Bronze Horseman. Monument to the Bronze Horseman

The equestrian monument to Peter 1 in St. Petersburg, during its creation and enduring life, acquired so many legends, poems, tales, rituals and secrets that it still excites the unstable consciousness and imagination of tourists, graduates, city residents and foundry sculpture masters. The monument to the Bronze Horseman dedicated to Peter I will tell about these myths, stories and ritual actions associated with the equestrian statue of the autocrat.

History of creation

The order for the creation of an official monument to the founder of the capital on the Neva and “the opener of the window to Europe” Peter I was ripened in the image of Catherine the Great. It is no secret that in the minds of European philosophers - the architects of future social reforms of that time - she was known as an enlightened monarch. Catherine corresponded and consulted with many of them. The great Voltaire and Diderot advised the Empress to depict the works of a widely unknown creator - the not yet great author Etienne-Maurice Falconet, then he was still creating monumental figures at a porcelain factory in France. But the educators were able to discern his undoubted talent.

The Bronze Horseman against the backdrop of the Constitutional Court of Russia

It was not according to the rank of the mistress herself to invite the artist; this was done officially by Prince Golitsyn. Falcone was delighted with the invitation; he had only dreamed of such a level. The task given to the sculptor included one thing: important condition- the equestrian monument to Peter I had to be grandiose in size and amaze any imagination. The second condition was vision Great Catherine The second place of the monument to Peter I is only in the center of Senate Square, so it will be the same and official. The author fulfilled the first condition, abandoned the second and placed Peter in the Bronze Horseman closer to the Neva embankment ( artistic meaning and there was more meaning in this).

For reference! No one cut off the sculptor’s head, and time has proven the creator’s justice. Perhaps the hoarding of financial officials played a role; the pre-agreed cost of payment to the sculptor for the monument to the Bronze Horseman was reduced by half.

The embodiment of the monument model

The idea of ​​Great Catherine II was that the emperor should proudly sit on a horse and raise his scepter to the heavens, demonstrating absolute power to everyone and belittling the audience in front of this power of grandiose facts. The author Falcone managed to promote his concept, where the hand of the monument to Peter I is of a pointing nature, and it is directed towards Sweden and the Baltic. Sweden - how official symbol victory over strong enemy Russia, Baltic - European choice the development path of the horseman of history.

Who is depicted on the monument to the Bronze Horseman according to official data? In addition to Peter himself, there are two more characters - his horse and the snake he tramples. The prototype of the horse was the stallions of the Oryol breed, which take their roots from Arabian horses. And the Arabian breed has always been distinguished by its slenderness and quick legs, which significantly complicated the author’s practical task, because the rider needed reliable support for the monument. Then an additional fulcrum was used - the horse's tail.

Peter shows the way

The snake represents symbolism, traditionally and officially it is the enemy. According to the plan of the participants in the monument project, this is a victory over inertia, outdated dogmas, and conservatism of thinking, which Peter so impressively brought to life. The artist’s special trick was that the dying snake under the Bronze Horseman is almost invisible to the viewer in the pediment; to see it, one must go around the pedestal. That is, this is not just an enemy, but a hidden enemy, and he is more dangerous.

Became a city legend in St. Petersburg interesting stories contemporaries. Allegedly, in order to feel the spirit of the ruler, the author stayed overnight in the royal chambers.

Interesting! According to one of the myths, Tsar Peter appeared before the frightened creator for a short time and forced him to answer his questions. But the author Falcone passed the exam and received the highest blessing from the autocrat Peter I to create a monument to the horseman of the future.

Falcone's assistant was his student and future wife, Marie-Anna Collot. According to history, it was she who managed to embody the head of Peter I on a model. The images of the autocrat's face presented by Falconet were categorically not liked by Empress Catherine II. The author used death mask Peter, but introduced a special subtlety into it - in place of the pupils of the Bronze Horseman, stylized hearts were used.

The powerful female ruler’s feelings floated, and she gave her consent to this option.

Practical difficulties

Another open mystery was the material used to cast the sculpture. This is not only the copper component of the statue, as many people think. It's bronze! The used allegory “The Bronze Horseman” officially belongs to the authorship of A.S. Pushkin in his poem of the same name. Moreover, bronze is heterogeneous in its composition; heavier metals were used at the bottom of the casting, respectively lighter ones - at the top of the Bronze Horseman. This made it possible to shift the center of gravity down and increase the stability of the monument.

Coming up with the concept of an official monument to Peter I, creating it in miniature and using non-durable materials one to one is one thing, but casting a statue of a horseman in metal is another. The author and artist did not possess such competencies, and no one in Russia had ever encountered a task of this level. The process of finding a master was delayed...

Hearts in place of pupils

The Russian master agreed to help the unfortunate Frenchman. Only the author and foundry worker Emelyan Khailov agreed to do this. The first casting of the Bronze Horseman failed, the metal filling pipe burst, and a huge fire almost broke out. It was the author Khailov who saved everyone present by throwing his sheepskin coat over the breakthrough, quickly coated in clay, but this did not save the hero himself from burns. The next attempt took place only three years later, and it was successful.

But for a long time they could not find material for the foundation. An official competition was even announced to find him. The supplier of building stone to the capital, the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov, dealt with this. He found it in Lakhta near St. Petersburg, on the shore of a swamp. By that time, the stone itself already had a self-name - Thunder Stone. According to one version, it was split during a thunderstorm; according to another story, the ancient wise men performed their rituals here to summon Perun and rain.

They also say that even Peter I himself examined his enemies, the Swedes, from it. Whatever the versions, the epic with its delivery began, in which about 500 people participated. The hinged principles of rolling and buoyancy of bodies on water were used. They built something like a huge raft. The journey of the boulder to the pedestal took a year and a half, only then did it begin to be processed on site. For the feat of delivering the stone for the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman, Great Catherine II even established an official medal “Like daring!”

Inscription on the Bronze Horseman

There are two such inscriptions on the monument:

• The first one, in Russian, on the side of the monument reads: “Peter I - Catherine II.”
• The second is in Latin from the other side: Petro Prima - Katarina Secunda.

The path of the stone pedestal for the monument

With the Russian language, everything makes sense - the monument is a gift from an admiring follower. With the inscription in Latin, everything is much more confusing; in meaning and content it turns out that “Peter the First is Catherine the Second.” Be that as it may, Catherine arranged her identity with the great reformer and winner very subtly, in a feminine way.

