredible talent of the painting genius would bring quick death to his models... So, shortly after posing for Repin, the composer Mussorgsky, the doctor Pirogov, and the poet Fyodor Tyutchev died. The life of the writer Vsevolod Garshin, who served as the prototype for Tsarevich Ivan for Repin’s painting “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581,” ended tragically. Even the sketch painted by Repin from Garshin has acquired part of the mystical power inherent in this canvas, incredible in its strength and expressiveness...Varvara Doronchenkova works in a small company engaged in the trade of works of art, her colleague Sergei Altynsky is invited by her acquaintances to evaluate the painting that the owners inherited. Imagine his surprise when it turned out that this was Repin’s portrait of Vsevolod Garshin, which had disappeared before the revolution. Before the company had time to rejoice at the discovery, the canvas disappeared, Sergei Altynsky was arrested on suspicion of theft, and two days later he drowned under mysterious circumstances...