Monument Bronze Horseman(Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, telephone, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.
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Bronze Horseman on Senate Square- 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, it was solemnly installed on a huge pedestal. equestrian statue young king. 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 the 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 Falcone'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 stubbornly. In the 19th century, one of the most interesting versions was born. She claims that Peter's right hand is actually facing 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".
It seems incredible at first glance. Is Peter I standing, with his hand outstretched, on the banks of the Neva? Then you realize there is every reason to doubt
The monument to Peter I, standing on Senate Square in St. Petersburg, is also called the “Bronze Horseman”. The latter is beyond any doubt. We see a rearing horse, on it, rather, not a Russian autocrat, but a Roman patrician or someone similar to him, and his hand stretched above the ground
According to the official version, this is a monument to Peter I, which was made by order of Empress Catherine II, by architect Falconet in 1778. Its opening took place four years later.
I didn’t believe the official version and took a closer look monument to researcher and historian Alexey Kungurov. He noticed a lot of things that were incomprehensible and even surprised him. Starting with the stone on which the pedestal is installed. Its mass, according to different sources, from 1700 to 2500 tons. Such a colossus is unbearable even for modern mechanisms, not to mention banal horsepower. It’s hard to even imagine how the stone was lifted, what it was loaded on and how brought to St. Petersburg.
Then the number of questions grows like a snowball. With what fright did the author dress Peter in a Roman or Greek toga, put a sword on him and laurel wreath on your head? Glorification of the image? Then the distortion of the proportions of Peter I’s body should also be attributed to the same reason. Disproportionally built, narrow-shouldered, he appears before us an epic handsome man with arshin fathom shoulders, a body filled with strength
Why does the rider on his horse lack stirrups and a saddle, which is replaced by some kind of skin?
This is clearly visible in the photo
Only the Scythians and Sarmatians rode horses without saddles or stirrups. Tradition says that they knew how to control horses even with their thoughts. But why these frankly archaic details in the image of the great autocrat?
But what surprised me most was the presence of a certain snake-like appendage under the horse’s hind legs. What's this? If, indeed, it is a serpent, then how does it fit in with the image of Peter? Perhaps he fought with the green serpent, but this version looks funny.
Or at this point.
The horse, the human figure on it, the entire composition of the monuments are indeed similar to each other. Clear similarity in concept, execution, plot.
To prove that such monuments were erected in Rus', the researcher cites a picture Japanese artist, who visited our area and conscientiously sketched what he saw.
Why was the dragon removed and the tail left? - arises logical question. Look at the next picture and you will understand - the tail is one of the points of support and attachment of the monument to the stone. Without her he would not have been able to stand. Therefore, the conversion specialists were forced to leave the tail.
Then who was the monument originally erected to? St. George the Victorious or someone else to an ancient hero unknown to us. Don't you think so? If you put a spear in the hand of bronze Peter, and create a snake at the feet of the horse, you will, without any doubt, get a ready-made Victorious.
Alexey Kungurov claims that if you look closely at the sleeves of the shirt and the edge of the rider’s cape, you can see something completely unimaginable - an embroidered swastika pattern, which was worn only by Slavic warriors. But Peter I cannot in any way be classified as a guardian Russian history and her admirers. He decisively and mercilessly exterminated all traditions and customs in favor of the new European order he introduced. Then what does the swastika have to do with it?
“It’s very likely that the Falcone surname was simply used to cover up something that they wanted to destroy, distort, or hide from you and me,” says Alexey Kungurov. And he continues. - Given brief analysis suggests that the Bronze Horseman monument was altered, that it was originally erected for a completely different hero - the real one.”
"The Bronze Horseman" - a monument to the first to the Russian Emperor Peter I, became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. His Grand opening, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the reign of Empress Catherine II, took place on August 18 (August 7, old style) 1782 on Senate Square.
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 recommended Etienne-Maurice Falconet for this work, who had long dreamed of creating monumental work. The wax sketch was made by the master in Paris, and after his arrival in Russia in 1766, work began on a plaster model the size of the statue.
Refusing the allegorical solution proposed to him by those around Catherine II, Falcone decided to present the king as “the creator, legislator and benefactor of his country,” who “extends his right hand over the country he travels around.” He instructed his student Marie Anne Collot to model the head of the statue, but subsequently made changes to the image, trying to express in the face of Peter a combination of thought and strength.