It is worth noting! The author Falcone himself offered the empress another option: “Peter the Great was erected by Catherine the Second.” But by the time the monument to the Bronze Horseman was commissioned in 1782, the artist was no longer in Russia; he was falsely accused of embezzling government money, and he, offended, left for his homeland.

It is unknown who exactly fulfilled Catherine’s official plan; the completion of the building was supervised by the Russian sculptor and architecture expert Fyodor Gordeev. But the kinship of the glory of Peter I and the Great Catherine II was announced to the whole world, and this happened at the moment when the shields enclosing the monument to the Bronze Horseman fell.

Where is the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg

Evil tongues in the 19th century claimed that Peter I, pointing his right hand to the Neva and his left elbow to the Senate, the Tsar was telling his descendants: “It is better to drown yourself in the Neva than to have a trial in the Senate.” Then the Senate was a symbol of official litigiousness, the dominance of officials and corruption.

Opening of the monument

How many monuments to Peter 1 are there in St. Petersburg

He was the founder of the city, so it is not surprising that the number of figures of the king-reformer here is significant. The most famous and official are six:

• The most popular and famous is the one described above, author - Maurice Falconet.
• A monument with a difficult fate, by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. The model was made in 1724, cast in 1747, placed on a pedestal and officially opened in 1800. It is notable for the fact that Rastrelli made a model using the king’s wax mask, taken during his lifetime. Therefore, the face is distinguished by portrait accuracy and attracts many viewers. Located at: St. Petersburg, st. Sadovaya, 2 (engineering castle).
• Tsar Carpenter Peter I. Everyone knows the descriptions and apprenticeship of the young autocrat in Holland, according to history - the basics of shipbuilding. Author Leopold Bernstam, in memory of these times, presented a model of the monument at the Paris Exhibition of 1907. Nicholas II liked it, two bronze copies were cast, one was sent to the city of Saardam, where the young tsar studied. The second is installed in the Summer Garden of St. Petersburg. After the 1917 revolution, the domestic version was melted down. In 1996, the Prince of Orange delivered a copy of the monument to Peter 1 to the St. Petersburg district, it was solemnly and officially installed in its original place - in the city Summer Garden.
• The author Zurab Tsereteli, prone to gigantomania, noted the figures of Peter I not only in Moscow, but also in St. Petersburg. The six-meter sculpture officially greets city guests from the sea side. Address: St. Petersburg, Nakhimova street, near the Park Inn by Radisson hotel, near the Primorskaya metro station.
• The most controversial monument, around which so many copies were broken that wood became in short supply, belongs to the work of the author Mikhail Shemyakin. The proportions of the body of the historical Peter I were intentionally changed, which is what the whole dispute about artistic value was about. It is officially located in the Peter and Paul Fortress of the city of St. Petersburg, and it is easy to find on the map.

Strange king

In the Lower Park of Peterhof there is a bronze Peter I by the author, sculptor and architect Mark Antokolsky. It is distinguished by the solemnity of the military uniform of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and the awards received by the Tsar in the history of the country. It is surrounded by green plantings and was officially opened in 1884.

The residents of St. Petersburg themselves consider the Bronze Horseman to be the guardian of their city; they did not remove him even during the moments of the most brutal shelling and bombing in the history of the Second Patriotic War. They just covered it with a sand glass. And in the First World War, Napoleon did not go here, but got to Moscow, this also says a lot. Let him continue to protect the city, everyone will be calmer.

On September 20 (September 8, old style), 1862, the monument “Millennium of Russia” was unveiled in Veliky Novgorod.

There is no other monument like this in the world. It tells not about one event, but about an entire millennium. Dedicated not to one person, but to the whole people.

How the monument was created and how people treated it different eras- V late XIX century, after the revolution, during the war? What historical realities of our country are hidden behind the history of its creation and its very appearance? Why are some characters depicted on it, while others - seemingly no less worthy - are not? To answer these and other questions, the Foma magazine in its material brought together many disparate facts - both genuine and semi-anecdotal.

How were the characters chosen for the monument?

Who should be depicted on the high relief among the outstanding figures of Russia? This question turned out to be one of the most difficult. For two reasons.

First: how to choose the hundred “most worthy” historical figures from a period of several centuries? The author of the monument, Mikhail Mikeshin, understood that he alone could not cope with such a task. He turned to the most prominent people in Russia - authoritative scientists, historians, writers - with the same request: to help with the selection of figures for the high relief. Mikeshin wrote to Solovyov, Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Goncharov, Turgenev and many others. Everyone responded. This is how “Thursdays at Mikeshin’s” appeared: every week the entire flower of Russian culture gathered at the Academy of Arts to argue until they were hoarse about the merits of certain “outstanding figures.” These disputes gave Mikeshin a lot, but in some sense they complicated the task: the opinions were too polar. The final choice was still up to the author. And he found, perhaps, the only true way out: to choose not so much with his mind as with his heart. Something inside told him why Marfa Boretskaya was needed on the monument, but Ivan the Terrible was not needed, Pushkin was needed, but Belinsky was not needed, etc. Mikeshin gave preference to people of creative origin, those who loved Russia in themselves, and not themselves in Russia.

Second reason What made it difficult to choose characters for the third tier was the political situation: depicting a person on a monument meant publicly recognizing his merits. And here the interests of representatives of different social strata collided. Discussions did not subside either in the government when the third tier figures were being agreed upon, or in society when the draft of the monument was published.

Figures Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin and Derzhavin dressed in Roman togas. Why? They are classics of literature. Pushkin stands next to Lermontov and Gogol and seems taller than them, although in life he was shorter. This was done on purpose: the positions of the bodies of Gogol and Lermontov were changed, they stand in an inclined position so that Pushkin - “our everything” - towers over them. This to some extent reflects the public’s attitude towards these writers in the second half of the 19th century. The bookworms of that time were at a loss. Pushkin - still all right. But Gogol, Lermontov - who are they? Yes, fashionable ephemera, but why are they needed on the monument? Is it the case of Sumarokov, Trediakovsky, Kheraskov - why weren’t they depicted?

For appearing on the monument Gogol, the artist Mikeshin had to fight. Gogol was not on the final list approved by the government. However, Mikeshin, at his own peril and risk, ordered the preparation of two additional figures: Gogol and... Taras Shevchenko, another Ukrainian author, and also Mikeshin’s beloved friend. When they learned about such “arbitrariness” of the artist, a scandal broke out. Then Mikeshin addressed a letter personally to Emperor Alexander II. He dedicated several long and detailed paragraphs, written in convincing emotional language, to Shevchenko, proving his importance to Russian literature. About Gogol he wrote one paragraph: “The merit of Gogol and his influence on modern domestic literature so great that I consider it unnecessary to speak for him.” The Emperor approved Gogol, but did not accept Shevchenko. There is a version that Alexander II, apparently, simply had no time to read long letter entirely, so he simply missed everything that concerned Shevchenko.

