This publication includes ten engaging essays exploring the history of both early and modern iconography of prominent Ukrainian hetmans, colonels, centurions, as well as their mothers and wives. The book invites readers to view well-known historical figures through the lens of portraits and visual representations, which often shaped public perception no less than written sources.

The author examines which surviving portrait may reveal the most authentic image of Ivan Mazepa, questions whether Petro Doroshenko truly looked the way artists depicted him, explains why Ivan Samoilovych was portrayed with closed eyes, and seeks to reconstruct the real appearance of Ivan Honta. The book also offers insights into how respected hetmans’ wives and female members of the Cossack elite might have been portrayed, and investigates why substitutions and misidentifications of sitters occur in portrait tradition.

Intended for scholars, educators, students, and all readers interested in the history and culture of Cossack-era Ukraine, this volume offers a fascinating perspective on the past through the remarkable stories behind portraits of its outstanding figures.

Second edition.

Length: 288 pages + full-color insert. Hardcover.