The casting of the monument took place at the end of August 1774. But it was not possible to complete it in one go, as Falcone had hoped. During casting, cracks formed in the mold, through which liquid metal began to flow. A fire started in the workshop.
The dedication and resourcefulness of the foundry master Emelyan Khailov allowed the flames to be extinguished, but the entire upper part of the casting from the rider's knees and horse's chest to their heads was irreparably damaged and had to be cut down. During the time between the first and second casting, the craftsmen sealed and caulked the holes left in the cast part of the monument from the pipes (sprues) through which liquid metal was fed into the mold, and polished the bronze. Top part The statue was cast in the summer of 1777.
Then the joining of the two parts of the sculpture and the sealing of the seam between them, chasing, polishing and patination of the bronze began. In the summer of 1778, the decoration of the monument was largely completed. In memory of this, Falconet engraved on one of the folds of Peter I’s cloak an inscription in Latin: “Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falconet, Parisian 1778.” In August of the same year, the sculptor left Russia without waiting for the opening of the monument.
The progress of work on the construction of the monument was monitored after the French sculptor left Russia by architect Yuri Felten.
The support of the monument is a snake trampled by a horse by the sculptor Fyodor Gordeev, symbolizing envy, inertia and malice.
The base of the sculpture - a giant granite block, the so-called thunder stone, was found in 1768 on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, near the village of Konnaya Lakhta. The delivery of the colossal monolith weighing about 1.6 thousand tons to the site of the monument was completed in 1770. First it was transported overland on a platform with grooved runners, which, through 32 bronze balls, rested on portable rails laid on a prepared surface, and then on a specially built barge. According to a drawing by architect Yuri Felten, the stone was given the shape of a rock; as a result of processing, its size was significantly reduced. On the pedestal there is an inscription in Russian and Latin: “Catherine the Second to Peter the Great.” The installation of the monument was supervised by the sculptor Gordeev.
The height of the sculpture of Peter I is 5.35 meters, the height of the pedestal is 5.1 meters, the length of the pedestal is 8.5 meters.
In the statue of Peter pacifying his horse on a steep cliff top, the unity of movement and rest is superbly conveyed; The monument is given special grandeur by the royally proud seat of the king, the commanding gesture of his hand, the turn of his raised head in laurel wreath, personifying resistance to the elements and affirmation of the sovereign will.
The monumental statue of a horseman, with an imperious hand squeezing the reins of a horse rearing in a swift rush, symbolizes the growth of the power of Russia.
The location of the monument to Peter I on Senate Square 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 Falconet, did it his own way, erecting the monument closer to the Neva.
After the opening of the monument, Senate Square received the name Petrovskaya; in 1925-2008 it was called Decembrists Square. In 2008, it was returned to its previous name - Senate.
Thanks to Alexander Pushkin, who used a fantastic story about a monument coming to life during a flood that shook the city in his poem, the bronze monument of Peter.
During the Great Patriotic War(1941-1945) the monument was covered with sandbags, on top of which a wooden case was built.
The Bronze Horseman has been restored several times. In particular, in 1909, the water that had accumulated inside the monument was drained and the cracks were sealed; in 1912, holes were drilled in the sculpture for water drainage; in 1935, all newly formed defects were eliminated. A set of restoration works was carried out in 1976.
The monument to Peter I is an integral part of the city center ensemble.
On City Day in St. Petersburg, official holiday events traditionally on Senate Square.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
On September 8, 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, let’s turn to the most interesting and curious facts.
A unique opportunity to test yourself and your knowledge of the history of your country using the example of a single monument, which has no analogues in the world.
History of Russia in bronze
In total, the monument contains 128 figures. Compositionally it consists of three tiers. This symbolizes the triad “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.”
Upper tier. Orthodoxy
The group consists of two figures - Russia and an angel. Angel with a cross in hand - personification Orthodox Church, and the kneeling woman personifies Russia. An angel overshadows Russia with a cross. Their base is a ball - a power. The power is decorated with a relief ornament of crosses (a symbol of the unity of the church and autocracy) and is surrounded by the inscription: “To the accomplished millennium of the Russian State in the prosperous reign of Emperor Alexander II, summer of 1862.”
