This exotic and suggestive painting, with its fantastic ornamental design, is a typical example of the oeuvre of Nikolai Kalmakov in the late 1900s and early 1910s. Oriental mythology was a common theme in the artist’s works. This particular work possibly depicts the Hindu goddess Kali. A fierce and terrifying aspect of Devi, Kali was the consort of Shiva and the personification of the formidable...