At this monument to Peter I is not an easy fate.
The idea to perpetuate Peter in bronze belonged to Anna Ioannovna, but it was carried out by Elizabeth, "Peter's daughter".

But the monument could have appeared during Peter's lifetime. In 1716, the sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg to create it. Two years later, a clay model of a horse for the future monument appeared in the "portrait barn" of the sculptor. For a more accurate transfer of Peter's facial features, Rastrelli removed a plaster mask from him, which later became the basis for the wax bust of the king stored in the Hermitage.

In 1719, Peter visited the workshop of Rastrelli and gave the sculptor valuable hints, following which the Italian abandoned his original plan.

The model received Peter's highest approval, but it was never cast in bronze. In 1725, the emperor died, and for the next ten years, his heirs were not up to the monument. Rastrelli even received payment for the work already done only in 1734! Rastrelli never saw his offspring on the pedestal. The master died on November 18, 1744. The casting of the monument was completed by his son, Francesco-Bartolomeo Rastrelli, in 1747.

Only Elizaveta Petrovna remembered the monument and instructed Rastrelli to finish it. Although the monument was cast in bronze, for some reason it was not installed. The case is amazing, because the monument cost a lot of money.

Unfortunately, the daughter of Peter, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, did not like the statue (by the way, the daughter of an illegally born, i.e. out of church marriage) and for several decades the monument was in the barn of the Foundry Yard. Elizabeth wanted to put a monument on the square in front of the new Winter Palace or near the building of the Twelve Collegia, but over the past two decades, artistic tastes have changed a lot and the sculpture needed another revision. But the fashion for allegorism has passed, and this is the first equestrian statue in Russia! Peter is depicted as a triumphant commander on his favorite horse with the rare name of Lisette.

Throughout the reign of Catherine the Great, he lay on the Neva embankment near St. Isaac's Bridge. Peter and the horse really have bulging eyes and look a little comical. The laurel wreath looks more like horns or a crown that has been dropped repeatedly...

Perhaps that is why Peter the work of Rastrelli in 1782 was presented to G.A. Potemkin, who at first planned to send the monument to Ukraine, and then installed it under a canopy near the Tauride Palace.

When Pavel came to power, contradicting his mother in everything, the monument was returned from the Potemkin exile and installed in a place of honor in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle. This happened exactly 53 years after the creation of the monument, the same number of years Peter the Great lived in the world! Coincidence?! I do not think (S) Kisilev.

Pavel ordered to make the inscription "Great-grandfather - great-grandson." This inscription was written by the emperor himself.

The pedestal of the monument is decorated with two bas-reliefs "The Battle of Gangut" and "The Battle of Poltava" and an unusual double-headed eagle with a Maltese cross, without which the Grand Master of the Order of Malta could not do without. In one corner of the bas-relief "Battle of Poltava" you can see Charles XII leaving the battlefield on a stretcher, in the other - Cancer, symbolizing the zodiac sign of June, the month of the Battle of Poltava.

You need to rub the horse's hoof and Peter's leg. Those who doubt exactly where Peter is, rub all the hooves and all the legs))))

On the bas-relief with a gangut, it is believed that you need to rub the heel of a rescued sailor so as not to drown. Especially often students rub it to successfully pass exams (instead of studying tickets). Soon they'll be wiped out.

Unfortunately, the great-grandson was able to admire the statue of his great-grandfather for only 40 days, after which Pavel quietly died from an “apoplexy blow” to the head with a snuffbox ...

This monument is strange and mysterious. The horse's hooves are always shiny, and the left front horse leg looks like a woman's leg in a high heeled boot (look below at the horse's leg). Although ... this is an optical effect when viewed from the side, if you climb up to the monument, there is an ordinary hoof))) just flat.

They say that if you carefully look at the monument to Peter on a white night, then at 3 o'clock in the morning you can see how it moves and it seems that Peter solemnly leaves the gates of the castle...

In 1941, the statue was removed from its pedestal and buried in the square. So it was preserved for posterity. Only in July 1945 did she return to her rightful place.

In 1989-1990 the monument has been restored. Today it is not as famous among tourists as it is in vain ...)))

The monument stands at the Mikhailovsky Castle. st. Sadovaya, d. 2. Row of photos (C) Artem Kirpichenok. Infa (C) internet

Monument to Peter I - a bronze equestrian monument, executed by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, is located on Maple Street, in front of the main (southern) entrance to.

The Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli (1675-1744) made a model of the monument back in 1716, during the life of Peter I and under his leadership. However, the sculpture was not completed until 1747, when Alessandro Martelli cast it in bronze. By this time, both the customer and the sculptor had died.

