The article considers the peculiarities of M. A. Vrubel’s artistic method referring to the compositional system of his Princess Swan painting. When organizing and generating the composition, the master never had any formal scheme in the form of a drawing or draft. The modeling of a picture and its compositional arrangement are a uniform process. Working on compositions, the artist constantly turns to the classic formulae and Raphael’s works in particular. Vrubel widened his understanding of classical works of art, enriching it by learning about Byzantine culture and Old Russian art. This synthesis is an alternative for the differentiation of mid-19th - early 20th century Russian art that considered it important to realize itself as national. In his Princess Swan painting behind the evident theatrical and fairy-tale plot, Vrubel concealed another and more important one, i.e. the theme of metamorphosis and transformation interpreted as something rooted in the universal Christian understanding of death as a step towards resurrection.