INTRODUCTION

Probably, there is no such person in Russia who would not have heard of the famous monument to Peter the Great by E.-M. Falcone, and acquaintance with St. Petersburg for many begins with this monument. For Petersburgers, it has become a symbol of the city. People stand at the monument for a long time and never cease to be amazed at its extreme simplicity and severity, its extraordinary expressiveness and dynamism. Many poems, books are dedicated to him, he is repeated many times in paintings, engravings. Even his name - "The Bronze Horseman" - came from Russian poetry.

However, the Bronze Horseman is not the first monument dedicated to Peter. In front of the Engineering Castle there is a monument to Peter the Great, erected in 1800. This monument is the work of the sculptor K.-B. Rastrelli, cast in 1745-1747 after the model executed during the life of the tsar.

The monument to Peter in front of the Engineering Castle is the first equestrian statue in Russia, while the Bronze Horseman was the first monument erected in Russia. One of the goals of my work was to establish why it took almost 100 years for the monument to Rastrelli to overcome the long journey from the idea of ​​creation to installation in the city.

Before writing the work, I had several tasks that I tried to solve, these are:

Acquaintance with the history of two of the greatest monuments to Peter.

Description of the architectural decoration of the monuments.

Many books and articles have been written about the monuments to Peter the Great. I have worked with a lot of material. Basically, I used the books by M. I Pyliaev "Old Petersburg", A. L. Kaganovich "The Bronze Horseman: the history of the creation of the monument", A. P. Kryukovskikh "Sculpture of St. Petersburg" and many others.

1. MONUMENT TO PETER I WORKS BY K.-B. SHOT

1 History of creation

On a wide alley, in front of the main entrance to the Engineering Castle, there is an equestrian monument to Peter I.

The fate of this monument is no less complex and intricate than that of the palace, in front of which it was erected in 1800 by order of Paul I.

Italian by origin, the sculptor Rastrelli arrived in Russia in 1716 from Paris, where he worked for some time. In St. Petersburg, he quickly became famous, and at the end of the same year he had already received the tsar's order to create an equestrian statue. Peter I ordered it to Rastrelli to commemorate the victories over the Swedes in the Seven Years War.

Rastrelli worked on the equestrian monument for about 5 years, from 1719 to 1724. In an effort to convey the portrait likeness as accurately as possible, Rastrelli took off the plaster mask from the face of Peter I and used it in the process of working on the statue for the equestrian monument.

At the beginning of 1719, Peter visited the sculptor's workshop: the lead model of the monument received his approval, but the tsar did not like the large clay horse for some reason.

In the spring of the following year, Rastrelli was instructed to change the original design of the monument and create a new, more magnificent and solemn model. The Northern War was already close to its end, and the glory of the commander Peter grew more and more. The Treaty of Nystadt was signed on August 30, 1721. The conclusion of peace and the proclamation of Peter as emperor, and Russia as an empire, was accompanied by great celebrations.

In this environment, Rastrelli, while working on the model, made more and more changes to it. In 1724, the 76 cm high model of the monument was completed and cast.

The emperor approved the model, but there was no order to continue the work and cast the monument. In January 1725, Peter died, and no one cared about the monument, and then they simply forgot about it. Rastrelli never even received a reward for his work.

Many years have passed. In 1741, the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth, ascended the throne. Honoring the memory of her father and wanting to show herself as his worthy successor, she ordered the erection of a monument to Peter.

And then the forgotten Rastrelli model, approved by Peter the Great himself, was removed from the barn of the Liteiny Dvor. But during this time, artistic tastes have changed, and the model was considered obsolete.

Since 1743, work began to boil. During the year, a wax model was installed to cast the monument in bronze. It seemed that B.K.Rastrelli's old dream was coming true, but still he never had a chance to see his best creation in metal. The artist died on November 18, 1744.

After the death of his father, the son of the sculptor Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli asked for permission to complete the work he had begun - the casting of an equestrian monument to Peter the Great, for which he received the consent of the empress.

Finally, in 1747, the equestrian statue of the king was cast in bronze and the monument was placed in the barn of the Liteiny Dvor, where he was destined to stand for many years.

Under Catherine II, Rastrelli was removed from the position of court architect and left Petersburg in 1764.

The new empress, having examined the Rastrelli monument, approved by Elizabeth, considered that "it was not made with such art, which should represent such a great monarch and serve to decorate the capital city of St. Petersburg." In addition, at this time E. M. Falcone, by her order, created his famous "Bronze Horseman".

Only in 1799, in the midst of work on the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, they suddenly remembered the equestrian statue of Peter the Great. It was decided to put it in front of the southern facade of the building in the Place Connetable. By order of Paul I, the urgent construction of the pedestal of the monument began, the project of which was prepared by the architect F.I.Volkov. The work was supervised by the architect V. Brenna.

In less than a year, the pedestal was mostly finished.

In November 1800, the monument was consecrated and inaugurated. On its pedestal there was a modest dedicatory inscription: “Great-grandfather, great-grandson. 1800 ". The unveiling of the monument became an integral part of the ceremony of the ceremonial entry of Paul I into the Mikhailovsky Castle, a new imperial residence.

This monument is the first equestrian statue in Russia.

1.2 The Majestic Triumphant

Steps proudly from the castle

Copper thoroughbred horse.

The monarch sits menacingly,

Fire gleams in the gaze ...

Peter I solemnly rides on a horse. It seems as if the emperor had just driven out of the gates of his great-grandson's castle and stopped, contemplating the beautiful city.