According to the first draft, the monument had a pyramidal structure and was supposed to be 64 feet high. Initially, Peter planned to erect a monument on Kollezhskaya Square, located on Vasilyevsky Island- at that time the main square of St. Petersburg. Another equestrian monument, according to the same project, a little smaller - 52 feet, was intended for the Summer Garden and was supposed to stand in front of the Summer Palace of Peter I.

The base of the monument is a complex high plinth with remote cornices, rafters and volutes. All sides of it are decorated with bas-reliefs. A pedestal with inscriptions and oval bas-reliefs framed by ribbons rises on the plinth. Half-naked muscular figures of the vanquished are placed at the corners of the pedestal. They are chained and, as it were, thrown onto the defeated banners, armor and weapons. A statue rises on a pedestal: Peter I in the attire of a Roman emperor, crowned with a laurel wreath of a winner, sits on a mighty horse, raising the commander's baton in his right hand; above it hovers the winged figure of Glory with palm branches and a wreath. . A large bas-relief "Poltava battle" was to be placed on the plinth; the figures of the defeated Polonyaniki served as an allegory for the peoples subject to Peter. It was planned to make the inscriptions on black marble, the plinth - from variegated marble. Many details of the monument - bas-reliefs, military fittings, letters of inscriptions and other "dresses" were supposed to be gilded. For the oval bas-relief, Rastrelli asked Peter himself to choose the appropriate plot.

In 1717, Rastrelli decided to first make a life-size image of a horse, and then sculpt and cast the figure of Peter himself. At the beginning of 1719, Peter I was shown a model of an equestrian monument cast in lead. Having approved the model, Peter ordered to send it to the Paris Academy of Letters and ask what Latin inscriptions, according to the academicians, should be placed on the pedestal. At this, work on the monument was suspended.

In the early 1720s, Rastrelli made a new model of the monument. The model was 76 centimeters high and over a meter wide. Peter was presented on a horse, trampling the figure of Envy with his hooves. Around the pedestal were allegorical figures of the six virtues; at the base of the monument was made a statue of the "River" with four Cupids and the "Earth Sphere", also supported by four Cupids. The pedestal was decorated with four bas-reliefs, and around the plinth there was a bas-relief in the form of a ribbon. Comparison with the drawing of 1716 shows that Rastrelli expanded the idea, complicated the composition of the monument, and increased the number of allegorical statues. The main emphasis was placed on the glorification of "virtue" and the shame of "envy". Allegories characteristic of the time of Peter the Great appeared: the River (Neva) and the Globe - the globe. The image of the globe, from which the cupids tear off the shabby, tattered veil and "clothe it in a golden wrapper", meant the renewal and correction of the world map, that is, the return of the unjustly torn away territories.

Peter examined this model, but he did not give orders to start work, and work once again stopped.

The work of the sculptor in making models was paid only in 1734 under the Empress Anna Ioannovna.

The order to cast in bronze was given by the next Empress Elizaveta Petrovna on June 22, 1743. At the same time, Rastrelli revised the original model approved by Peter: he reduced the number of bas-reliefs to four and left the same number of allegorical figures, returning to the first draft of the monument. The composition has become more concise, and the form has become plastically generalized.

In October-November 1744, first a clay and then a wax model of the equestrian monument was made. For casting, which was supposed to take place under the supervision of the author, a special "casting barn" was built. More than 20 people helped the sculptor, but he did not have time to complete the work - on November 18 of the same year, B.K. Rastrelli passed away. His son Francesco Bartolomeo continued to work. Under his leadership, in 1745-1747, two foundry furnaces were built, 1300 pounds of green and 130 pounds of red copper were delivered. On November 3, 1747, the copper casting was completed.

For the pedestal, 13 blocks were prepared, carved from black Olonets marble.

In 1748-1755, chasing and correction of minor flaws in casting were carried out. Different groups of chasers worked on this one by one. But all requests from the Chancellery from buildings to the Senate for the casting of decorative sculptures and details according to the design of the late Rastrelli were unsuccessful.

In connection with the transfer of the center of St. Petersburg by this time to the left bank of the Neva, a monument to Peter I was supposed to be erected in front of the Winter Palace. The finished statue was transported to, where it stood under a wooden canopy for 45 years. Catherine II did not like the monument and in 1766 she ordered a new monument to Peter the French sculptor E.M. Falcone.

In 1782, the Rastrell monument was presented by Catherine to Prince G.A. Potemkin, who planned to send the monument to Ukraine, but changed his mind and placed it in the barn of the Tauride Palace, where the monument stood until 1791.

Only in August 1798, Emperor Paul I remembered the sculpture and ordered it to be installed in Kronstadt, at the entrance to the Petrovsky Dock. But on March 3 of the following year, "the departure of the monument to Peter I to Kronstadt was ordered to be stopped." A new place was appointed - the Connable Square in front of the one under construction. The area of ​​the Constable was surrounded by a wide moat, over which a wooden drawbridge was thrown. In fact, it was an island. Cannons were placed on both sides of the bridge. In the center of this square, a monument to Peter I was to be erected, and behind the monument there was a moat and three bridges.

