The article expounds the method used when the author created three book illustrations on a given historical theme: “The Feast of Ivan the Terrible”, “Ermak” and “Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich”. The step-by-step description explains how the artist worked on a concept of the composition, a story behind the illustration, a foresketch, a sketch, detailed preparatory drawing, and an illustration in the egg tempera painting technique. The paper describes the sequence of actions when construing the plot of the illustration, the iconography of the characters, the search for stylistics and color solutions, and also explains the choice of the optimal technique. The work on the illustration was carried out in parallel with the study of a large array of historical visual materials, primarily the Russian iconographic tradition of the 16th -17th centuries, which was subsequently elaborated and adapted to a specific artistic task. The author also tells about the process of creating an initial sketch of the composition, achieving a more precise image in the course of studying the sources, the search for a multi-level solution and semantic overtones of the illustration, the elaboration of characters and color symbolism, work with silhouettes and contrasts. As a teaching and learning aid in book graphics the article is relevant to teaching artists, students of art schools, professional and amateur artists, as well as art historians.

The article describes the final stages of a stained-glass panel assembly in the Tiffany technique: grinding of pieces, wrapping them with a copper foil tape, soldering, framing and cleaning the finished stained-glass window in line with all safety precautions. Adherence to the given recommendations ensures that all assembly steps are carried out in optimal time, in a mode that is convenient and safe for the work performer, the amount of valuable materials is lessened, and life of expensive equipment is extended. The paper finalizes a series of articles which cover the basics of working with stained-glass windows in the Tiffany technique. The previous articles, published in the first three issues of Secreta Artis, have described the development of the graphic part, equipment for the workshop, preparation of the workplace and the initial stages of the assembly. The text characterizes the best purchasable materials, equipment and tools in the current Russian market. The above-mentioned types of work only require accuracy and practice, therefore the proposed description is suitable for both professional and amateur work.

The article deals with a portrait of Sergey Vasilyevich Lebedev, an outstanding Russian chemist, created by his wife Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva and kept in the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. It is unknown when and how it came to the Archive and there is no reliable information on its provenance and history, therefore complex technical and technological research has been undertaken to confirm the authenticity of the picture. This research has revealed the hidden author’s signature, established technological characteristics of the canvas and certain composition peculiarities, and provided reliable data on the composition of pigments and paint binders, mineral and organic components of the primer.