Middle tier. Six eras of the Russian state
The middle part of the monument is occupied by 17 figures, the so-called “colossal figures”, grouped into six sculptural groups around the ball-power, symbolizing different periods of the history of the Russian state (according to the official historiography of that time).
- Each group is focused on a specific part of the world, which has symbolic meaning and shows the role of each sovereign in strengthening certain boundaries of the state.
Rurik in the center, Vladimir on the left, Dmitry Donskoy on the right, Photo: Vitaly Ragulin Rurik - foundation of the Russian state in 862. A composition symbolizing the calling of the Varangians to Rus'.
The first prince Rurik in a pointed helmet with a pointed shield, in an animal skin thrown over his shoulders. Inscription on the shield "Summer 6370"- according to the Byzantine chronology, the difference between this chronology and the modern one is 5508 years, therefore it turns out 6370-5508 = 862 AD. e. Behind him on the right, reclining is pagan god Veles.
God Veles behind the lying Tatar The deity Veles, according to the theory of the “main myth”, is one of the central deities in Slavic mythology, the snake is the antagonist of the Thunderer Perun.
Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir- baptism of Rus' in 988.
The Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich is in the center of the composition with an eight-pointed cross raised upward, a woman holding out a child to him, and a Slav overthrowing the pagan idol of Perun.
Figure of Grand Duke Vladimir Saint Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy- liberation from the Tatar-Mongol yoke in 1380. Battle of Kulikovo, 1380.
Dmitry Donskoy in right hand holds a shestoper, and in his left - a horsetail, tramples with his foot the defeated Tatar Murza.
Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who stepped on the defeated Tatar. Ivan III- foundation of the autocratic Russian kingdom in 1491.
Ivan III in royal vestments, Monomakh's cap, with a scepter and orb, receiving a sign of power - a horsetail - from a kneeling Tatar. Nearby lie a Lithuanian defeated in battle and a defeated Livonian knight with a broken sword. In the background is the figure of a Siberian - a symbol of the future development of Siberia.
Millennium of Rus' Ivan III Mikhail Romanov- restoration of autocracy in 1613. The beginning of the Romanov dynasty.
Mikhail Fedorovich, Prince Pozharsky, defending him with a naked sword, and the kneeling Kuzma Minin, handing him the Monomakh cap and scepter.
Mikhail Fedorovich, Prince Pozharsky, photo: Vitaly Ragulin Peter I- foundation of the Russian Empire, 1721.
Peter I in purple, crowned with a laurel wreath with a scepter in his right hand and the Genius-winged angel pointing the way to the north, to the site of the future St. Petersburg. At Peter's feet is a Swede kneeling, defending his torn banner.
millennium of Rus' Peter the Great, photo: Vitaly Ragulin 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 was responsible for the lower tier of the monument - famous master of its time. 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 at all.
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 the faces and acquired its main highlight - 109 outstanding figures Russian figures. They can be divided into four groups:
Enlighteners
31 figures, for example, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Sergius of Radonezh and others.
Enlighteners, photo: Vitaly Ragulin State people
26 figures, for example, Yaroslav the Wise, Empress Catherine II and others.
State people, photo: Vitaly Ragulin Military figures and heroes
36 figures, for example, Mikhail Kutuzov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky and others.
Military people and heroes, photo: Vitaly Ragulin Writers and artists
16 figures, for example, Lomonosov, Pushkin and others.
Writers and artists, photo: Vitaly Ragulin 10 frequently asked questions about the monument
1. Why was September 8 the opening date of the monument and, accordingly, the celebration in honor of the millennium of Russia?
On this date there were three other important events: anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo, birthday of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Nicholas, as well as Orthodox holiday 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.”
B. P. Villevalde, Opening of the monument to the 1000th anniversary of Russia in Novgorod in 1862 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 take the plunge 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.
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?
Ivan Nikolaevich Schroeder The main authors of the monument are considered to be the artist Mikhail Mikeshin and his friends: architect Victor Hartman and sculptor Ivan Schroeder. The latter made the lion's share of the order with his own hands. 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. To solve the problem, a whole creative team was created, which included the most famous sculptors 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?
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.
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 railway from the Kremlin to the station, and 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.
