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# "The Russian Scaevola": an Etching by Ivan Terebenev (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) and a Sculpture by Vasily Demut-Malinovsky (Russian Museum)
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/russkii-stsevola-ofort-ivana-terebeneva-gmii-i-skulptura-vasiliia-demut-malinovskogo-russkii-muzei/
- Published: 2025-06-26T15:14:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:29:38.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Moscow, Museums, Saint Petersburg

The subject is a Russian peasant whom the invaders meant to conscript into Napoleon's army, and whose hand they branded with the letter N; whereupon, before the astonished eyes of the intruders, he hacked off his branded hand.

The Roman Scaevola, that is to say the Left-Handed, won his fame during the siege of Rome by the Etruscans. Seized after a failed attempt on the life of the Etruscan king and brought before him for judgement and reprisal, he thrust his own right hand into the fire of a blazing altar, whether to show how little brave warriors of his stamp value the flesh, or to punish himself for his blunder at the moment of the killing.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_17021@26-06-2025_18-14-45.jpg)