Judging by the clothes, you will not immediately guess who this rider is - the Roman emperor or the Russian tsar. Only the face does not raise any doubts - this is Tsar Peter: a high round forehead, wide spread of eyebrows, slightly protruding eyes, a small compressed mouth and a strong-willed chin. Great intelligence, extraordinary energy and willpower are reflected in the features of a somewhat plump and rounded, but courageous face, framed by lush hair.

The emperor, crowned with a laurel wreath, holds a marshal's baton in his right hand, and the reins in his left, in a calm and proud, full of dignity pose, sits on a mighty horse.

On the horseman's heroic chest there is a shell; a luxurious ermine mantle with relief images of two-headed eagles on it is draped over broad shoulders; on the side, at the belt, a heavy sword with a handle in the form of a lion's head, knee-pads made of lion half-masks - they symbolize power; on the feet are open roman sandals with crossed straps.

A powerful horse with a sharply curved neck and a long, lush, wavy tail is also matched to the rider; slowly and solemnly, as in a parade, he strides, as if proud of a regal rider. The decoration of the horse is no less rich: under the saddle there is a beautiful carpet blanket with large tassels along the lower edge, there are many pendants on the harness, and the harness and bridle are decorated with precious stones.

The high, four-sided pedestal is faced with Olonets marble of pink, white, green shades; the plinth is made of gray Serdobol granite.

On the lateral sides of the pedestal there are bas-reliefs - sculptural paintings of two battles of the Russian troops under the leadership of Peter I: "The Battle of Poltava" and "The Battle of Gangut"; they were executed under the direction of MI Kozlovsky and young sculptors - VI Demutoi-Malinovsky, II Terebenev and I. Moiseev. On the bas-relief "Battle of Poltava" right - the Russian army, Peter I, pointing with a sword in the direction of the fleeing Swedish troops, next to the leader of the cavalry Menshikov. Above it are the soaring figures of the geniuses of Victory, who trumpet glory and crown the heads of the winners with laurels. Above the head of the Russians in the clouds is depicted cancer - the sign of the zodiac, symbolizing the month of June, when this significant battle took place. In the battle of Poltava on June 27, 1709, the Swedish army, considered invincible, was completely defeated. Charles XII, wounded in the leg, was carried away from the battlefield; this episode is broadcast on the left side of the bas-relief.

The content of the second bas-relief "Gangut battle" is no less significant. On the left side of the flagship is Peter I, who is in command of the "vanguard". 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, which the Russians have already embarked on, raising the flag of their country. On the same bas-relief in the clouds there is an image of a lion - the sign of the Zodiac corresponding to the month of July, when the Gangut battle took place.

Both bas-reliefs are distinguished by clear composition, skillful arrangement of figures and confident elaboration of details. Masterfully executed, they were cast from bronze by the Russian foundry worker V.P. Ekimov.

The monument to Peter I, created by Rastrelli, opens the first page of the richest history of Russian monumental sculpture.

2. MONUMENT TO PETER I WORKS BY E. FALCONE

2.1 History of creation

What a thought on your forehead!

What power is hidden in him!

And what a fire in this horse!

An outstanding piece of monumental sculpture is the monument to Peter I on Senate Square.

Having barely ascended the Russian throne, Catherine II decided to erect a monument to Peter I in the capital, for whom she had the deepest respect. The monument was supposed to represent the first Russian emperor as an outstanding statesman. The equestrian statue, cast in bronze after Rastrelli's model, she did not like. The Empress did not immediately decide who to entrust this work.

Even before the sculptor was chosen, detailed proposals appeared - descriptions of the future monument. It was proposed to place four Virtues at the foot of the magnificent pedestal: Prudence, Diligence, Justice and Victory. Allegorical virtues had to trample underfoot Vices: Ignorance and Superstition, Laziness and Avarice, Untruth and Deception, Envy and Disagreement.

According to the customs of the time, the more significant the hero's personality, the more carefully selected allegorical statues were to crowd at the foot of the statue. Even such a subtle and deep interpreter of art, a correspondent of Catherine II, friend and adviser to Falcone Denis Diderot, suggested including in the monument to Peter I an allegorical image of "The Love of the People" and "Barbarism Defeated by Peter".

Finally the choice was made. On the advice of Diderot, the Russian ambassador to France, Prince Golitsyn, invited Etienne-Maurice Falcone to undertake the construction of the monument. In August 1766, a contract was signed, according to which the sculptor undertook to submit a project of the monument in six months.

Falcone began by rejecting all suggestions and advice. He abandoned the traditional image of a victorious monarch riding a horse in the guise of a Roman Caesar, and from the allegorical depiction of virtues, vices, events, triumphs. This is how he wrote to Diderot about his plan: “My monument will be simple. There will be no barbarism, no love of peoples ... I will confine myself only to a statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret either as a great commander or as a winner, although he was, of course, both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what must be shown to people.

My king does not hold any rod: he stretches out his beneficent right hand over the country he is circling. He climbs to the top of the rock, which serves as his pedestal - this is the emblem of the difficulties he conquered. So, this is a fatherly hand, this is a jump on a steep rock - this is the plot given to me by Peter the Great ... "

In October 1766, Falcone arrived in St. Petersburg and began developing sketches for the monument. After two and a half years, he had basically finished sculpting a life-size wax model of the monument.

The young sculptor Marie Anne Collot, a talented student of Falcone, made a significant contribution to the creation of the monument. She superbly sculpted the model of Peter's head, managing to accurately convey the portrait features of the emperor, show the imperiousness and complexity of his nature. Having already returned to Paris, and sending his student the silver medal received for the monument to Nantes, Falconet writes: "You made a magnificent, colossal head of Peter the Great ..."