There is no Ivan the Terrible on the monument. Figures of his first wife Anastasia Romanova and his assistants Archpriest Sylvester And okolnichy Alexey Adashev- a kind of “replacement”, a compromise: it is not at all to reflect the era of Ivan the Terrible - it is wrong, but it is even more wrong to depict in Novgorod the tsar who committed a monstrous massacre over the city in 1570: supposedly for treason, but in fact for the “legitimate” acquisition of wealth the richest city of Rus' during the costly Lithuanian War, Novgorod merchants were executed.

Figure Marfa Boretskaya, contrary to expectations, it did not cause any criticism from the government. She was the wife of boyar Dmitry Boretsky and the mother of Isaac Boretsky, both mayors of Novgorod. Martha herself indirectly influenced politics and social activities. Capturing her on the monument meant paying tribute to Novgorod history. In addition, Alexander II was preparing a reform of local self-government, the establishment of zemstvos, and this was also associated with republican traditions - with the Novgorod People's Assembly.

Figure Emperor Nicholas I Mikeshin had to place it on the high relief. Emperor Alexander II directly asked the artist: “And father?” Mikeshin tried to explain that since the previous sovereign had died only a few years ago, it was too early to depict him on the monument - after all, time would have to pass to evaluate the results of his reign. According to the memoirs of Mikeshin himself, Alexander II understood everything, did not really approve of his father’s political legacy and did not want to see his figure on the monument. But a considerable part of the king’s entourage thought otherwise - and the emperor decided to give in.

It is often puzzling where the figures on the monument came from Lithuanian princes Gediminas, Vytautas and Keistut? The fact is that they fought on the side of Russia against Poland, where at that time anti-Russian protests by nationalists who dreamed of independence from the Russian Empire had just begun. In addition, the presence of these figures was supposed to emphasize Lithuania’s original belonging to Russian lands.

After the revolution, the “monument to the millennium of autocratic oppression” was criticized for not reflecting historical reality - after all, there were no images of peasants and workers on it. The exceptions were Ivan Susanin and - with reservations - the son of a peasant Mikhail Lomonosov and the village elder Kozma Minin. But they also “stained” themselves by collaborating with the tsarist regime.

Upper tier. Orthodoxy

The group consists of two figures - Russia and an angel. An angel overshadows Russia with a cross. Their base is a ball - a power. The inscription on the ball: “To the accomplished millennium of the Russian State during the prosperous reign of Emperor Alexander II, summer 1862.”

Middle tier. Six eras of the Russian state

Symbolizes "autocracy". Around the ball-power are seventeen three-meter figures. They make up six sculptural compositions. At the center of each is a sovereign, personifying his era.

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It is no coincidence that the direction in which the views of government officials are directed. Prince Vladimir looks towards Byzantium: from there he brought Christianity to Rus'. Peter I - to St. Petersburg founded by him. Mikhail Romanov - to the west: the Russians drove out the Polish and Swedish invaders there. Prince Dmitry Donskoy - to the Horde: the defeated Mongols went there. Ivan III - to Moscow, the former capital (after all, when the monument was erected, the capital was St. Petersburg). But Rurik... He should have looked at Novgorod, where he was called to reign. But he stands in Novgorod, so his gaze is fixed on the second most important ancient Russian city - Kyiv.

Lower tier. Outstanding characters of Russian history

It was originally planned that the high relief (third tier) would repeat the plot of the second: six medallions, on which six eras Russian state should have been depicted in more detail - and reflected the participation of the people in the life of the country, thus completing the triad with “nationality”.

However, this is what happened. The sculptor Peter Klodt, the most famous master of his time, was responsible for the lower tier of the monument. While working on the monument, he found himself subordinate to his yesterday’s student - young artist Mikeshin, the author of the monument. When Klodt first showed Mikeshin and Emperor Alexander II sketches of his bas-reliefs for the monument, both immediately understood: this is not it! It turned out that Klodt simply repeated the plots of the second tier without developing them one bit. Mikeshin decided that Klodt, not wanting to be subordinate to his yesterday’s student, deliberately sabotaged the order or treated it carelessly. In reality, Klodt - a brilliant animal painter, the author of the famous horses on the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg - was simply at a loss before an unusual task for him: to compose a plot from Russian history...

It was impossible to accept Klodt’s sketches; explaining the task to him again was absurd. Something had to be decided urgently. And then Mikeshin, out of despair, told the emperor the first thing that came to mind: “I could propose to represent on the bas-relief all the worthy people who, in various fields of knowledge, intelligence and science, contributed to the exaltation of Russia.” The idea was accepted. Thus, the monument turned into a chronicle of Russia in persons and acquired its main highlight - 109 figures of outstanding Russian figures.

They can be divided into four groups.

State people

1. Archpriest Sylvester. 2. Anastasia Romanova. 3. Okolnichy Alexey Adashev. 4. Patriarch Hermogenes. 5. Youth Mikhail Romanov. 6. Patriarch Filaret. 7. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. 8. Diplomat Ordyn-Nashchokin. 9. Boyar Artamon Matveev. 10. Peter the Great. 11. Prince Yakov Dolgoruky. 12. Privy Councilor Ivan Betskoy. 13. Catherine II. 14. State Chancellor Bezborodko. 15. Grigory Potemkin. 16. State Chancellor Prince Kochubey. 17. Alexander I. 18. Count Speransky. 19. Field Marshal Vorontsov. 20. Nicholas I.

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Military figures and heroes

1. Svyatoslav Igorevich. 2. Mstislav Udaloy. 3. Daniil Galitsky. 4. Alexander Nevskiy. 5. Prince Keistut.
6. Dmitry Donskoy. 7. Mikhail Tverskoy. 8. Daniil Kholmsky. 9. Mikhail Vorotynsky. 10. Daniil Shchenya. 11. Marfa Boretskaya. 12. Ermak Timofeevich. 13. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. 14. Dmitry Pozharsky. 15. Abraham Palitsyn. 16. Bohdan Khmelnytsky. 17. Kuzma Minin. 18. Ivan Susanin. 19. Boris Sheremetev. 20. Mikhail Golitsyn. 21. Peter Saltykov. 22. Count Burchard Minich. 23. Alexey Orlov. 24. Peter Rumyantsev. 25. Alexander Suvorov. 26. Michael Barclay de Tolly. 27. Mikhail Kutuzov. 28. Admiral Senyavin.