The monument was designed by the Italian architect Vincenzo Brenna.

On March 22, 1800, the manufacture of a granite pedestal based on a drawing by Fyodor Ivanovich Volkov (1754-1803) was entrusted to "architect's assistant Lerion Shestikov." Tivdia light red and Ruskol grayish-white marble for cladding was installed by the peasant Vasily Odintsov, Serdobol granite for the plinth - by the Rzhev merchant Ivan Odintsov and the Petrozavodsk merchant Fyodor Bekrenev.

On April 28, 1800, the foundry worker V.P. Ekimov undertook to cast the bas-reliefs in metal. He also restored the figure of Peter the Great and the horse under it: the statue was strengthened with iron fittings, the holes in the belly of the horse were repaired, two saddle tassels were recast, the chasing of the saddle was completed, the entire statue was "covered with color", i.e. patinated. The cavities of the horse's legs for stability were filled with lead, which took more than 12 pounds.

On October 15, 1800, the sculptor Pierre Louis Anzhi (1752-1828) set about creating a model of a wreath, military trophies, eagles with crowns. He also gilded the letters of the inscription.

By order of Emperor Paul I, the inscription "Great-grandfather - great-grandson of 1800" was made on the pedestal, apparently in contrast to the dedication on the "Bronze Horseman": "To Peter the Great Catherine the Second." Unfortunately, the great-grandson was able to admire the statue of his great-grandfather for only 40 days.

Above a rectangular plinth, the plane of which is softened from above by a barely noticeable undulating elevation, rises the figure of Peter dressed in military armor, a heavy forged shell. On the feet of the emperor are Roman sandals and knee pads in the form of lion half masks. The hilt of the sword is also decorated with a lion's head. A porphyry with embossed coats of arms, lined with ermine, is thrown over the chest over the shoulders. With his left hand he holds the reins of the horse, with his right he holds the commander's staff.

Peter's head is turned slightly to the left. A laurel wreath is placed on the head, but its leaves are interpreted as flames - a dubious allegory.

The horse's attire is luxurious: a carpet saddle with pendants, a harness and a bridle strewn with precious stones. The sculptor depicts a Persian stallion named Lisetta. According to other sources, the horse of Peter I was of the Karabakh breed, but everyone agrees that Peter bought this horse in Riga, exchanging it for his own horse. The horse bearing the female name was male. They say that it is Lisetta who is the prototype of the horse on all the equestrian statues of Peter I. Judging by the fact that Rastrelli depicted a long, arching pastern on the horse, Peter's horse had a very soft trot. Now the stuffed horse Lisetta can be seen in the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences.

The equestrian statue has a strict and clear silhouette construction, which brings it closer to similar works by Verrocchio and Donatello.

Perhaps Rastrelli was inspired the best samples equestrian statues of the times of the ancient Roman Empire: the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Square in Rome and the Renaissance equestrian statue of the condottiere Erasmo de Narni, nicknamed Gattamelata, by the sculptor Donatello, erected in 1443-1453 in the Italian city of Padua.

The granite pedestal is lined with white, pink and greenish Olonets marble and decorated with two bronze bas-reliefs - "Poltava battle" and "Battle of Gangut", as well as an allegorical composition with trophies.

The bas-reliefs were made by sculptors Ivan Ivanovich Terebenev (1780-1815), Vasily Ivanovich Demut-Malinovsky (1779-1846), Ivan E. Moiseev under the direction of Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky (1753-1802).

During the siege of Leningrad, the statue of Peter I was removed from its pedestal and hidden in a pit dug nearby. In 1945, the statue was returned to its place.

Large-scale restoration work on the monument was carried out in 1989-1990: the State Museum of Urban Sculpture carried out a thorough examination of the monument and its complete restoration with the restoration of the lost gilding of the bronze details.

The monument is a cultural heritage Russian Federation, object No. 7810540000.
Directions: from the metro station "Gostiny Dvor" on foot along Sadovaya Street to the Engineering Castle, 10-15 minutes.

Monument to Peter I. Fragment. Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I in front of the Engineering Castle. Photo: 2014.

"Great-grandfather - great-grandson 1800". Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I. Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I. Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I. Children study the bas-relief "Battle of Gangut". Photo: 2014.

The bas-relief "Gangut battle" on the left on the flagship depicts Peter I, who commands the "avant-garde". The genius of Victory descends to him from the clouds, carrying laurel wreaths and palm branches in his hands. On the right is a captured Swedish ship, over which the Russian flag is raised. The zodiac sign Leo is depicted above the captive ship, as a reminder of the month of the victorious battle that took place on July 27 (August 7), 1714. In the foreground is a dramatic scene - the rescue of a drowning sailor. Photo: 2014.