The great French philosopher and writer Denis Diderot, who came to St. Petersburg at the invitation of Catherine II, saw a ready-made model of the equestrian statue of Peter I awaiting casting. He highly appreciated it. “This work,” wrote Diderot on December 5, 1773, in a letter from St. Petersburg, “as a truly beautiful work, is distinguished by the fact that at first glance it seems beautiful; when you look at it for the second, third, fourth time, it seems even more beautiful. You leave it with regret and always willingly return to it. "

In accordance with Falconet's plan, the Petersburg sculptor FG Gordeev sculpted a model of a snake wriggling under the horse's hooves. Her body was supposed to serve as an additional, third point of support for the body of the horse, rearing up with the rider saddling him.

It took about three years to prepare for the casting of the statue in metal. Casting began in 1774, and immediately great difficulties arose: the size of the sculpture was enormous, the configuration was complex; the thickness of the bronze walls at the front of the statue should have been significantly less than the walls at the back. Thus, the front part became lighter, and the rear, which received the main load, became more massive. Without this, the huge statue, which had only three points of support, would not have acquired the necessary stability.

To avoid the formation of seams between the individual parts of the statue, Falcone decided to cast it in one go. But this was not done. On August 24, 1775, during the casting in the mold, cracks formed, through which liquid metal began to flow. A fire broke out in the workshop, and only the dedication and resourcefulness of the foundry master E. Khailov allowed the flame to be extinguished; but the entire upper part of the casting, from the rider's knees and the horse's chest to their heads, was irreparably damaged and had to be cut down.

Preparations for the new casting took another three years, but the second casting went smoothly. The finishing of Peter's figure and engraving of clothing details required enormous efforts. As before, the sculptor was assisted by Khailov with his apprentices. The work was completed only in 1778. In memory of the completion of the decoration of the monument, Falcone engraved an inscription in Latin on one of the folds of Peter the Great's cloak: "Etienne Falcone was molded and cast by a Parisian of 1778". But he did not wait for the opening of the monument. In August 1778, he left Russia, not having the strength to endure the unjust reproaches and petty interference in his work by I.I.Betsky. The management of the work on the construction of the monument passed to Yu. M. Felten. Together with him, FG Gordeev was engaged in the installation of the statue.

The grand opening of the monument to Peter I took place on August 7, 1782. A few days before the solemn consecration of the monument, instead of a wooden fence, the monument was surrounded by a linen fence, on which mountains and rocks were depicted. Shelves lined up around the monument - 15 thousand people. There are thousands of people on Senate Square and on the rooftops. The Empress arrived in a boat from the Winter Palace. She appeared on the balcony of the Senate in full dress - in a crown and in purple. At her sign, the banners with wild mountains fell, and a horseman appeared before the troops and people, galloping taking a steep rock. On both sides of the pedestal, an inscription in Russian and Latin shone: “To Peter the First, Catherine the Second. Summer 1782 ". Guards regiments marched in front of the monument to the thunder of orchestras and cannon firing.

The poet of that time, V. Ruban, on this occasion composed the following eight lines:

Colossus of Rhodes, now humble your proud appearance!

And the Nile buildings of the high pyramids

You are mortals made by mortal hands.

The Ross mountain, not made by hands,

Heeding the voice of God from the mouth of Catherine,

Came into the city of Petrov through the Nevsky depths

And fell under the feet of the Great Peter!

2.2 Stone Thunder

In an effort to maximize the expressiveness of the image of Peter, Falcone conceived to put the statue on a granite block, abandoning the idea of ​​a traditional ceremonial pedestal. It was assumed that it "should be five fathoms and one arshin in height", granite monolith of this size had not been encountered before in construction practice. This requirement of the sculptor met with a lot of objections. In one of his letters, he caustically writes: “I met one artist who told me loudly, all over the Palais Royal, that I should not have chosen this emblematic rock as a pedestal for my monument, that there are no rocks in St. Petersburg. Obviously, he believed that there are rectangular and profiled pedestals ". Falcone's opponent was the powerful I.I. Betskoy. Believing that it would be hopeless to find such a stone mountain and to deliver it to Petersburg “because of its great weight,” he suggested preparing a pedestal of several large stones. But Falcone insisted on his own.

The Academy of Arts sent artistic stone craftsman Andrey Pilyugin to the Baltic coast to find a suitable block of granite. Searches went on a wide front along the sea from St. Petersburg to Narva and in the Vyborg province, in the Serdobolsk churchyard, in the bays of Lake Ladoga, along the islands. The choice was made on the largest stone, a granite monolith discovered in Lakhta, twelve miles from Petersburg, by the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov. Locals called it "Thunder Stone" because it had a wide crack, as if it had been formed from a lightning strike. The stone was immense. It weighed 1,600 tons, was 13.2 meters long, 6.6 meters wide, and 8 meters high. The stone was separated from the place of installation by 9 kilometers of land and almost 13 kilometers of waterway.

In ordinary practice, logs were laid under huge loads and a load was dragged along them, but this stone was so heavy that it simply grinded the logs like grain in a millstone. They tried to make the shafts metal, but this idea was unsuccessful. The shafts did not move in parallel, they knocked off, while the ropes were cut off, the winches fell off. Russian craftsmen have solved this problem. The logs (cylinders) were replaced with copper balls. The transportation was carried out with the help of balls rolled along the gutters covered with copper. Balls were launched into two parallel grooves at certain intervals, which, in turn, were covered by the second, upper grooves - the stone itself was on them. As the movement proceeded, the released chutes were placed in front, and thus the stone continued to move continuously with the help of ropes, gates and 400 workers.