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Enlighteners

1. Saint Cyril. 2. Saint Methodius. 3. Duchess Olga. 4. Prince Vladimir. 5. Saint Abraham. 6. Anthony Pechersky. 7. Theodosius Pechersky. 8. Saint Kuksha. 9. Nestor the chronicler. 10. Kirill Belozersky. 11. Stefan Permsky. 12. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow. 13. Sergius of Radonezh. 14. Peter Mohyla, Metropolitan of Kyiv. 15. Jonah, Metropolitan of Kyiv. 16. Saint Savvaty of Solovetsky. 17. Zosima Solovetsky. 18. Maxim Grek. 19. Gury, Archbishop of Kazan. 20. Konstantin Ostrogsky. 21. Patriarch Nikon. 22. Fedor Rtishchev. 23. Dmitry, Metropolitan of Rostov. 24. Gregory of Konissky, Archbishop of Belarus. 25. Feofan Prokopovich, Archbishop of Novgorod. 26. Plato, Metropolitan of Moscow. 27. Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride.

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Writers and artists

1. Mikhail Lomonosov. 2. Denis Fonvizin. 3. Alexander Kokorinov. 4. Gavrila Derzhavin. 5. Fedor Volkov. 6. Nikolai Karamzin. 7. Ivan Krylov. 8. Vasily Zhukovsky. 9. Nikolai Gnedich. 10. Alexander Griboyedov. 11. Mikhail Lermontov. 12. Alexander Pushkin. 13. Nikolay Gogol. 14. Mikhail Glinka. 15. Karl Bryullov. 16. Dmitry Bortnyansky.

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10 frequently asked questions about the monument

1. Why was September 8 (September 21, new style) the opening date of the monument and, accordingly, the celebration in honor of the millennium of Russia?

On this date (note that in 1862 the difference between the new style and the old was 12 days) there were three other important events: the anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo, the birthday of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Nicholas, as well as the Orthodox holiday of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, who was popularly considered the intercessor and patroness of Russia. The date of September 8 made it possible to combine secular and church holidays.

2. Why was the monument erected in Novgorod?

Those around Emperor Alexander II were surprised: what was the point of erecting such an important monument in a provincial town, where only local inhabitants would see it? The unique date required a metropolitan scale. In addition, a stable association with Novgorod is the Novgorod veche, republican traditions. What if the decision to place the monument here will be perceived as a signal at a difficult time for the country? After all, the memory of the Decembrist uprising is still fresh, and the entire reign of Nicholas I passed under the banner of the fight against dissent. And yet, Alexander II supported the candidacy of Novgorod: sovereignty, in the opinion of the emperor, does not contradict civil liberties. In their union, the tsar saw the civilized future of the Russian state. Therefore, some historians call the Novgorod monument “a monument to the great reforms of Alexander II.”

Monument in a photo taken around 1862

3. Why was the author of the monument not a sculptor, but an artist?

Mikhail Mikeshin was a brilliant graduate of the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. His thesis, which depicted mounted grenadiers, was bought by Emperor Nicholas I himself. Mikeshin was about to go on a six-year internship in Italy.

Mikhail Mikeshin and his friend, the not-so-successful sculptor Ivan Schroeder, read about the competition for the construction of the monument in the newspaper while having lunch in a cafe. We decided to dare and show each other our ideas the next morning. Schroeder didn’t come up with anything and admitted defeat, saying that he was ready to work according to Mikeshin’s sketches. And Mikeshin immediately came up with an artistic solution - a three-tiered monument, the composition of which is based on the state. Here the fact that Mikeshin was a painter by profession played into his hands. If he were a professional sculptor, his thought would inevitably revolve around images standard for sculpture of that time: figures, statues, equestrian groups, columns, etc. And this would inevitably diverge from the main condition of the competition: to depict thousand-year history Russia in development. Perhaps this task was only possible for someone like Mikeshin - an amateur in sculpture, not constrained by academic canons and therefore ready for any original solutions.

One of the early models of the monument, State Historical Museum. The completion of the monument is designed differently& , CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link

When, according to Mikeshin’s idea, the three-tiered power was surrounded by figures of people - historical characters- the silhouette of the monument began to resemble Monomakh’s hat (a symbol of royal power) and at the same time a bell (a hint of the veche bell Novgorod Republic). Mikeshin immediately realized that this was luck: a true artistic solution always carries an internal conflict.

4. Why was the monument project criticized?

An article was published in the magazine “Russkiy Vestnik”, the author of which signed the letter “O”. He called Mikeshin’s monument a “motley toy.” He was especially outraged by the fact that the figures of the monument stand with their backs to the state. In his response article, Mikeshin jokingly wrote that he was ready to agree and place the figures with their backs to the public.

5. Who worked on the monument?

Victor Hartman. One of the founders of the pseudo-Russian style in architecture. After his posthumous exhibition in 1874, M. P. Mussorgsky wrote the suite “Pictures at an Exhibition”

But in reality, it was impossible for three of us to complete such work. The idea is huge. And the terms are less than three years. For comparison: the sculptor Falconet worked on “The Bronze Horseman” for twenty years. And here, in addition to the giant power with six plot compositions on the second tier, one hundred and nine human figures had to be created and cast for the lower tier.

Ivan Schroeder. He created, in particular, monuments to V. A. Kornilov and P. S. Nakhimov in Sevastopol, which were not preserved, but were reconstructed, monuments to Pushkin and Kruzenshtern in St. Petersburg

To solve the problem, a whole creative team was created, which included the most famous sculptors of that time. The piquancy of the situation lay in the fact that, on behalf of the emperor, the twenty-year-old youth Mikeshin, their yesterday’s student at the Academy of Arts, was leading the team.

6. How expensive was the monument?

Construction of the monument, 1862

The construction of the monument cost 500,000 rubles. One hundred and fifty thousand of them are donations from the population. The rest was provided by the treasury. The amount is not small, but not mind-blowing for its time: a good mansion in St. Petersburg then cost half a million rubles.

