Юсуповский дворец. Исторические события.
It’s not given to many men to be able to shift the course of the world by even the tiniest fraction but Felix Yusupov did that. Combined with all the other troubles, the personal blow of the loss of “Our Friend” demoralized Nicolas and Alexander and was one of the factors which left the czar unable to withstand the forces of revolution. It may well be that the revolution would have taken place without the murder of Rasputin. The murder caused hatred for the aristocrats among the peasants. What transpired was quite opposite to what Felix expected and hoped would happen. He believed in the talk about in a coup de palais and expected that the corrupt and useless ministers appointed at Rasputin’s request would be swept away after his death, that czar would then be forced to accept a new stronger government in which other members of the imperial family would play an important role and so the dynasty would be preserved. The Yusupovs had acquired the basis for their wealth like the following: they were originally of Tartars origin, chieftains in the Golden Horde to which Moscow paid tribute. When Felix was born in 1887 Moscow was still very much an oriental city. The city’s cathedral St Basil’s remains a reminder of the Russian struggle against the Tartars and the history of the Yusupovs, for this cathedral was built by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Kazan from Khan Yusuf from whom the Yusupovs took their name. At the end of the 17th century his great grandson acknowledged the role of czar and converted to the Orthodox faith with the name of Dmitriy. The family was ennobled and Dmitriy was made prince Yusupov.
Princess Zinaida was the last true Yusupov descended from the male line. When she married a colonel count Felix Sumarokov-Elston, the czar gave them permission to keep the Yusupov name and title. At the age of 29 Felix Yusupov (Zinaida’s son) inherited the enormous Yusupov family fortune made up of 4 palaces in St Petersburg, 3 in Moscow, 37 estates, coal mines, iron mines, oil land around the Caspian Sea from which oil simplyoozed, estates in the Crimea (one of the mountains was presented by Felix’s father to his wife as a birthday present). In 1916 the inheritance was estimated to be worth about 250 million USD. The Moyka palace art collections surpassed most collections in Europe’s museums. The rooms were furnished with pieces which once belonged to Queen of France Maria-Antoinette and there were 2000 guests who could be seated to dine from gold and silver plates. Among the collection there were 2 portraits by Rembrand (“Portrait of a gentleman in a high-hat” and “Portrait of a lady with an ostrich feather fan”). Now the pictures are in the national gallery of art in Washington. There were also collections of jewellry. There were famous earrings which belonged to madam Pompadour, black pearl necklace which was presented by Catherine the Great and one of 3 perfect pearls “la Pelegrina”. Overlooking the Moyka river, this yellow, colonnaded building was designed by Vallin de La Mothe. The palace was acquired in 1830 by the aristocratic Yusupov family to house their superb collection of paintings. Major work was then carried out on the interior by Andrey Mykhaylov and Ippolito Monighetti. The interiors, notable among them the exotic Moorish room, with its fountain, colorful mosaics and horseshoe arches can be viewed by guided tour only. Separate tickets are needed for the tour of the cellars which house an exhibition on Grigory Rasputin, the infamous “holy man” who was murdered here by Prince Felix Yusupov. The elegant Rococo-style family theatre seats just 180 and attending a concert in an experience in itself. The Russian peasant and mystic Grigory Rasputin exercised an extraordinarily powerful influence over the court and government of Russia. The mysterious circumstances of his dramatic death on 17 Dec 1916 are legendary. Lured to Yusupov’s palace on the pretext of a party, Rasputin was poisoned and then shot by Felix Yusupov. And left for dead. Returning to the scene the Prince found Rasputin still alive and a struggle ensued before Rasputin disappeared into the courtyard. Persuaded by the conspirators he was shot another 3 times and brutally beaten before being dumped in the river. When his corpse was found three days later, clinging to the support of bridge, water in his lungs indicated death by drowning.
Big Palace
The construction of the palace began in 1714 from Peter’s personal drawings but the construction works were entrusted to the German architect Braunschtein. But Peter’s palace turned out to be too small to Elizabeth and her court and it was Rastrelli (1747-1754) who rebuilt it in the middle of the XVIII century. He added two-side galleries, the palace church and the pavilion under the coat of arm. Route: Main Staircase, Secretary’s Room, Chesma Hall, Throne Hall, Audience Hall, White Dinning Room, Chinese Cabinets, Pictures Gallery, Orient Cabinet, Boudoir Cabinet, Partridge’s room, Toilet Room, The Cabinet of Catherine the Great, Flag’s Room, Cavaliers’ Room, Western Drawing Room, Crown Bedchamber, Cabinet of Peter the Great. Secretary’s Room We start from the secretary’s room. The door leads to the gallery connecting the palace with one of the wings. Usually a secretary sat in this room who make the entries into the palace visitors’ room. Chesma Hall (Rastrelly and Felten) Felten was invited by Catherine II to redecorate it in the number of rooms in the palace in the style of classicism keeping with imperial power. Besides the classicism was the leading style of the second half of the XVIII century. The room was designed to commemorate the Russian victory over the Turkish navy (768-774). Catherine the Great commissioned 12 pictures from the artist Fillip Gakert. He wasn’t a battle painter and never saw a scene of a battle in his life. For him to paint one of the pictures true to life a 60 cannon-gun ship was packed with gunpowder and blown up to enable the artist to get the real feeling how the ship in fire looked like. The picture survived in evacuation. The plafond in this room is the old XVII century painting on the subject of Greek mythology. The Greeks couldn’t sail for Troy due to the head wind sent by Artemis, goddess of the moon. The oracle demand to sacrifice the beautiful daughter of the tsar. She willingly agreed but as soon as the knife touched her Artemis kidnapped Efigenia and brought doe instead of the girl and Efigenia became her priestess. Throne Hall (Rastrelli) It’s the largest hall in the palace. There’re 20 portraits of close relatives of Peter the Great in the medallions. The pictures