Delivery of the monolith to St. Petersburg took a whole year and a half - the time during which it was possible to make a round-the-world trip in the 18th century. And the stone still needed to be processed - cut. Moreover, according to Falcone's sketch, it was necessary to change the shape of the stone very radically. This required a considerable amount of time, the planned deadlines were clearly not kept up. But here, too, a solution was found. The processing of the stone did not stop during its transportation. There were several stonecutters on the stone all the time, who got the hang of working in such unusual conditions - with the continuous movement of the work surface.

It seemed that one more difficulty had been resolved, but the "mountain not made by hands" again became a stumbling block between Betsky and Falcone. The sculptor wanted to free "a rock like a wave from a huge stone", onto which the rider flew up, and Betsky wanted to keep it intact as some kind of miracle of nature, extracting which from the ground and delivering it to such a long distance was "like daring." Therefore, the processing of the Thunder-stone, "diminishing" it to the required size, began to be perceived as almost an encroachment by a foreigner for national pride.

A special vessel was built to transport the stone by sea. It was designed to withstand the load from the stone, especially the waterway. But there was still such a huge stone to be loaded onto this ship. Calculations have shown that if you start loading a ship afloat at the pier, it will capsize. A paradoxical solution was proposed. In order to prevent the ship from sinking with a stone, it is necessary to flood it in advance, and we did just that. The stone was submerged using the same gutters. Then they pumped out the water, and the ship surfaced.

So, in the fall of 1770, two ships moored at the pier at Isaac's Bridge, between which a huge raft with the Thunder Stone was reinforced. Installed on Senate Square, it caused surprise and delight. People came to look at it as a miracle, no less than the monument itself. In commemoration of the completion of the work on its transportation, a commemorative medal was struck with the inscription "Like daring"

2.3 The Bronze Horseman

With his head raised proudly,

Arrogantly straightening his camp,

Somewhere it looks like a hand

A mighty giant from a horse;

And the horse, drawn by the bridle,

Climbed up from my front feet,

Even among the marvelous monuments of St. Petersburg, the Bronze Horseman occupies a special place. He is the genius of Petersburg.

Everything is simple and meaningful in this monument, there is nothing superfluous.

The rider who flew up the steepness of the cliff and stopped the horse at full gallop. The horse reared up, still in motion. But the rider's position, posture, gesture, head turn are full of majesty, confidence and strength. A reared horse can be in this position for only one moment. The horse and rider seem to be frozen in this movement, symbolizing the eternal life of the rider. The combination of a moment with eternity, movement and rest, freedom and will does not seem deliberate at all, because the horse is raised by a man on its hind legs at the very edge of the abyss. This is the secret of the huge impression it makes on the viewer. This impression intensifies as you approach the monument and meet Peter's gaze.

Before us is a beautiful courageous face with wide open eyes, illuminated by deep thought and unshakable will. Before us is a monarch-enlightener, a man of thought, reason, a bearer of high thoughts. The appearance of Peter, of course, is idealized, but without idealization, symbolic significance, monumental sculpture is probably impossible at all.

The rider is dressed in wide, light clothing that does not restrict freedom of movement. Falcone rightly believed that the rider's clothes should not be conspicuous, distract the viewer from the main thing. "The costume of Peter," said the sculptor, "is the clothing of all nations, of all people, of all times, in a word, a heroic costume." It resembles a long, spacious shirt of a Volga barge haule, with embroidery along the hem and on the sleeves. A short mantle is thrown over the top, and soft light fur boots, which were worn in the north of Russia, are on the legs. Instead of a saddle, a bearskin is thrown over the horse, reminiscent of the pre-Petrine "bearish Rus". A sword is attached to the rider's belt, resting in a simple, unadorned scabbard. The laurel wreath of the victor and the short sword at the belt seem to indicate that the Creator Tsar won victories on the battlefields more than once.

The rock symbolizes the difficulties that Russia had to overcome, the struggle with those obstacles that lay in the path of Peter's reforms. The affirmative gesture of the right hand emphasizes the will and conviction of Peter, the statesman, in the righteousness and ultimate success of his undertakings. "This is a fatherly hand, - wrote Falcone, - this is a jump on a steep rock, - this is the plot given to me by Peter the Great."

Countless poems and enthusiastic descriptions are dedicated to the monument to Peter, it has been repeated many times in paintings and engravings. He is known in Russia even by those who were not lucky enough to visit St. Petersburg at least once. For two hundred years, the monument to Peter on Senate Square has become not only a part of the historically formed architectural appearance of the city, but also its artistic symbol.

Monument to Peter Rastrelli Falcone St. Petersburg

CONCLUSION

Monuments to Peter the Great by K.-B. Rastrelli and E. Falcone are the most famous and majestic monuments to Emperor Peter the Great.

Having considered in my work the history of the creation of these monuments, I came to the conclusion that despite the inextricable connection between themselves, they suffered a different fate.

The history of the Rastrelli monument is no less complex and intricate than that of the palace, in front of which it was erected by order of Paul I in 1800. Becoming another milestone in the dispute between the emperor and his royal mother, Catherine II, in response to the famous statue of Falcone, which received the name "The Bronze Horseman" from the light hand of Alexander Pushkin. In 1716, Peter I ordered it to Rastrelli to commemorate the victories over the Swedes in the Seven Years War. For eight years the sculptor worked on the project of the monument, finally, he created a model that was approved by Peter I, but the death of the tsar, which followed a year later, prevented the completion of the work.