7. What was the further fate of the authors of the monument?

Portrait of Mikhail Mikeshin. Ilya Repin. 1888

The friendship of the artist Mikhail Mikeshin and the sculptor Ivan Schroeder did not stand the test of fame. They worked together on the monument, and their achievements were quite comparable. Yes, the idea and general direction of Mikeshin, but the lion's share of the monument was sculpted by Ivan Schroeder with his own hands! And yet, fame, like a bride, left him for Mikeshin. The fact that the sovereign assigned them both a lifelong pension of 1,200 rubles was no consolation. From now on, Mikeshin was given the title of “labor master of monumental affairs.” Foreign awards and orders rained down on him like from a cornucopia. Mikeshin became rich, and even once embarked on a financial adventure, after which he not only lost all his money, but also owed the treasury 80 thousand rubles. Desperate, Mikeshin asked the emperor himself for help. Alexander II loved the artist, so he paid the debt for him, but vowed to engage only in art from then on. Very quickly Mikeshin became a welcome guest in all salons and meetings. He was a favorite of women. Writer Nikolai Leskov even portrayed Mikeshin in his novel “The Islanders” in the image of the heartthrob artist Istomin.

Mikhail Mikeshin died in 1896. By this time he had already become a master, a recognized venerable artist. His friends said that he died the way he wanted to die - a sudden heart attack struck him while working.

8. What saved the monument from demolition after 1917?

Paradoxically, it is an anti-religious campaign. Of course, after the revolution, the attitude towards the monument became sharply negative. The metropolitan press called it “artistically and politically offensive.” Novgorod officials said: “How much non-ferrous metal is lost, it’s high time to be melted down.” The “guilt” of the monument was aggravated by the fact that it was depicted on banknotes issued in Crimea by the Wrangel government. A brochure entitled “Monument to the Millennium of Autocratic Oppression” was published in mass circulation. The monument would definitely have been demolished in the first post-revolutionary months if all the forces of the authorities had not been thrown into the plunder of the richest Novgorod diocese that had just begun. The weight of gold and silver items alone, exported by special wagon from Novgorod, amounted to more than ten tons. The problem of the monument faded into the background. The monument survived, but on communist holidays they began to cover it with plywood shields painted with revolutionary slogans - and in the middle of the Novgorod Kremlin, it was as if a haystack was growing.

9. What happened to the monument during the war?

In August 1941, German infantry divisions occupied Novgorod. And in January 1944, the military commandant of Novgorod, General von Herzog, decided to make a military trophy out of the monument. There was simply nothing else in the city: church utensils, icons, bronze gates, gilded sheets of domes - all this had already been taken out. Von Herzog decided to send the monument to the city of his youth - Instenburg, where the general's childhood friend was burgomaster at that time. Difficulties with transportation did not bother von Herzog. The very next day, an engineering company was laying a special narrow-gauge railway from the Kremlin to the station, while another group was engaged in dismantling. They only managed to dismantle the monument halfway and were about to begin loading - when artillery preparation began on January 20, the Russians broke through the front in two places, and very quickly the soldiers of the 221st Rifle Division drove the Germans out of Novgorod.

10. Why was the “ideologically dangerous” monument restored?

Not only was it restored, it was one of the first objects taken up in devastated Novgorod. The fact is that the attitude towards the monument during the war changed following the change in attitude towards the great historical and military figures of Tsarist Russia, who could serve as symbols uniting the people. Once again, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Rumyantsev, Bagration, Nakhimov and others depicted on the monument were honored. The monument was re-opened even before the end of the war - on November 2, 1944. Of course, eight hard-working restorers who worked on the monument with their bare hands could not recreate it in its original form - some details were damaged, some were lost. Technologically, a very meticulous restoration was required. Therefore, in its original form, the monument appeared before the public only after large-scale restoration work in 1995.

The article uses materials from Viktor Smirnov’s book “Monument of the Russian State”,
Veche publishing house, 2008

In 1782, the centenary of Peter I's accession to the Russian throne was celebrated in St. Petersburg with the opening of a monument to the Tsar by sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet. The monument began to be called the Bronze Horseman thanks to A.S. Pushkin.

The monument to Peter I (“Bronze Horseman”) is located in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture is the French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet.

The location of the monument to Peter I was not chosen by chance. Nearby are the Admiralty, founded by the emperor, and the building of the main legislative body of Tsarist Russia - the Senate. Catherine II insisted on placing the monument in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture, Etienne-Maurice Falconet, did his own thing by installing the “Bronze Horseman” closer to the Neva.

By order of Catherine II, Falconet was invited to St. Petersburg by Prince Golitsyn. Professors of the Paris Academy of Painting Diderot and Voltaire, whose taste Catherine II trusted, advised to turn to this master.

Falcone was already fifty years old. He worked at a porcelain factory, but dreamed of great and monumental art. When an invitation was received to erect a monument in Russia, Falcone, without hesitation, signed the contract on September 6, 1766. Its conditions determined: the monument to Peter should consist of “mainly an equestrian statue of colossal size.” The sculptor was offered a rather modest fee (200 thousand livres), other masters asked twice as much.

Falconet arrived in St. Petersburg with his seventeen-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.

The vision of the monument to Peter I by the author of the sculpture was strikingly different from the desire of the empress and the majority of the Russian nobility. Catherine II expected to see Peter I with a rod or scepter in his hand, sitting on a horse like a Roman emperor. State Councilor Shtelin saw the figure of Peter surrounded by allegories of Prudence, Diligence, Justice and Victory. I.I. Betskoy, who supervised the construction of the monument, imagined it as a full-length figure, holding a commander’s staff in his hand. Falconet was advised to direct the emperor's right eye to the Admiralty, and his left to the building of the Twelve Colleges. Diderot, who visited St. Petersburg in 1773, conceived a monument in the form of a fountain decorated with allegorical figures.

Falcone had something completely different in mind. He turned out to be stubborn and persistent. The sculptor wrote:
“I will limit myself only to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret either as a great commander or as a winner, although he, of course, was both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what needs to be shown to people. My king does not hold any rod, he extends his beneficent right hand over the country he travels around. He climbs to the top of the rock, which serves as his pedestal - this is an emblem of the difficulties he has overcome.”

Defending the right to his opinion regarding the appearance of the Falcone monument, I.I. wrote. Betsky:
“Could you imagine that the sculptor chosen to create such a significant monument would be deprived of the ability to think and that the movements of his hands would be controlled by someone else’s head, and not his own?”

Disputes also arose around the clothes of Peter I. The sculptor wrote to Diderot:
“You know that I will not dress him in Roman style, just as I would not dress Julius Caesar or Scipio in Russian.”

Falcone worked on a life-size model of the monument for three years. Work on “The Bronze Horseman” was carried out on the site of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1769, passers-by could watch here as a guards officer took off on a horse onto a wooden platform and reared it. This went on for several hours a day. Falcone sat at the window in front of the platform and carefully sketched what he saw. The horses for work on the monument were taken from the imperial stables: the horses Brilliant and Caprice. The sculptor chose the Russian “Oryol” breed for the monument.

Falconet's student Marie-Anne Collot sculpted the head of the Bronze Horseman. The sculptor himself took on this work three times, but each time Catherine II advised to remake the model. Marie herself proposed her sketch, which was accepted by the empress. For her work, the girl was accepted as a member Russian Academy arts, Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres.

The snake under the horse’s foot was sculpted by the Russian sculptor F.G. Gordeev.

Preparing a life-size plaster model of the monument took twelve years; it was ready by 1778. The model was open for public viewing in the workshop on the corner of Brick Lane and Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Various opinions were expressed. The Chief Prosecutor of the Synod resolutely did not accept the project. Diderot was pleased with what he saw. Catherine II turned out to be indifferent to the model of the monument - she did not like Falcone’s arbitrariness in choosing the appearance of the monument.

For a long time, no one wanted to take on the task of casting the statue. Foreign craftsmen demanded too much money, and local craftsmen were frightened by its size and complexity of work. According to the sculptor’s calculations, in order to maintain the balance of the monument, the front walls of the monument had to be made very thin - no more than a centimeter. Even a specially invited foundry worker from France refused such work. He called Falcone crazy and said that there was no such example of casting in the world, that it would not succeed.

Finally, a foundry worker was found - cannon master Emelyan Khailov. Together with him, Falcone selected the alloy and made samples. In three years, the sculptor mastered casting to perfection. They began casting the Bronze Horseman in 1774.

The technology was very complex. The thickness of the front walls had to be less than the thickness of the rear ones. At the same time, the back part became heavier, which gave stability to the statue, which rested on only three points of support.

Filling the statue alone was not enough. During the first, the pipe through which hot bronze was supplied to the mold burst. The upper part of the sculpture was damaged. I had to cut it down and prepare for the second filling for another three years. This time the job was a success. In memory of her, on one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak, the sculptor left the inscription “Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falconet, a Parisian in 1778.”

The St. Petersburg Gazette wrote about these events:
“On August 24, 1775, Falconet cast a statue of Peter the Great on horseback here. The casting was successful except in places two feet by two at the top. This regrettable failure occurred through an incident that was not at all foreseeable, and therefore impossible to prevent. The above-mentioned incident seemed so terrible that they feared that the entire building would catch fire, and, consequently, the whole business would fail. Khailov remained motionless and carried the molten metal into the mold, without losing his vigor in the least in the face of danger to his life. Falcone, touched by such courage at the end of the case, rushed to him and kissed him with all his heart and gave him money from himself.”

According to the sculptor’s plan, the base of the monument is a natural rock in the shape of a wave. The shape of the wave serves as a reminder that it was Peter I who led Russia to the sea. The Academy of Arts began searching for the monolith stone when the model of the monument was not yet ready. A stone was needed whose height would be 11.2 meters.

The granite monolith was found in the Lakhta area, twelve miles from St. Petersburg. Once upon a time, according to local legends, lightning struck the rock, forming a crack in it. Among local residents The rock was called "Thunder Stone". That’s what they later began to call it when they installed it on the banks of the Neva under the famous monument.

The initial weight of the monolith is about 2000 tons. Catherine II announced a reward of 7,000 rubles to the one who comes up with the most effective method deliver the rock to Senate Square. From many projects, the method proposed by a certain Carbury was chosen. There were rumors that he had bought this project from some Russian merchant.

A clearing was cut from the location of the stone to the shore of the bay and the soil was strengthened. The rock was freed from excess layers, and it immediately became lighter by 600 tons. The thunder-stone was hoisted with levers onto a wooden platform resting on copper balls. These balls moved on grooved wooden rails lined with copper. The clearing was winding. Work on transporting the rock continued in both cold and hot weather. Hundreds of people worked. Many St. Petersburg residents came to watch this action. Some of the observers collected fragments of stone and used them to make cane knobs or cufflinks. In honor of the extraordinary transport operation, Catherine II ordered the minting of a medal on which it was written “Like daring. January 20, 1770.”

The poet Vasily Rubin wrote in the same year:
The Russian Mountain, not made by hands, is here,
Hearing the voice of God from the lips of Catherine,
Came to the city of Petrov through the Neva abyss
And she fell under the feet of the Great Peter.

By the time the monument to Peter I was erected, the relationship between the sculptor and the imperial court had completely deteriorated. It got to the point that Falcone was credited with only a technical attitude towards the monument. The offended master did not wait for the opening of the monument; in September 1778, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he left for Paris.

The installation of the “Bronze Horseman” on the pedestal was supervised by the architect F.G. Gordeev.

The grand opening of the monument to Peter I took place on August 7, 1782 (old style). The sculpture was hidden from the eyes of observers by a canvas fence with the image mountain landscapes. It had been raining since the morning, but it did not stop a significant number of people from gathering on Senate Square. By noon the clouds had cleared. The guards entered the square. The military parade was led by Prince A.M. Golitsyn. At four o'clock, Empress Catherine II herself arrived on the boat. She climbed onto the balcony of the Senate building in a crown and purple and gave a sign for the opening of the monument. The fence fell under drum roll The regiments moved along the Neva embankment.

By order of Catherine II, the following is inscribed on the pedestal: “Catherine II to Peter I.” Thus, the Empress emphasized her commitment to Peter's reforms.

Immediately after the appearance of the Bronze Horseman on Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya.

A.S. called the sculpture “Bronze Horseman” in his poem of the same name. Pushkin. This expression has become so popular that it has become almost official. And the monument to Peter I itself became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.

The weight of the “Bronze Horseman” is 8 tons, the height is more than 5 meters.

Legend of the Bronze Horseman

From the very day of its installation it became the subject of many myths and legends. Opponents of Peter himself and his reforms warned that the monument depicts the “horseman of the Apocalypse,” bringing death and suffering to the city and all of Russia. Peter's supporters said that the monument symbolizes greatness and glory Russian Empire, and that Russia will remain so until the rider leaves his pedestal.

By the way, there are also legends about the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman. According to the sculptor Falcone, it was supposed to be made in the shape of a wave. Suitable stone was found near the village of Lakhta: supposedly a local holy fool pointed out the stone. Some historians find it possible that this is exactly the stone that Peter climbed more than once during the Northern War in order to better see the location of the troops.

