It is hard to make an expressive photograph of a painting. After all, it is another person’s art we are picturing. However I saw an opportunity to express a sense of mystery by photographing this painting near the altar of St. Vladimir Cathedral. The gilded frame was reflecting light, and I used my spot metering mode on it. This held detail in the frame, and made the painting darker. The figure’s face in the painting seems withdrawn and skeptical, largely because of my diagonal composition. He could be a revered priest, or perhaps even a Czar, since he wears a crown. It is the kind of image that makes us wonder, and wonderment is very much expressive of faith.