The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia

Between 1911 and 1926 Mucha’s energy was taken up with the creation of theSlav Epic.For this project he rented a studio and an apartment in Zbiroh Castle in Western Bohemia to benefit from the spacious studio enabling him to work on enormous canvases.In the series, he depicted twenty key episodes from the Slavic past, ancient to modern, ten of which depict episodes from Czech history and ten on historical episodes from other Slavonic regions.

1911至1926年間，穆夏全身心投入了《斯拉夫史詩》的創作。為此，他特意在西波西米亞的茲比羅赫城堡租了一間畫室和一個公寓，畫室寬敞，利于其創作巨幅畫作。在系列組畫中，他描繪了從古至今斯拉夫歷史上的20個重要事件，其中10個取自捷克歷史，另外10個來自其他斯拉夫地區。

[2]Although the subject is one of the most contemporaneous to Mucha’s lifetime,The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia(egg tempera on canvas, 610cm × 810cm,1914) was one of the first of theSlav Epiccanvases to be completed.Mucha visited Russia in 1913 and discovered that the great Slavic nation and ally that he so revered was in fact besieged with poverty and suffering and significantly less advanced than the rest of Europe.

[2]盡管《俄國廢除奴隸制》（布面蛋彩畫，610厘米×810厘米，1914）所反映的主題幾乎貫穿穆夏一生，但這幅畫是《斯拉夫史詩》系列組畫中最早完成的畫作之一。1913年，穆夏造訪俄羅斯，發現他如此崇敬的這個偉大的斯拉夫伙伴國實際上深陷貧困和痛苦，遠遠落后于歐洲其他國家。

[3]When Tsar Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, he instigated a number of reforms, including the Emancipation Edict1解放法令，又稱“二一九法令”，指1861年3月3日（俄歷2月19日）由沙皇亞歷山大二世簽署的有關廢除農奴制、解放農奴的法令。法令由《1861年2月19日宣言》《關于脫離農奴依附關系的農民的一般法令》等17個文件組成，規定農奴在法律上享有人身自由和一般公民權，地主不能買賣農奴；規定土地仍歸地主所有，農奴可以得到一定數量份地，但須出錢向地主贖買。法令的頒布使農奴的人身得到解放，為資本主義發展提供了大量自由勞動力，收取的巨額份地贖金為資本主義發展積累了大量資金，但改革并沒有滿足農民的土地要求，“解放”后的農民其實已變得一貧如洗。in 1861 which gave Russian serfs personal freedom.For Mucha, this reform was too long overdue to be of any virtue.

[3]1855年沙皇亞歷山大二世登基后，推行了多項改革，其中包括1861年頒布的“解放法令”，給予了俄羅斯農奴人身自由。在穆夏看來，這項改革早該實施，有百利而無一害。

[4]Uncertain of how the reform will improve their condition, Mucha’s subdued crowd of Russian peasants looks on anxiously as the official reads the edict.St Basil’s cathedral and the Kremlin beyond are barely discernible through the thick shroud of fog which captures the uncertainty of the moment.The distant sun is just palpable through the cloud and offers a faint flicker of hope for a brighter future.Again, Mucha includes the figure of a mother and child to express both the fear and hope associated with future generations.

[4]穆夏筆下沉默的俄羅斯農民不知道這項改革會如何改善自己的生活，他們面帶焦色，聽著官員宣讀法令。遠處，圣巴西爾大教堂和克里姆林宮在濃霧籠罩下依稀難辨，充分體現了那一刻的難以預料。透過云層，可以感知到太陽在遙遠的天邊，展現出一絲微弱的希望——未來也許更加光明。穆夏在畫中再次描繪了一對母子，以此表達伴隨后代人生的恐懼與希望。