Shevchenko gave a talk to the sailors and topographers about the painting, architecture and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance, as well as on his favorite sculptor and carver Verrocchio, on the master of the three arts Leonardo da Vinci, and on the tender representation and beauty of Murillo and Rafael’s madonnas. Since there was not a single book plate of their paintings or engravings on board, Shevchenko either drew a rough sketch, such as of Leonardo’s Last Supper, or described the works of art as vividly as possible so that his listeners would get a much deeper idea than a bad reproduction could have communicated to them.
For his part, he asked Butakov to read a lecture on seafaring.
Butakov eagerly devoted an entire evening to the subject.
Shevchenko’s friendship with Butakov
