Anastasia Zhdanovabehance.netThe St. Petersburg artist Anastasia Zhdanova has created some of the most original illustrations I have ever seen: she depicts the novel’s characters—and even entire scenes—as letters of the Russian alphabet. I am delighted!
А. Korovyov and the cat Behemoth
Б. Pilate pronounces the sentence
В. Margarita and the sleeping boy in the DramLit house
Г. Yeshua on the cross
Д. An empty suit
Е. The murder of Judas
Ж. Woland with the literary men at Patriarch’s Ponds
З. Natasha astride the boar
И. Judas and Niza
К. Behemoth with a primus stove and a Browning pistol
Л. Margarita greeting the guests at Satan’s ball
М. Azazello hands Margarita the magic cream
Н. Woland offers Margarita a goblet
О. Margarita in front of the mirror
П. Berlioz’s funeral
Р. Behemoth tears off the emcee’s head at the Variety
С. Matthew Levi lowers Yeshua from the cross
Т. Margarita in the rain
У. Margarita on a broomstick
Ф. Fagott performs card tricks
Х. A dance at Satan’s ball
Ц. Matthew Levi comes to Woland
Ч. Yeshua before Pilate
Ш. The execution on the posts
Щ. The ladies’ shop at the Variety
Ь. The inseparable pair
Ы. Berlioz’s uncle arrives to claim the apartment
Э. Matthew Levi with the stolen knife
Ю. Hella rubs ointment into Woland’s knee
Я. Pilate converses with Yeshua on the moonlit road
1. Margarita greets the guests at the ball
2. Annushka broke a jar of oil against a tram turnstile
3. The flight on the magical horses
4. Ivan Bezdomniy with a candle and an icon
5. Koroviev and Behemoth in the Torgsin store
6. Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy hides money in the ventilation
7. The murder of Judas
8. A black kitten on the barman's bald head
9. Mark Ratslyer and Yeshua
0. Margarita snatches the novel from the stove
As a bonus, here is another drawing of Margarita accompanied by the artist’s comment: “Everything is awful and the whole world is monochrome. And Margarita was hardly a pretty eighteen‑plus girl; she was forty! So there...” Although Anastasia is off by about ten years regarding Margarita’s age (and, if you recall Azazello’s cream, a full twenty), one cannot deny that the drawing is a success.