In the center of the bas-relief "Battle of Poltava" in the foreground, Peter I points with a sword to A.D. Menshikov on the retreating Swedes. In the left part in the background, the wounded king of the Swedes, Charles XII, is being carried away on a stretcher. In the sky above the battlefield, the geniuses of Victory soar, trumpeting glory and crowning the victors with laurels. The zodiac sign Cancer is depicted above the Russian troops - on June 27, 1709, the Swedish army, which was considered invincible, was utterly defeated. It is believed that touching the hoof of the horse of Peter I or a botford is good luck. And if you hold on to the heel of a drowning sailor, this will avert the danger of drowning. Therefore, these parts of the bas-relief were polished by the hands of superstitious tourists.

Allegorical composition with trophies on the back of the pedestal. Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I and sad pigeons... Photo: 2014.

Monument to Peter I in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle. Photo: 2014.

Vozlyadovskaya A.M., Guminenko M.V., photo, 2006-2016

"Great-grandfather - great-grandson"

An amazing thing: the very first monument to Peter the Great in Russia stood under a canopy for half a century, until Paul I ordered it to be erected near the Mikhailovsky Castle that he had just rebuilt ...

Monument to Peter I. Sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli - photo provided by M. Zolotarev

Last written Peter I there were two words:

“Give it all…”, then Peter still had the strength to call his daughter Anna to dictate the rest to her. But Anna, who appeared immediately, did not find her father alive. The name that Peter was going to pronounce remained unknown.

And for several decades after the death of the Converter, the Russian throne passed from hand to hand in such a way that even a week before each change, no one could say anything in advance. The circumstance that prevailed for many years was that the throne for almost three-quarters of a century was occupied by women.

The memory of the recent reign of Peter in this special period Russian history, painted with stripes in different colors, either burned with an even flame, then died out, then ignited with special force.

Even a few years before Tsar Peter was crowned as emperor, the sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, invited to St. Petersburg and entered the Russian service in 1716, received several orders and instructions.

Chief among them was the preparation of a project for an equestrian statue of Peter. The monument was supposed to perpetuate the Russian victories over the Swedes, and although the war was still going on, Poltava and Gangut were already behind and victory was a foregone conclusion.

“Russia entered Europe like a lowered ship, at the sound of an ax and at the thunder of cannons,” wrote Pushkin. – But the wars undertaken by Peter the Great were beneficial and fruitful. ... European enlightenment moored to the shores of the conquered Neva.

Peter considered the Northern War the main business of his life, and the coming victory in it - the crown of the grandiose work of transforming Russia, which went on tirelessly throughout his reign.

***

The statue commissioned by Peter Rastrelli could hardly be considered a monument in the usual sense of the word. Both of them - the ruler and the sculptor - mentally saw in her a triumphal, that is, a symbolic figure, similar to those that were erected in Ancient Rome commanders in honor of special victories.

Rastrelli had several designs for the statue since 1716. One of his drawings, perhaps the earliest, reflecting both the spirit of the times and the stage of development of the project, is full of allegories - naive and rather overflowing with the exposition, but it is important as evidence of the initial stage of the sculptor's work.

The model of the statue was cast in lead in the autumn of 1717 and approved by Peter a little later, although the absence of large casting furnaces forced the sculptor to make the statue not all at once, but in parts.

The equestrian statue commissioned by Rastrelli was undoubtedly special. The forthcoming work of translation into bronze was unprecedentedly difficult also because before the planned statue, no similar monuments sculpted in Russia simply existed.

The statue was to become the first bronze monument in this series. True, sculptures (mostly marble) have already begun to appear in the new capital of Peter the Great, for example, they gradually began to decorate the still young Summer Garden, but in terms of their size, everything that was brought could not stand any comparison with the planned monument .

Portrait of the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (son of the sculptor B. K. Rastrelli). Hood. L. K. Pfandzelt. 1750–1760s - photo courtesy of M. Zolotarev

The scale and complexity of the technical tasks facing the foreign master were extraordinary. However, those truly great transformations that Rastrelli had a chance to witness in Russia were also extraordinary.

The Russian reality of those years when grandiose shifts and changes in the very way of life Russian life took place literally before our eyes, had the most powerful influence on Rastrelli. The shifts were epic. The scale of Peter's changes was astonishing.

And after several years of Rastrelli's stay in still young St. Petersburg, both the artistic views of the sculptor and their embodiment in the material undoubtedly transformed. Apparently, this, and nothing else, can explain that in the work of Rastrelli, the very kind of art that was his life's work begins to go from baroque to classicism.

