P erhaps my favorite bit of hate mail ever, the Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks is actually the title of a famous painting showing the raucous drafting of a semi-legendary letter sent as a bold response to a demand for military surrender. Modern remake of 19th century painting "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" by famous Russian artist Ilia Repin. The image is in the Public Domain . The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks is a Realist Oil on Canvas Painting created by Ilya Repin from 1880 to 1891. It lives at the The State Russian Museum in Russia . What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks is an oil on canvas painting completed by Ilya Repin from 1880 to 1891. It depicts Cossacks of the Zaporozhian Host writing a reply filled with vulgarities and invectives to an ultimatum from Turkish Sultan Mehmed IV . Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks depicts a supposedly historical tableau, set in 1676, and based on the legend of Cossacks sending a reply to an ultimatum of the Sultan of … The devil shits, and your army eats. Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan: O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil's kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself.