![Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky - The Ninth Wave [1850]](http://farm1.staticflickr.com/461/19879865675_66bc08c859_o.jpg)
The painting depicts a sea after a night storm and people facing death attempting to save themselves by clinging to debris from a wrecked ship. The painting has warm tones in which the sea appears to be not so menacing and giving a chance for the people to survive. This painting is often called "the most beautiful painting in Russia.” Both English and Russian titles refer to the nautical tradition that waves grow larger and larger in a series up to the largest wave, the ninth (or tenth) wave, at which point the series starts again.
[Hermitage State Museum, Saint Peterburg - Oil on canvas, 221 x 332 cm]