View of the Mikhailovsky Castle and the monument to Peter I. Unknown artist. Varied copy from a painting by F.Ya. Alekseev in 1800. Early XIX century - photo courtesy of M. Zolotarev

In 1721, after the end of the war with Sweden, Rastrelli was commissioned to design the Triumphal Pillar, glorifying victories. Russian army, however, more complex in all respects, the idea of ​​​​creating an equestrian statue of the Transformer continues to be the main work he planned.

According to contemporaries, in the spring of 1723, the model of the equestrian statue, from which plaster molds had already been removed, Rastrelli showed Friedrich Berchholtz, chamber junker of the Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich, husband of the daughter of Peter I Anna. “The count showed me three models,” Berchholtz wrote in his diary, “namely, the equestrian statue of the emperor, which will have 54 feet in height, the walking statue ... and the column ... Both of the first models are especially very good.”

With the death of Peter, the degree of interest in how the manufacture of the equestrian monument is moving towards completion is clearly decreasing. Passions around the throne are heated, but court passions are inseparable from spending. Illness of the Empress, soared Menshikov, 12 year old Peter II- court life is in full swing ...

Are there monuments at such a time? Is it to the point that the treasury spends money on preliminary (still only preliminary!) Preparation of the casting of a huge sculpture? The “bronze” stage of work is still far away, and casting will require huge sums. But the interregnum continues, behind it a completely different power is coming, not the Peter's branch.

And for a long time no one remembered Rastrelli's work, moreover, they forgot to pay the sculptor, and only a decade later Anna Ioannovna gave an order about that, and even then, probably only because she had her own plans to use Rastrelli's talent. There was still no question of casting a monument to Peter.

Are there any changes in these sad years for the sculptor in his views both on his art in general and directly on that work, that monument, which, of course, will remain the main business of his life? Undoubtedly they are happening.

And although neither the composition nor the general silhouette of the monument changes, the sculptor himself changes, like any person. Rastrelli is aging, his time is moving faster and faster.

Almost imperceptible refinements and changes that the sculptor makes to his work, which seems to have been completed long ago, we venture to call it an adjustment in the tone of the impression made by the statue. Severe solemnity, simplicity of the image, and a decrease in interest in decorative motifs become this new tone.

Emperor Peter I. Bust by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. 1723–1729 - photo courtesy of M. Zolotarev

They remembered the model of the monument many years later (June 1743), already during the reign of Peter's daughter, the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The empress “deigned to look” at the model and finally gave the instruction “to make pouring out of copper.”

The 69-year-old Rastrelli himself carried out the instructions. The list of what is needed for the next stage of work - from the construction of a "casting barn" to the acquisition of one thousand three hundred pounds of "green" and one hundred and thirty pounds of "red copper" - is impressive. And they also needed whole cartloads of "pure wax of different colors."

Things seemed to go quickly, and Rastrelli spent no more than a month making the wax model. It was October 1744. In St. Petersburg, an autumn storm set in. The cold began, and the sculptor was in a hurry ... In early November, a huge model of colored wax was completely finished.

It was possible to start casting from bronze. But the sculptor did not have a chance to see the main work of his life embodied in bronze.

On November 18, 1744, a few months before his 70th birthday, Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli died.

After the death of the sculptor, the casting of the equestrian statue was completed by his son, the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli. However, this, like everything connected with the wonderful statue, happened with delays in time, that is, not easily, and not immediately, but only after three years after the death of Rastrelli the father. What happened next slowed down again.

Rastrelli's son, as an architect (Smolny Monastery, Winter Palace, Grand Palace in Peterhof, Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoe Selo), called for huge projects of a completely different circle, and in 1748 he was forced to lay down all affairs related to sculpture.

Another seven years passed, and the statue still had not been cleared. But when (1755) it was nevertheless cleared and minted, it turned out that the pedestal was not ready ... Doesn't it seem to us, my modern reader, something extremely familiar?

By the end of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, although in her first years she herself ordered the work with the monument to be promoted, these works hardly progressed, and then there was simply no money ...

The monument, made by Rastrelli, had a hard time, and sometimes, it seemed, even almost tragic fate. The remarkable monument could not find a place in St. Petersburg for many decades, and then (and again for many years!) It stood forgotten under a canopy near the Trinity Bridge. Amazing! In our history of any period, from time to time we come across something that cannot be answered ...

After all, a unique monument! And around - an amazing city growing by leaps and bounds with an abundance of (then still) empty spots in the very center!

How is it not a year, not ten years, but half a century not to find a place in the capital for a monument dedicated to its founder? And the monument was given and re-gifted, placing, however, on landscape engravings and species lithographs in that place of St. a month later, they immediately killed ... Rock? Maybe.

The monument, no matter where you look at it, is really first-class.

The whole construction of the monument is characterized by calmness and simplicity, alien to any kind of pretentiousness.

Raising his head high, the rider slightly pulls the bridle, holding back the horse. A rider in the robes of a Roman Caesar, holding a staff in his hand, double-headed eagles are woven on an ermine mantle. Severe restraint, slow motion, slowness.