The fame of the Bronze Horseman spread far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. One of the remote settlements had its own version of the origin of the monument. The version was that one day Peter the Great amused himself by jumping on his horse from one bank of the Neva to the other. The first time he exclaimed: “Everything is God’s and mine!”, and jumped over the river. The second time he repeated: “Everything is God’s and mine!”, and again the jump was successful. However, the third time the emperor mixed up the words and said: “Everything is mine and God’s!” At that moment, God's punishment overtook him: he became petrified and forever remained a monument to himself.

The Legend of Major Baturin

During Patriotic War In 1812, as a result of the retreat of Russian troops, there was a threat of the capture of St. Petersburg by French troops. Concerned about this prospect, Alexander I ordered special valuable works art. In particular, State Secretary Molchanov was instructed to take the monument to Peter I to the Vologda province, and several thousand rubles were allocated for this. At this time, a certain Major Baturin secured a meeting with the Tsar’s personal friend, Prince Golitsyn, and told him that he and Baturin were haunted by the same dream. He sees himself on Senate Square. Peter's face turns. The horseman rides off his cliff and heads through the streets of St. Petersburg to Kamenny Island, where Alexander I then lived. The horseman enters the courtyard of the Kamenoostrovsky Palace, from which the sovereign comes out to meet him. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter the Great tells him, “but as long as I’m in place, my city has nothing to fear!” Then the rider turns back, and the “heavy, ringing gallop” is heard again. Struck by Baturin’s story, Prince Golitsyn conveyed the dream to the sovereign. As a result, Alexander I reversed his decision to evacuate the monument. The monument remained in place.

There is an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin formed the basis of the plot of A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”. There is also an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin was the reason that during the Great Patriotic War the monument remained in place and was not hidden, like other sculptures.

During the siege of Leningrad, the Bronze Horseman was covered with bags of earth and sand, lined with logs and boards.

Restorations of the monument took place in 1909 and 1976. During the last of them, the sculpture was studied using gamma rays. To do this, the space around the monument was fenced off with sandbags and concrete blocks. The cobalt gun was controlled from a nearby bus. Thanks to this research, it turned out that the frame of the monument can still serve long years. Inside the figure was a capsule with a note about the restoration and its participants, a newspaper dated September 3, 1976.

Currently, the Bronze Horseman is a popular place for newlyweds.

Etienne-Maurice Falconet conceived The Bronze Horseman without a fence. But it was still created and has not survived to this day. “Thanks to” the vandals who leave their autographs on the thunder stone and the sculpture itself, the idea of ​​restoring the fence may soon be realized.

Monument to the Bronze Horseman (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The Bronze Horseman on Senate Square is not the only monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg, but, undoubtedly, the most famous, which has long become a symbol of the Northern capital. Already at the end of the 18th century, many urban legends and anecdotes were associated with him, and in the 19th century, poets of that time liked to mention the Bronze Horseman in their works.

Contrary to its name, the monument is not copper, but bronze. And the monument to Peter received its popular name thanks to Pushkin’s poem of the same name.

According to the idea of ​​Catherine II, who ordered the sculpture, and her consultants, Voltaire and Diderot, Peter was to appear in the solemn guise of a victorious Roman emperor with a staff and scepter in his hands. However, the French sculptor Etienne Falconet, invited to work on the monument, dared to argue with the crowned persons and showed the world a different Peter, without belittling either his military talents or his title as a wise ruler.

After 16 years of work, on August 7, 1782, according to the old style, an equestrian statue of the young king was solemnly installed on a huge pedestal. The monument was the first to be installed in the city square. Peter confidently sits on a rearing horse, covered with a bear skin. The animal represents the rebellious, ignorant people who submitted to the emperor. A huge snake was crushed by the horse’s hooves, symbolizing opponents of reforms and also serving as an additional support for the structure. The figure of the king himself expresses strength, desire and steadfastness. On the granite block, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication was carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: “To Peter I Catherine II in the summer of 1782.”

On the granite block on which the monument is erected, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication is carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: “To Peter I Catherine II in the summer of 1782.”

An interesting story is connected with the stone on which the monument is erected. It was found by peasant Semyon Vishnyakov at a distance of about 9 km from the square. The Thunder Stone was delivered to the installation site of the monument using a device that was truly unique for that time, working on the principle of a bearing. Initially the block weighed about 1600 tons. Then, according to Falconet's design, it was hewn and given the shape of a wave, personifying the power of Russia as a maritime power.

History of the creation of the monument

And many more stories and tales still circulate around the emperor’s gesture. Peter's right hand is imperiously extended forward, with his left he firmly holds the reins. Some say the hand points down to the place where “the city will be founded.” Others believe that Peter is looking towards Sweden - the country with which he fought so long and persistently. In the 19th century, one of the most interesting versions was born. She claims that right hand Petra actually faces the Neva. He points his left elbow towards the Senate, which in the 19th century served as the Supreme Court. The interpretation of the gesture is as follows: it is better to drown yourself in the Neva than to have a trial in the Senate. It was a very corrupt institution in those days.

Address: Senate Square, metro station "Nevsky Prospekt", "Admiralteyskaya".

The initiative to create a monument to Peter I belongs to Catherine II. It was on her orders that Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn turned to the professors of the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture Diderot and Voltaire, whose opinion Catherine II completely trusted. Famous masters Etienne-Maurice Falconet, who at that time worked as the chief sculptor at a porcelain factory, was recommended for this work. "There is an abyss in him delicate taste, intelligence and delicacy, and at the same time he is uncouth, stern, and does not believe in anything. .. He does not know self-interest,” Diderot wrote about Falcon.

Etienne-Maurice Falconet always dreamed of monumental art and received an offer to create equestrian statue colossal in size, he agreed without hesitation. On September 6, 1766, he signed a contract in which the remuneration for the work was set at 200 thousand livres, which was a fairly modest amount - other masters asked for much more. The 50-year-old master came to Russia with his 17-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.

Opinions about the appearance of the future sculpture were very different. Thus, the President who supervised the creation of the monument Imperial Academy Arts Ivan Ivanovich Belskoy presented a sculpture of Peter I, standing at full height with a staff in his hand. Catherine II saw the emperor sitting on a horse with a staff or scepter, and there were other proposals. Thus, Diderot conceived a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures, and State Councilor Shtelin sent Belsky detailed description his project, according to which Peter I was supposed to appear surrounded by allegorical statues of Prudence and Hard work, Justice and Victory, which support the vices Ignorance and Laziness, Deception and Envy with their feet. Falcone rejected the traditional image of a victorious monarch and abandoned the depiction of allegories. “My monument will be simple. There will be no Barbarism, no Love of peoples, no personification of the People... I will limit myself only to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret either as a great commander or as a winner, although he, of course, was both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what needs to be shown to people,” he wrote to Diderot.