As the years passed, the rulers changed, finally, Elizaveta Petrovna ascended the throne, proclaiming the revival of the work of her father, the first Russian emperor, as the slogan of her reign. The queen reacted favorably to the idea of ​​creating a monument, but the death of the empress prevented the implementation of this plan. The finished monument was forgotten in the warehouse.

In 1763, already during the reign of Catherine II, the intention to create a monument to the tsar - reformer was resurrected. After examining Rastrelli's work, the empress rejected her and invited the French sculptor Falconet to create the monument. Whose statue was installed in 1782 on Senate Square.

Only in 1800 did the misadventures of the Rastrelli monument end. It found its place in the space of St. Petersburg at the walls of the residence of Paul I, who ordered to make the inscription "Great-grandfather, great-grandson" on the pedestal, as opposed to the dedication on the "Bronze Horseman": "Catherine II to Peter the Great."

I paid detailed attention to the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman, because now it is impossible to imagine another pedestal of this monument, and it was extremely difficult to find and deliver the Thunder-stone.

The monument to Peter the Great Rastrelli is executed in the Baroque style. He is dressed in magnificent Roman robes, his right hand grips the commander's rod, his head is crowned with a laurel wreath. On the sides of the pedestal there are bas-reliefs - sculptural paintings of two battles of the Russian troops under the leadership of Peter the Great: "The Battle of Poltava" and "The Battle of Gangut".

The decoration of the Bronze Horseman is very different from the Rastrelli monument. Falcone abandoned the canonized image of the victorious emperor, the Roman Caesar, surrounded by allegorical figures of Virtue and Glory. He strove to embody the image of a creator, legislator, and transformer. Departing from the canons generally accepted at that time, the sculptor portrayed his hero in motion, dressed not in a ceremonial uniform, but in simple, loose clothing that did not attract attention, replaced a rich saddle with an animal skin. Only a laurel wreath crowning the head, and a sword hanging at the belt, indicate the role of Peter I as a commander - the winner. The monument is laconic and expressive at the same time.

One of the symbols of the city of St. Petersburg, one of its most striking sights is the monument to Peter I - "The Bronze Horseman".

The statue of Rastrelli did not gain the fame and popularity of the Falcone monument. It did not become a symbol of the city founded by Peter I, there are no legends associated with it in urban folklore and literature. However, this monument is interesting not only as the only surviving monument to the tsar-reformer that has survived to our time, but also simply as an outstanding work of art.

LIST OF USED LITERATURE

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3.Goncharenko Y. Monument to Peter I // URL: (3. 04. 10)

Zaretskaya Z.V. Falcone / Z. V. Zaretskaya. -L. : Council of Artists, 1965. - 40 p. : ill.

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Pukinsky B.K. 1000 questions and answers about Leningrad / B. K. Pukinsky. - L.: Lenizdat, 1974 .-- 486 p. : ill.

Pylyaev M.I. Old Petersburg. Stories from the past life of the capital / MI Pylyaev. - SPb. : Parity, 2002 .-- 480 p. : ill.

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There is a legend that this ancient castle was painted by order of Emperor Paul the First in the color of ladies' gloves belonging to his beautiful favorite. According to another legend, it is a mystical castle, and supposedly he predicted the tragic death of its owner. The staff of the castle still say that there is a lot of mysticism in it to this day. Further in the article we will tell you what legends surround the Mikhailovsky Castle. The monument to Peter I, which stands in front of him, is also of great interest.

History

This castle, which is also called the Engineering castle, according to documents from the 18th century was called the Palace of St. Michael. There is evidence that the first sketches of the Engineering Castle were made by the hand of Emperor Paul I himself, although he did not yet occupy the throne, but was just a prince. For 12 years, he came up with as many as 13 options for his future residence, which was later named "Mikhailovsky Castle". The monument to Peter in St. Petersburg was erected by him, but his idea belonged to Paul's great-grandfather - the first emperor of Russia.

Why was the castle named Mikhailovsky?

According to legend, once upon a time there was a guardhouse on the site of the palace, and then one night the Archangel Michael appeared to one of the soldiers who were on watch here. After the castle was erected, a statue of a little soldier was erected in a niche next to the bridge. They also say that it began to be called Mikhailovsky due to the fact that the temple of the Archangel Michael is located on its territory. And he, as you know, was considered the patron saint of the Romanov dynasty. But its middle name, that is, it received in the 20s of the 19th century, when the Main Engineering School was located there. There is another legend about the choice of the construction site. Once upon a time in the same place stood the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth. It was in him that he was born. Therefore, he wanted his new home to be built in the same place where he was born.

Start of construction

As soon as Paul ascended to the imperial throne, he ordered the construction of the palace of his dreams to begin. This happened in 1797. It was then that the emperor himself laid in the foundation of the building not only gold coins, as was customary in those distant times, but also whole bricks of jasper. Since then, a grandiose construction began, as a result of which the Mikhailovsky Castle was erected. The monument to Peter I was erected before the completion of the construction of the residence. More than 6 thousand construction workers worked on the construction of the castle. They worked day and night, so after 4 years the building was already fully completed. Then there was a superbly organized housewarming party. The emperor was happy that he was able to carry out his plans, and will continue to live in the castle, which he always dreamed of. However, he was not destined to rejoice in the comfort of his new home for long: exactly 40 days after the housewarming, Paul the First was killed in his bedroom. After this tragic event, the royal family did not want to stay in Mikhailovsky and moved to live in the Winter Palace.