The equestrian statue, made by Rastrelli, belongs to the direction in European art, which received its most extensive development in the era of absolutism. The origins of this tradition can be found in the works of the Renaissance, which, in turn, drew inspiration from the sculpture of Antiquity.

Monuments… Monuments, statues, busts. Among these sculptural shadows are those to whom we give the role of judges; from others, we seem to be waiting for a response. The inscription on the monument to Peter at the Mikhailovsky Castle: “Great-grandfather - great-grandson” - may seem like a compressed monologue of a long-awaited power Paul I. But what could Pavel say to his great-grandfather? Great-grandfather and great-grandson were not just different people- They were from a different test.

Canopy over the hearse with the coffin of Peter I. Decoration of the hearse. Sketches by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. 1725 - photo provided by M. Zolotarev

When Peter was building a fleet, an army, an empire, and also a capital, his calloused hands were able to hold an ax, an oar, and a fuse. Peter knew how to cast bells and cannons, how to boil “wood of young trees” for ship pins in salt water and “dry under sheds”, and also how laws were written. And on the other side of the Neva, where the enemy could still break through, stood his one-story house with a low ceiling.

Paul, as soon as power fell into his hands, feverishly began to build for himself a castle dug in with moats. Did he understand what he was doing? Crazy waste of treasury, unthinkable tight deadlines. And now in the center of the capital there are drawbridges and round-the-clock guards call to each other. Stone bas-reliefs of the facade, forged gates, luxurious interiors, paintings by famous masters, jasper, malachite, bronze.

The pedestal of the monument to Peter I at the Engineering Castle. Photo from the beginning of the 20th century - photo provided by M. Zolotarev

Sleeping quarters with a blue ceiling painted with stars. Built-in church in the name of the patron saint of the heavenly host. Maltese symbols. Favorites. Choleric antics. Evening decrees canceled in the morning. Rabies devoid of logic. And ... on the fortieth day of the emperor's stay in the still wet castle-palace - regicide.

But dynastic families at all times avoid even the shadow of mention of anything criminal. As for the murder of Paul I, this, as others believe, the Russian Hamlet, then, as far as one can judge, even in the very royal family preferred to mention, if at all, in very vague terms. Unless there was a legend that the son of Paul, the founder of the Lyceum and the winner Napoleon, unable to bear any memories, left power, having gone to the elders.

The map of the city around the Mikhailovsky Castle has changed over the course of two centuries, although not drastically.

But the flow channels have long been filled up, the fences and the drawbridge have disappeared, and the castle building itself, having gone through three stages of military engineering schools in it (that's why it is Engineering), became one of the branches of the Russian Museum, once again turning into a palace.

And in front of the gates of the castle, a fragment of the moat lined with gray granite reappeared. The water in the moat, of course, is not running, and you have to make sure that cigarette butts and candy wrappers do not float in it. Everything has become, like so much in our life, slightly the same and not completely real, although, of course, different. And from what exactly was here in 1800 and remained without moving from its place, these are only the walls of the castle and the monument to Peter I, sculpted by Rastrelli the father.

Art historians argue about whether the inscription “Great-grandfather is a great-grandson” was already at the time of the installation of the monument or appeared later.

Mikhail Glinka

Soon after the death of Emperor Peter the Great, the Cabinet of Peter the Great was organized at the Kunstkamera, where his personal belongings, documents, and tools were collected. In the future, the "Cabinet" was replenished with materials that give an idea of ​​various aspects of the life of Russian society in the Petrine period, about the great rise in the economy and culture of the country, about the development of science, technology and art. In particular, things made by Peter I himself or with his participation, images of the tsar and his associates, got into the “Cabinet”.

Subsequently, most of this collection was transferred to the Hermitage, to the department of Russian culture of the late XVII - early XVIII century, where a permanent exhibition dedicated to the activities of Peter I and his achievements was organized. Part of this exposition were two sculptural portraits of the emperor, which largely influenced how Peter was represented in his work by subsequent generations of artists and sculptors.

"Wax Person"

Among the picturesque and sculptural portraits of Peter the Great, the so-called "Wax Person" occupies an important place. Its creator was Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (16771744) - a talented sculptor invited to Russia by Peter for three years and worked here for twenty-eight years until his death. Even during the life of Peter the Great, Rastrelli removed the wax mask from the face of the emperor and, using it, made in 1719 a wax cast of the head of Peter I.

1725
This is how the figure looks in the exhibition, and, apparently, this is only a copy.

1725
And so the "Wax Person" looks in the old reference books.

Later, Rastrelli portrayed the king more than once, and after his death, in an effort to perpetuate the image of Peter, he created the Wax Person. The face, hands, feet were made of wax, while the figure itself was made of wood (at the same time, the arms and legs can be bent on hinges). The hair on the wax head was real, from the head of Peter himself! The clothes are genuine, as is the order of St. Andrew with a wide blue ribbon on the chest.