Work on the monument to Peter I - Bronze Horseman

Falconet created a model of the sculpture on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna from 1768 to 1770. Two horses of the Oryol breed, Caprice and Brilliant, were taken from the imperial stables. Falcone made sketches, watching how the guards officer flew up on his horse onto the platform and reared it. Falconet reworked the model of the head of Peter I several times, but never achieved the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted by Marie-Anne Collot. The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with a wide with open eyes and illuminated by deep thought. For this work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres. The snake under the horse’s feet was created by Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev.

The plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1778 and opinions about the work were mixed. While Diderot was pleased, Catherine II did not like the arbitrarily chosen appearance of the monument.

Casting of the Bronze Horseman

The sculpture was conceived to be of colossal size and the foundry workers did not undertake this difficult work. Foreign craftsmen demanded huge amounts of money for casting, and some openly said that the casting would not be successful. Finally, a foundry worker was found, cannon master Emelyan Khailov, who took up the casting of the Bronze Horseman. Together with Falcone, they selected the composition of the alloy and made samples. The difficulty was that the sculpture had three support points and therefore the thickness of the walls of the front part of the statue had to be small - no more than one centimeter.

During the first casting, the pipe through which bronze was poured burst. In despair, Falconet ran out of the workshop, but Master Khailov was not at a loss, took off his coat and wet it with water, coated it with clay and applied it as a patch to the pipe. Risking his life, he prevented the fire, although he himself suffered burns to his hands and partially damaged his eyesight. Top part The Bronze Horseman was still damaged and had to be cut down. Preparation for the new casting took another three years, but this time it went well and in honor of the successful completion of the work, the sculptor left the inscription “Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falconet, Parisian 1788,” in one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak.

Installation of the Bronze Horseman

Falcone wanted to install the monument on a pedestal in the shape of a wave, carved from a natural piece of rock. It was very difficult to find the required block of 11.2 meters in height, and therefore the St. Petersburg News newspaper published an appeal to individuals wishing to find a suitable piece of rock. And soon the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov responded, having long noticed a suitable block near the village of Lakhta and reported this to the head of the search work.

The stone, weighing about 1,600 tons and called the Thunder Stone, was delivered first on a platform to the coast of the Gulf of Finland, then by water to Senate Square. Thousands of people were involved in extracting and transporting the stone. The stone was placed on a platform that moved along two parallel gutters, into which 30 balls made of copper alloy were placed. This operation was carried out in winter from November 15, 1769, when the ground was frozen and on March 27, 1770 the stone was delivered to the shore of the Gulf of Finland. In the fall, the block was loaded onto a ship specially built by master Grigory Korchebnikov, and on September 25, 1770, crowds of people greeted the Thunder Stone on the banks of the Neva near Senate Square.

In 1778, Falconet's relationship with Catherine II finally deteriorated and, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he was forced to leave for Paris.

The installation of the Bronze Horseman was led by Fyodor Gordeev and on August 7, 1782 it took place Grand opening monument, but its creator was never invited to this event. The military parade at the celebration was led by Prince Alexander Golitsyn, and Catherine II arrived along the Neva in a boat and climbed to the balcony of the Senate building. The Empress came out wearing a crown and purple and gave the sign to open the monument. To the beat of drums, the canvas fence from the monument fell and regiments of guards marched along the Neva embankment.

Monument to the Bronze Horseman

Falconet depicted the figure of Peter I in dynamics, on a rearing horse, and thereby wanted to show not a commander and a winner, but first of all a creator and legislator. We see the emperor in simple clothes, and instead of a rich saddle - an animal skin. Only the laurel wreath crowning the head and the sword at the belt tell us about the winner and commander. The location of the monument on the top of the rock indicates the difficulties Peter overcame, and the snake is a symbol of evil forces. The monument is unique in that it has only three support points. On the pedestal there is an inscription “To PETER the first EKATHERINE second summer 1782”, and on the other side the same text is indicated in Latin. The weight of the Bronze Horseman is eight tons, and the height is five meters.

Bronze Horseman - title

The monument received the name Bronze Horseman later thanks to the poem of the same name by A.S. Pushkin, although in fact the monument is made of bronze.

Legends and Myths about the Bronze Horseman

• There is a legend that Peter I, being in a cheerful mood, decided to cross the Neva on his favorite horse Lisette. He exclaimed: “Everything is God’s and mine” and jumped over the river. The second time he shouted the same words and was also on the other side. And for the third time he decided to jump over the Neva, but he misspoke and said: “Everything is mine and God’s” and was immediately punished - he was petrified on Senate Square, in the place where the Bronze Horseman now stands
• They say that Peter I, who was ill, lay in a fever and imagined that the Swedes were advancing. He jumped on his horse and wanted to rush to the Neva towards the enemy, but then a snake crawled out and wrapped itself around the horse’s legs and stopped him, preventing Peter I from jumping into the water and dying. So the Bronze Horseman stands in this place - a monument to How a snake saved Peter I
• There are several myths and legends in which Peter I prophesies: “As long as I am in place, my city has nothing to fear.” Indeed, the Bronze Horseman remained in his place during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the Great Patriotic War. During the siege of Leningrad, it was lined with logs and boards and bags of sand and earth were placed around it
• Peter I points with his hand towards Sweden, and in the center of Stockholm there is a monument to Charles XII, Peter’s opponent in Northern War, left hand which is directed towards Russia

Interesting facts about the Bronze Horseman monument

• Transportation of the stone pedestal was accompanied by difficulties and unforeseen circumstances, and emergency situations often occurred. The whole of Europe followed that operation, and in honor of the delivery of the Thunder Stone to Senate Square, a commemorative medal was issued with the inscription “Like daring. Genvarya, 20, 1770"
• Falcone conceived a monument without a fence, although the fence was still installed, but has not survived to this day. Now there are people who leave inscriptions on the monument and damage the pedestal and the Bronze Horseman. It is possible that a fence will soon be installed around the Bronze Horseman
• In 1909 and 1976, restoration of the Bronze Horseman was carried out. The latest examination, carried out using gamma rays, showed that the sculpture's frame is in good condition. Inside the monument was placed a capsule with a note about the restoration carried out and a newspaper dated September 3, 1976

Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg - main symbol Newlyweds and numerous tourists come to Senate Square in the northern capital to admire one of the most famous sights of the city.