Characteristics

The Mikhailovsky Castle (a monument to Peter I together with it) is one of the most original architectural monuments in St. Petersburg. He had no analogues. It differs in many respects from all other palaces in the Northern capital. After all, it was not planned by an architect, but by Emperor Paul himself, who, moreover, bore the title of Master of Malta. Paul's dream was that his castle would become a residence for the reception of the Knights of Malta. That is why it looks more like a medieval fairytale palace. According to Paul's idea, the territory of the palace had natural boundaries - the waters of the Moika and Fontanka, as well as the Church and Ascension canals. It turned out that this palace, as it were, is on an island, which can be reached from land by means of bridges.

The sad fate of the castle after the death of the owner

After Paul was killed, this gorgeous castle fell into complete desolation. Later, when his successor, Alexander I, needed raw materials to create a luxurious silver table service, he ordered to melt the incredibly beautiful chased gates that belonged to the palace church. And during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the castle became a kind of a mine of marble for the palace architects who were building the New Hermitage. As you know, in the middle of the 19th century, it was transferred to the Main Military School. But during the Second World War, a military hospital was organized here. And only in 1994, the Mikhailovsky Castle, the monument to Peter the Great and the temple on the palace grounds were transferred under the auspices of the Russian Museum, thanks to which large-scale construction and restoration work began here, which ended in time for the 300th anniversary of the Northern Capital. Finally, he regained its former gloss. At the moment, the Mikhailovsky Castle is one of the branches of the museum.

Monument to Peter 1 in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle

A year before the completion of the construction of the castle of Paul the First, that is, in 1800, a monument to the first Russian emperor, the Great Peter I, was erected in front of the palace square. It bore the inscription: "Great-grandfather from great-grandson." The idea of ​​the sculpture belonged to Peter himself. And the great Rastrelli was its author. By the way, the monument to Peter the Great at the Mikhailovsky Castle is the first equestrian monument in the entire territory of Russia. Before being erected on the square, it lay in the “cellars” of the Winter Palace for about 50 years.

The history of the creation of the monument

In the most fruitful period of his reign, Peter the Great, casting a glance at the path traveled and realizing what great things he had done for his country, decided to perpetuate his memory. After the victory in the Battle of Poltava, he planned to erect a stone pyramid with a personal image in full growth and on a horse, which will be cast from yellow copper. However, that period was quite difficult for the state, and he had to postpone the implementation of his idea for an indefinite period. In 1716, the great sculptor and architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg. He was invited to create a monument to Peter the Great. For about two years he worked on the manufacture of a clay model of a horse for the monument. But to recreate an exact copy of the emperor's face, Rastrelli removed a plaster mask from his face, like the famous Venetian ones. By the way, with her (mask) help, a wax bust of Peter was also made. According to the plan of the great emperor, there was to be an inscription on the monument. A whole team of employees and students of the Paris Royal Academy undertook her essay. The text had to be in Latin. It is he who decorates today the Monument to Peter in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

Valuable guidance

The great emperor was very inspired by the fact that he would soon be able to immortalize himself by erecting the first equestrian monument in Russia. Once he visited the workshop where Rastrelli worked and gave him some very valuable and practical advice. This was in 1719, the Northern War was coming to an end, and the Russian Empire was to become the victor in it. This meant that the new monument was to embody the triumph of both the whole of Russia and its emperor. After 5 years, a new wax model of the monument was ready. Many critics felt that he was overwhelmed by various details. However, we must not forget that he belongs to the Baroque era, which was characterized by a tendency to excess and luxury.

Description

Initially, the Monument to Peter the Great at the Mikhailovsky Castle had the following appearance. The mighty horse, on which the mighty emperor sits. At the feet of the horse lies a snake - a symbol of envy. Later she was transferred to the Bronze Horseman. The monument also consisted of six allegorical figures - virtues, a statue of the Neva, cupids, the earthly sphere. During the life of Peter, a different place was chosen for the monument - the old Senate Square on Vasilyevsky Island. Peter liked Rastrelli's plan very much. However, they were in no hurry to cast the statue from bronze.

A new twist of fate

After Peter the Great died in 1725, for about 10 years his successors did not even remember the monument. By the way, B. Rastrelli received payment from the state treasury for his work only in 1734. For about 7 years after that, the monument was gathering dust in the barn, but when the daughter of the Great Emperor Elizabeth came to power, she decided once again to remind her subjects whose daughter she was. And in 1943, by her order, a monument to Peter I was taken out of the barn (the Mikhailovsky Castle, in front of which it is now installed, was built many years later). The Empress wanted to erect it in front of the Winter Palace. However, after examining the monument, they came to the conclusion that it no longer meets the tastes of the new era, and it needs to be finalized. Naturally, this was entrusted to the already aging Bartolomeo. As a result, the monument was only an image of the triumphant emperor without any bas-reliefs and allegories. Rastrelli was pleased with his brainchild, but he was not destined to see it on a pedestal. As you know, it was only in 1800 that Paul the First erected the Monument to Peter I. The Mikhailovsky Castle became the residence of the great-grandson of the First Russian Emperor a year after this event.

A horse with a human leg.

It seems to be a well-known formal attraction - Peter I on horseback, at the Mikhailovsky Castle. The model of the monument was made during Peter's lifetime by the sculptor Rastrelli, the monument itself was gathering dust in the basements for a long time and only under Paul I was it installed in its present place. It would seem that a monument is like a monument. However, if you choose a certain angle and carefully look at the horse's legs, it turns out that one of its legs is human! What is it? Someone's oversight? The sculptor's revenge? Is it just such a peculiar joke?

Address: st. Sadovaya, 2.

Let's figure out this secret ...