Painting “Flight of the Nazis from Novgorod”, Kukryniksy, 1944-1946 City of Veliky Novgorod At this point, the monument was a completely bare pedestal, on which the lower half of the orb remained. Its upper part was dilapidated. The colossal figures that previously surrounded the ball were scattered around the monument. At the same time, many of them turned out to be damaged: a three-meter cross, standing on a ball-power, was cut down at the base and bent into an arc; the bronze fastenings were cut down or torn out of their places everywhere. Small parts such as swords, staves, shields, etc. disappeared without a trace
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. It was necessary to manufacture more than 1,500 missing parts. The monument was restored by November 2, 1944, after which its second grand opening took place.
In its original form, the monument appeared before the public only after large-scale restoration work in 1995.
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.
The figures of Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin and Derzhavin are 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?
The artist Mikeshin had to fight for Gogol to appear on the monument. 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, 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. I wrote one paragraph about this:
“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.
Group "Writers and Artists". Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol are immediately recognizable. Photo by I. Novikova. 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 a period of costly Lithuanian War, executed Novgorod merchants.
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: “What about 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 Russian Empire. 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.
- A complete list of all those depicted on the monument
Who is depicted on the Bronze Horseman monument in St. Petersburg?
The Bronze Horseman monument was created on the initiative of Catherine II in 1782. It is noteworthy that the Bronze Horseman was the very first monument in St. Petersburg.
This monument by the French sculptor Falconet depicts Emperor Peter I on horseback. The emperor's head is decorated with a wreath of laurel leaves, and a sword is visible behind his belt, as signs of a great commander and triumphant.
The Bronze Horseman monument, which is installed in St. Petersburg, depicts, so to speak, the founder of this city, Emperor Peter 1. The monument was erected in 1782 during the reign of Empress Catherine 2.
The Bronze Horseman monument depicts Tsar Peter l. It was erected by order of Catherine II in 1982, based on the model of the sculptor Falcone. He came to St. Petersburg in 1766 with his student Marie-Anne Collot, who made the head of Peter for the monument. The monument was cast from 176 tons of bronze and 4 tons of iron.
The monument, which, thanks to the poem by A.S. Pushkin, received the name of the Bronze Horseman, was erected on the initiative of Catherine II and is dedicated to Peter I about the World Cup and the inscription on the stone pedestal reads.
The monument was commissioned from the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet, who was recommended by Voltaire and Diderot, who were teaching at the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture at that time.
Opinions about what the monument to Peter should look like were also divided. Catherine II herself believed that Peter should have held a staff or scepter while sitting on a horse, and, for example, Diderot proposed a sculpture in the form of a fountain. There were other options. And Falcone himself chose a simple figure, which, at the same time, showed the personality of the benefactor of his country. This is what he wrote to Diderot about how he conceived this monument:
I was always sure that this was a monument to Peter I. Although, of course, it is Copper purely allegorically (Pushkin tried his best), but in reality it is bronze. This monument appeared and still lives thanks to Catherine II, who idolized Peter, which is what the inscription on the pedestal tells about - PETRO primo CATHARINA secunda - PETER THE FIRST CATHERINE THE SECOND. People of St. Petersburg firmly believe that Peter will definitely defend his city while the monument to him is in its place.
As far as I know, at this Russian monument Emperor Peter the Great is depicted sitting on a horse. By the way, its historical name it received thanks to the famous Russian poem by Alexander Pushkin, The Bronze Horseman, and it was installed in the city of St. Petersburg on the personal initiative of Empress Catherine the Second.
August 7, 1782 in the city of St. Petersburg on Senate Square there was an opening of a sculpture called Bronze Horseman. This monument dedicated to Peter the Great, it received its name thanks to this poem by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The monument was erected thanks to Catherine the Second, who idolized Peter the Great. The monument even says: Peter the Great Catherine the Second. This inscription can be seen in the photo below.
In fact, the Bronze Horseman monument is bronze.
I was interested in this question myself not long ago, so I know the answer for sure. So, this monument was erected to Peter I. As for the material of manufacture, this monument is not copper at all, but bronze.
The opening of the Bronze Horseman sculpture on Senate Square in St. Petersburg took place on August 7, 1782. This monument was erected through the efforts of Catherine the Second and dedicated to Peter the Great. And it got its name thanks to Pushkin’s poem.