Bust of Peter I by Carlo Rastrelli

One of the best examples of a Russian sculptural portrait, created by K. B. Rastrelli in 1723, is a bronze bust of Peter I. Based on a model made of clay and then wax, Rastrelli cast two busts: from bronze and cast iron. The bronze bust was completed only in 1729, when Rastrelli's assistant, the engraver Semange, completed its chased finish. Lace patterns are especially finely embossed, as well as numerous details of the ceremonial costume. On two breastplates of the shell, relief images glorify Peter as the creator of mighty Russia and an outstanding commander. On one, Peter is represented as a sculptor with a chisel and a hammer in his hands, on the other, as a horseman participating in the Battle of Poltava.

1723. Bronze

Even without considering these images, the viewer imagines the appearance of Peter I, insightful, glance, angry facial expression, inflexibility, mind, strength, will, temperament - everything that was combined in the character of Peter 1 is perfectly conveyed in this portrait. The ermine mantle developing behind the shoulders, sharp bends and sharp corners the silhouette of the sculpture, the glare of light on the nervous, mobile face even more reveal the energy and impulse inherent in Peter. The bronze statue of the bust is currently in the Hermitage, and the cast-iron version went to the Russian Museum, so that both major museums received Rastrelli's masterpiece.

triumphal pillar

The name of Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli is also associated with an interesting idea for a monument to Peter the Great, which was not implemented, but which can be judged from the created model. The "Triumphal Pillar" is exhibited in the Round Hall or Rotunda of the Hermitage. This hall was built in 1830 by the architect Montferrand, and after a fire in 1837 it was restored with some changes by A.P. Bryullov. In 1880, a bomb exploded under the hall, but Emperor Alexander II escaped the assassination attempt, killing eleven people from among the staff of the palace and the guards.

In addition to the pillar model, there is also a large chandelier made in 1723 from ivory. In addition to the masters of the royal “Turnery”, Peter I himself took part in its creation, who personally carved a number of details for the chandelier.

The triumphal pillar was conceived by C. B. Rastrelli as a monumental monument to the emperor. N. Pino and A. K. Nartova also participated in the development of the project. Due to various circumstances, the project was not implemented. However, the surviving sketches and original details created for the Triumphal Pillar model (in particular, bronze cylinders with relief images made by A.K. Nartov) made it possible to reconstruct this interesting monument in honor of the victories won by Russia under Peter I in the Northern War.

Relief paintings on the pedestal depict the capture of Noteburg and Narva, the foundation of St. Petersburg, the battle of Kalisz. Eight bronze cylinders that make up the column and made in the workshop of A.K. Nartov show the battle of Lesnaya and Poltava, the capture of the cities of Riga and Revel (now Tallinn), the Prut campaign, the capture of Friedrich Stadt, the Gangut battle and the capture of Derbent.

Did you know that the monument to Peter the Great at the Mikhailovsky Castle was approved by Peter the Great himself? Do you know that this is the first equestrian monument in Russia? Do you know that this statue has been in storage for almost half a century? If at least one of these questions, you can not give a positive answer, this article is for you!

Having accomplished great deeds for the good of the fatherland, Peter I did not count on gratitude from callous contemporaries, reasonably believing that if "you do not praise yourself, no one will praise you." Already after the Poltava victory, the sovereign planned to erect on the site of the battle “a stone pyramid with the image of our person at full age on a horse, cast from yellow copper ...”, but due to the diverse concerns that tormented the Russian tsar, the creative plan was postponed indefinitely .

Only in 1716, the sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg to create the first equestrian monument in Russia. The young Italian zealously began to justify the high trust, and two years later a clay model of a horse appeared in the sculptor's "portrait barn" for the future monument. For a more accurate transfer of Peter's facial features, Rastrelli removed a plaster mask from the face of his hero, which later became the basis for the wax bust of the king stored in the Hermitage. The Paris Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Literature was commissioned to compile a proper memorial Latin text for the future pedestal*.

In 1719, Peter visited the workshop of Rastrelli and gave the sculptor valuable instructions, following which the Italian abandoned his original plan. Russia went to a victorious end Northern war and the new monument was to reflect the triumph of the Empire and its founder. In 1724 a new wax model of the monument was ready. Like all baroque monuments, the monument to Peter was somewhat overloaded with details. The king sat on a mighty horse, at whose feet lay a snake, symbolizing Envy (later she "migrated" to the Bronze Horseman). The composition of the monument included allegorical figures of the six virtues, a statue of the Neva, cupids, and the earthly sphere. A place was also chosen for the monument - on Vasilyevsky Island on the Old Senate Square. As we can see, there is a certain continuity in this issue between the Rastrelli monument and the Bronze Horseman.