The history of the monument to Peter I at the Mikhailovsky Castle (Engineer) on Connetable Square is interesting in itself, because it stretched out almost for the entire 18th century.

In the most fruitful period of his reign, Peter I, casting a glance at the path traveled and realizing what great things he had done for his country, decided to perpetuate his memory. After the victory in the Battle of Poltava, he planned to erect a stone pyramid with a personal image in full growth and on a horse, which will be cast from yellow copper. However, that period was quite difficult for the state, and he had to postpone the implementation of his idea for an indefinite period.

In 1716, the great sculptor and architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg. He was invited to create the monument to Peter I. For about two years he worked on the manufacture of a clay model of a horse for the monument. But to recreate an exact copy of the emperor's face, Rastrelli removed a plaster mask from his face, like the famous Venetian ones.

By the way, with her (mask) help, a wax bust of Peter was also made. According to the plan of the great emperor, there was to be an inscription on the monument. A whole team of employees and students of the Paris Royal Academy undertook her essay. The text had to be in Latin. It is he who decorates today the Monument to Peter in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

The great emperor was very inspired by the fact that he would soon be able to immortalize himself by erecting the first equestrian monument in Russia. Once he visited the workshop where Rastrelli worked and gave him some very valuable and practical advice. This was in 1719, the Northern War was coming to an end, and the Russian Empire was to become the victor in it.

This meant that the new monument was to embody the triumph of both the whole of Russia and its emperor. After 5 years, a new wax model of the monument was ready. Many critics believed that this monument was overloaded with various details. However, we must not forget that it belongs to the Baroque era, which was characterized by a tendency to excess and luxury.

Initially, the Monument to Peter I had the following appearance. The mighty horse on which the emperor sits. At the feet of the horse lies a snake - a symbol of envy. Later she was transferred to the Bronze Horseman. The monument also consisted of six allegorical figures - virtues, a statue of the Neva, cupids, the earthly sphere. During the life of Peter, a different place was chosen for the monument - the old Senate Square on Vasilievsky Island. Peter liked Rastrelli's plan very much. However, they were in no hurry to cast the statue from bronze.

After the death of Peter I in 1725, for about 10 years his heirs did not even remember the monument. By the way, B. Rastrelli received payment from the state treasury for his work only in 1734. For about 7 years after that, the monument was gathering dust in the barn, but when the daughter of the Great Emperor Elizabeth came to power, she decided once again to remind her subjects whose daughter she was.

The Empress wanted to erect it in front of the Winter Palace. However, after examining the monument, she came to the conclusion that it no longer corresponds to the tastes of the new time, and it needs to be finalized. Naturally, this was entrusted to the already aging Bartolomeo. As a result, the monument was only an image of the triumphant emperor without any bas-reliefs and allegories.

In 1743, after examination and approval of the model by Elizaveta Petrovna, Rastrelli began making a large sculpture. The work on it was completed in 1744. That was the fate - neither during the lifetime of Peter, nor during the lifetime of the creator of the monument, it was not installed.
In the same 1744, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli dies in St. Petersburg, and the casting of the statue of Peter in bronze from the wax models of his father was carried out by his son Francesco three years later. Empress Catherine II appreciated the monument and considered it unworthy of the great monarch, after which Rastrelli Jr. was removed from office, and Catherine ordered a new monument to Peter instead of Rastrelli's "unsuccessful" work.

The French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet took over the work on the monument to the great tsar, so the world famous "Bronze Horseman" was born, and the finished monument of the Italian sculptor was kept by Prince Grigory Potemkin for many years, but again, it was not installed. Only the Emperor Paul I, who came to power, remembered the long-suffering statue of his ancestor and ordered to erect it in Kronstadt.

After some time, Pavel changes his mind and gives the order to transport and erect the monument to St. Petersburg, and from 1800 to the present day, it has been standing at the facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle on Connetable Square. Pavel also ordered to make an inscription on the pedestal - "Great-grandfather Great-grandson 1800", clearly echoing the inscription "Peter I Catherine II Summer 1782" on the thunder-stone of the "Bronze Horseman".

The sculpture of the king is installed on a high marble pedestal, on both sides of it there are decorations in the form of bronze bas-reliefs that tell the story of two battles of the Northern War. On the one hand (eastern) - a fragment of the Battle of Poltava, on the other (western) - the battle at Gangut. The first bas-relief depicts Peter, he points with a sword to his comrade-in-arms Prince Menshikov at the retreating Swedish enemies, the trumpeting geniuses of Victory soar over their heads.

The second bas-relief depicts the first major sea battle won by Peter at Cape Gangut. The ship of Tsar Peter and he himself are depicted on the left side of the bas-relief, on the right side a captured Swedish ship, over which the Russian flag is hoisted. In the middle of the composition there is a scene of the rescue of a drowning sailor.

Both bas-reliefs were made by a whole group of sculptors; V.I. Demut-Malinovsky, I.I. Terebenev and I.E. Moiseev. The decisive battle scenes are distinguished by the highest artistic level, the accuracy of depicting the smallest details of the entire composition.

The bas-reliefs are loved and revered by the townspeople as good signs of the times. It is striking how polished the protruding parts of the bas-reliefs are - the hooves of horses, Peter's leg and a drowning sailor, especially the heel. These are urban legends, which, over time, overgrow almost any monument of our city. It is believed that if you hold on to the heel of a sailor, you will not drown, and if you touch the tsar's jackboot or the horse's hoof, it will bring good luck.

Original taken from

Have this monument to Peter the Great has a difficult fate.
The idea to immortalize Peter in bronze belonged to Anna Ioannovna, but Elizabeth, the "daughter of Petrov", realized her.

