Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire, also known as Cossacks of Saporog Are Drafting a Manifesto (Russian: Запорожцы пишут письмо турецкому султану), is a painting by Russian artist Ilya Repin. The 2.03 m (6 foot 7 inch) by 3.58 m (11 foot 9 inch) canvas was started in 1880 and finished in 1891. Repin recorded the years of work along the lower edge of the canvas. Alexander III bought the painting for 35,000 rubles, at the time the greatest sum ever paid for a Russian painting. Since then, the canvas has been exhibited in the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Context.
"Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" depicts a supposedly historical tableau, set in 1676, and based on the legend of Cossacks sending an insulting reply to an ultimatum from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV. 
According to the (unsubstantiated) story, the Zaporozhian Cossacks (from "beyond the rapids", Ukrainian: "za porohamy"), inhabiting the lands around the lower Dnieper River in Ukraine) had defeated Ottoman Empire forces in battle. However, Mehmed demanded that the Cossacks submit to Ottoman rule. The Cossacks, led by Ivan Sirko, replied in a characteristic manner: they wrote a letter, replete with insults and profanities. The painting exhibits the Cossacks' pleasure at striving to come up with ever more base vulgarities. 
The Cossacks' reply came as a stream of invective and vulgar rhymes:
In the 19th century, the historical Zaporozhian Cossacks were sometimes the subject of picturesque tales demonstrating admiration of their primitive vitality and contemptuous disregard for authority (in marked contrast to the more civilized subjects of the authoritarian Russian state). Whether the incident portrayed actually happened or is a just another of these tales is not known, but no concrete or reliable evidence exists that it did happen, although the question remains disputed.
Nikolai Gogol's 1842 romantic-historical novella "Taras Bulba" describes the incident in passing. Repin associated with Savva Mamontov and his artistic circle and probably heard the story there; at any rate, Repin made his first sketches for the painting in Mamontov's home.
While working on the original version, Repin in 1889 began work on a second version. This work remained unfinished. The artist tried to make the second version of "The Cossacks" more "historically authentic". In 1932 it was transferred by the Tretyakov Gallery to the M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum. In 1935, it was moved to the , where it is now stored. This canvas is slightly smaller than the original version.
The historian Dmytro Yavornytsky assisted Repin in portraying the scene authentically. Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a popular journalist of partial Cossack descent, was one of the models who posed for Repin.
Reproductions.
Several full-size copies of the Repin painting exist, including a famous reproduction by Pavel Porfirov (Repin's student), currently held by the Cincinnati Art Museum.