The model received Peter's highest approval, but it was never cast in bronze. In 1725, the emperor died, and for the next ten years, his heirs were not up to the monument. Rastrelli even received payment for the work already done only in 1734!

Years passed, the model of the monument was gathering dust in the barn. Fortunately, in 1741, after another palace coup, power was seized by the second daughter of Peter I - Elizabeth Petrovna. Lacking convincing rights to the Russian throne, the new tsarina used every opportunity to remind her loyal subjects of her famous father.

In 1743, the forgotten monument by Rastrelli was removed from the haze of the barn into the light of God in order to testify to the succession of the reign of Peter's daughter. Elizabeth wanted to put a monument on the square in front of the new Winter Palace or near the building of the Twelve Collegia, but over the past two decades, artistic tastes have changed a lot and the sculpture needed another revision. The fashion for allegorism passed, and the aged Bartolomeo Carlo had to finalize his brainchild for the last time. Bas-reliefs and allegories have disappeared from the monument, leaving only a laconic image of the triumphant emperor.

Rastrelli never saw his offspring on the pedestal. The master died on November 18, 1744. The casting of the monument was completed by his son, Francesco-Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1747, but as it turned out, the monument's odyssey was far from over.

The finished statue was again placed in the warehouse of the Office of Buildings, where it stood peacefully for 15 years. After a short but memorable reign of Peter Fedorovich, Catherine II came to the throne. Having no rights to the Russian throne, the enterprising German woman immediately took care of the memory of the late emperor, but ... she did not like the Rastrelli monument. Instead, it was decided to make a new monument. They became the famous "Bronze Horseman". And Peter, the work of Rastrelli, was presented in 1782 to G.A. Potemkin, who at first planned to send the monument to Ukraine, and then installed it under a canopy near the Tauride Palace.

The epic of the monument ended in 1797, when Emperor Paul I decided to build a long-suffering statue on the banks of the Kronstadt Canal. But in 1799, Pavel changed his mind and ordered a monument to be erected in front of the facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle. The emperor seemed to be leaving the gates of the imperial residence. The pedestal for the monument was a high 4-sided pedestal, decorated with curious bas-reliefs "Poltava battle" and "Gangut battle". In one corner of the bas-relief "Battle of Poltava" you can see Charles XII leaving the battlefield on a stretcher, in the other - Cancer, symbolizing the zodiac sign of June, the month of the Battle of Poltava. On the bas-relief "Gangut battle" information about the month of the battle is reported by another sign of the zodiac - Leo.

The laconic dedication on the front side: "Great-grandson-great-grandfather", served as a kind of response to the inscription "To Peter I - Catherine II" on the Bronze Horseman. In addition, she reminded Petersburgers and guests of the city that Pavel Petrovich was the son of Pyotr Fedorovich and the great-grandson of Pyotr Alekseevich, and not the son of Sergei Saltykov, as evil tongues said.

Unfortunately, the great-grandson was able to admire the statue of his great-grandfather for only 40 days, after which Pavel died quietly from an "apoplexy."

In 1941, to protect it from shelling, the townspeople removed the statue from its pedestal and buried it right there on the square. Only in July 1945 did she return to her rightful place. In 1989-1990 the monument has been restored.

Numerous myths and legends are associated with the Rastrelli monument. So, since the beginning of the 90s, there has been a belief that students who grab the heel of a sailor climbing into a boat on the bas-relief "Gangut battle" will not "drown" in the exam. As the song says: “in the most severe flurry, a friend threw a crib and saved me ...” People of a mystical fold claim that if you carefully look at the monument to Peter on a white night, at exactly 3 o’clock in the morning, you can see how he moves. You can't just dismiss this legend like that. The author testifies that if you walk around St. Petersburg in the company of consuming drinks and substances, by three o'clock in the morning you can see not so horrors flying on the wings of the white night. But the story about the fact that Rastrelli replaced the front hoof of a horse with a female foot in a shoe should be classified as a joke: “Well, you are a doctor and a maniac!” First, to the delight of the gay community, stockings and shoes were worn by both women and men in the 18th century. Secondly, when approaching, it becomes clear that we are talking about a hoof, slightly recessed into the pedestal. Thirdly, when the monument was removed from its pedestal in 1941, no shocking discoveries followed. However, no one bothers you to amuse your friends with this funny optical effect.

It is curious that the famous inscription “To Peter I - Catherine II” was compiled by the famous swearer and poet, author of “Shameful Odes” I.S. Barkov. According to legend, the empress did not pay the poet for his work, after which the people of St. Petersburg one fine morning found an inscription on the Bronze Horseman: “To Peter I - Catherine II. She promised but didn't deliver. The inscription on the Rastrelli Monument was composed by Emperor Paul I himself.