But the monument could have appeared during the life of Peter. 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 rendering of Peter's facial features, Rastrelli took off his plaster mask, which later became the basis for the wax bust of the tsar kept in the Hermitage.

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

The model received the highest approval from Peter, but it was never cast in bronze. In 1725 the emperor died, and for the next ten years his heirs had no time for a monument. Even Rastrelli received payment for the work already done only in 1734! Rastrelli never saw his creation 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 Elizaveta Petrovna, did not like the statue (by the way, the daughter was illegally born, that is, outside of a church marriage) and for several decades the monument was in the barn of the Liteiny Dvor. Elizabeth wanted to erect 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 beloved horse with the rare name Lisette.

Throughout the reign of Catherine the Great, he lay on the embankment of the Neva at the Isaac Bridge. Peter and the horse really have bulging eyes and a little comical look. A laurel wreath looks more like horns or a crown that has been dropped many times ...

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

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

Paul ordered to make the inscription "Great-grandfather - great-grandson." This inscription was composed 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 two-headed eagle with a Maltese cross, 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 where exactly Peter rubs all hooves and all legs))))

On a 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 it is rubbed by students to successfully pass exams (instead of studying tickets). Soon they will completely erase.

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

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

They say that if you look closely at the monument to Peter on a white night, then at 3 o'clock in the morning you can see how he moves and it seems as if Peter is solemnly leaving the gate of the castle ...

In 1941, the statue was removed from the 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 he is not so famous among tourists as but in vain ...)))

The monument stands at the Mikhailovsky Castle. st. Sadovaya, 2. A number of photos (C) Artem Kirpichenok. Infa (C) Internet

The history of this equestrian monument had already spanned several decades by that time. Elizaveta Petrovna also wanted to erect a monument to her father, and by her order, Rastrelli, the elder, who worked a lot on the busts and statues of Peter the Great, created a new equestrian monument to the great Russian emperor. The sculptor spent all the preparatory stages for casting the monument, but he died without finishing the work. The father's business was continued by the son of Francesco Rastrelli, at that time already a famous architect. He planned to erect a monument to Peter I on Palace Square after the completion of the construction of the Winter Palace. But Elizabeth died, everyone lost interest in Rastrelli's work, and Catherine II did not like the finished sculpture at all, and she invited the French sculptor Falcone to work on the new monument to Peter. Only Pavel remembered the forgotten statue of Peter, and he ordered to erect the monument in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

And now we are carefully looking at the horse. We move away, we run over with the lens ... We look at the front left leg of the horse ... See? This is not a horse's leg! There is no hoof! It - female leg ...

When you lift your dropped jaw, rush to find a clue.

The only thing I could find was various stories about the Emperor's horse:

“It is known that for many years Peter I was faithfully served by a horse that bore, oddly enough, the female name Lisette. For the first time, Peter the Great saw this slender Persian stallion in a military camp near Riga, at the shopkeepers - small traders who accompanied the army on campaigns. At first glance, the horse captured the king. Peter I immediately exchanged it for his horse, giving a small addition.

Since then, Peter I rarely parted with this horse, which turned out to be extremely hardy: he ran 150 miles a day “without any harm or injury to himself” 23, although he carried a rider more than two meters tall.

And it happened that when Peter was sitting in a tent or in the open air at a table among his officers, Lisette approached the noisy company and willingly drank and ate what she was treated to from the tsar's table.

On Lisette, the emperor made the Persian campaign, was in a battle on the Prut River, in the famous Poltava battle. And after the victory, Peter I, riding Lisette, hosted the triumph of field marshals B.P.Sheremetev and A.D. Menshikov in Moscow.

When the horse fell, a stuffed animal of it on August 19, 1741 entered the Cabinet of Curiosities - the first museum of St. Petersburg - in the same decoration as it was under Peter I: a saddle made of dark green velvet with gold embroidery and gold fringe; under the saddle (and over the saddle cloth) a cloth saddle cloth made of the same green velvet and also with gold embroidery and fringe along the edge is worn for decoration. The iron stirrups hung low, recalling the high growth of the owner.

Now a stuffed horse Lisette can be seen in the Zoological Museum of the USSR Academy of Sciences "

The connection of the horse with the name Lisette and a woman's leg can be traced. Considering that he is a horse, the situation becomes not very clear. For sexual minorities it is clear, for the rest it is not very ...

Honestly, I don't know the answer.
Under Peter, not a real Lisette, she was smaller and not so representative. Allegorical figure. Someone says that this is a joke of the sculptor, there is a version that this is a petty revenge, that the author was not paid anything. There is a beautiful version that this is the leg of the sculptor's beloved ... Realists directly say - optical illusion, there is a real hoof and a horse's leg. I have no answer.

And one more mystery more in your beloved city!

***
Another small addition. For lovers of mysticism and accepts.

Large bronze bas-reliefs, placed on the side faces of the pedestal, depict the most important episodes of the Northern War - the Battle of Gangut and Poltava. MI Kozlovsky supervised their creation. Walk carefully around the pedestal and take a closer look at the bas-relief depicting the Battle of Gangut. See the polished heel of one of the sailors? This is because thousands of tourists touch it in the hope that their dream will come true. No sea dream comes to my mind, except not to drown;)

This monument occupies a significant place in the mystical world of St. Petersburg city folklore. From time to time it “comes to life”. There is an urban belief. If you look closely at it on a white night at exactly three o'clock, you can see how it moves.

White nights are coming soon. Three o'clock in the morning ... Let's go?