and Switzerland before settling in Venice and then Rome the following year. His Italian stay did not stimulate him much, he lacked from inspiration and worked very little. Nevertheless, there, two major encounters happened and shaped his lifetime work. In "the Eternal City", he felt in love with the young Maroussia Obolenskaya who tragically died the same year of measles. However, Rome, has also been the scene of a fruitful and exciting meeting with Savva Mamontov (1841–1918), a rich entrepreneur, art lover and philanthrope. Together, in Italy, they were already planning to create a circle of multidisciplinary artists. The Mamontov's estate in Abramtsevo seemed to be the ideal place to set up some artists' studios and a theater. It is also in Italy that his passion and admiration for the painter Paul Veronese (1528–1588), a great colourist of the Venetian golden age, was confirmed. Vasily Polenov wrote about him: "He has something attractive, which makes anyone fall in love with his art; we feel the taste of life in the people he paints ". He also acquired one of his sketches, The Struggle of Jacob with the Angel, which he will keep later in the library of the house-museum. The second major chapter of his stay in Europe is in France, in Paris and Normandy. It is in Montmartre at 72 rue Blanche and at 13 rue Véron that he established his studio in the autumn of 1973. In Paris, he attended Alexei Bogolyubov’s events (1824–1896), an official painter of the Russian Navy and also in charge of the orientation of the young residents of the Imperial Academy in France. He played a vital role in the careers of young artists because he would find them clients and present them to the restricted circles of the Parisian artistic world. Every Tuesday, the preceptor organized ceramics and etching workshops while bringing together painters, writers and singers. The creation of painted ceramics was also a good mean of acquiring additional incomes for the scholars, as these objects were highly prized in the French capital. These Russian meetings were mainly frequented by the painters Ilya Repine, Vasily Polenov, Konstantin Savitski, Alexander Beggrov, Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, Pentaleon Schyndler, Alexei Harlamov and Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolski. During these years, the painter tried all kinds of painting in order to find his true talent. He painted historical scenes (The Arrest of the Huguenot, thanks to which he will obtain