were brought here to the order of Catherine II who wanted to emphasize that she was one of the Romanovs. The portrait is the largest one here. She is sitting on the horseback. It was painted by Dutch painter in 1762. Audience Hall (Rastrelli)The walls are covered with lace-like gilded woodwork. The hall is rather narrow. So to make it look more spacious, Rastrelliput 2 rows of mirrors. The ceiling is decorated with the plafond on the subject borrowed from the XVI century Italian poet Torquato Tasso: “Jerusalem delivered”. The heathen enchantress, Armied, took Rinaldo Christian knight to the magic gardens on an island where he forgot his duty. The duty was to fight with her and there he felt in love with her. The plafond is the result of the restoration work. 5 kilos of gold were used for the restoration of this hall. White Dinning Room (Felten, classical style) 5 chandeliers of gilded bronze and crystal glass were made in Russia. The crystal glass was called “amethyst”. Some manganese ore were added to the melted glass to get a smoky effect. The table is laid for 30 persons in the fashion of the XVIII century. The service was made in Wedgwood in the 70th of the XVIII century to the order of Catherine II for this palace. 196 pieces survived. Wedgwood is an English factory of fine pottery with delicately designed. Cream colored pottery was highly thought by Queen Charlotte and the therefore such pottery was called “queen’s ware”. Chinese Rooms There’re 2 Chinese rooms designed by Vallin de la Mothe in the beginning of the XVIII century. They were meant for the collection of Chinese objects of art. China was faraway mysterious country with totally different culture. That’s why it attracted people’s attention and for a while everything Chinese was in fashion. The walls were covered with black panels made in China in XVII century but only 2 survived. They were found in German dugouts where they were used to fortify earthen walls. The rest of the panels are result of the restoration work by Paleh masters. The inlaid parquet floor is made of 13 valuable kinds of wood, such as ebony, sandalwood, mahogany and plane tree restored by group of Russian masters from surviving drawings. Portrait Hall It’s in the very center of the palace and occupies its whole width. At the time of Peter the Great the hall housed the collection of paintings by Dutch and Flemish artist and it was decorated by wooden panels. In 1764 368 paintings were purchased by Catherine the Great from the widow of Italian painter Pietro Rotari. Court painter Rotari came to Russia in 1726 and became the court painter of Elizabeth. His works was very popular in Russia where majority of his portraits can be found. He influenced the work of several Russian portrait painters (Antropov, Rokotov, Levitsky). Rotari painted a great number of portraits of young girls for the Chinese palace in Lomonosov (Oranienbaum). Some are in the Yusupov palace in Saint-Petersburg. Only 8 girls were his models. They were dressed in various Asian and European costumes. That’s why at first glance pictures were chosen not so much for the artistic value but for decorative qualities. This room acquired the name “The Study of Mod and Graces”.
П-П. Крепость, положившая начало Петербургу.
The fortress itself got its name after the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul. By the autumn 1703 all the earth fortifications had been completed and only by 1740 all fortifications was rebuilt in stone. It was designed by P-I under the supervision of Domeniko Tresini. Its overall plan is an irregular hexagon with bastions points at each exterior corner. The PPF consists of 6 bastion and 6 curtain walls, 2 ravelins and the Cronverk with the defend arsenal. The fortress follows an approximate contour of the island. 3 of 6 bastions stand on its southern bank washed by the waters of Neva. The other 3 are on the northern shore protected by a small fork of the Neva. The Tsar delegated the task of observing the erection of 5 bastions to 5 of his closest associates and the bastion were named after each one correspondingly: Нарышкин, Трубецкой, Головкин, Зотов, Меньшиков The erection of the 6th was observed by P-I personally and it got his name. The St Peter gate was constructed in 1717-1718 replacing the original wooden main gate. Originally the main gate was crowned by a statue of St Peter, hence its name. Now a sculpture of the black two-headed eagle is fixed over the gate. It is cast in lead and weights more that a ton. On the eagle’s heads there are imperial crowns, in his talons are a scepter and an orb. It has the red shield with a court of arms depicting St George slaying a dragon on his chest. It is the ancient court of arms of Moscow. This is all the Russian imperial court of arms. The large rectangular bas-relief is the scene of precipitation of Simon Magus, heathen sorcerer . According to the ancient Christian legend he wanted to reach the heavens using the support of demons in order to prove his superiority. And St Peter through him back to earth by his prays. It is the allegorical representation of the victory over Sweden during the northern war. On the both sides of the arch are statues of 2 women in niches. The woman on the right in military cloth represents Afina, the other on the left holding a mirror and a snake is the goddess of Wisdom – Minerva. The engineering house is a rare example of SPb military structure built in 1740s which has preserved its original exterior appearance almost without change. It was built for officers of the engineering department. The Artillery warehouse was built in the beg of 19th century as a storehouse of artillery and towards the beginning of the 20th century was used as a manage. Officers Guard House. Before the October revolution of 1917 it served as themain guard house. Its present appearance is the result of reconstruction in the style of classicism which took place in the beg of 20th century. The large lone
separating the Guard house from the main avenue was the site of the fortress drill ground. Before the revolution the red and white building was the residence of the fortress commandants appointed from the most distinguish generals of the Russian Army, hence the name – The Commandants House. Investigations were held in this building and sentences were announced here too. In rare occasions the basement was used as the confinement place for political prisoners. During the 2 hundred years history there were 34 commandants. 19 of them died on the territory of the fortress. They are buried in the small cemetery near the Eastern facade of the Cathedral. Among these tomb-stones there is the one of the Scotsman Robert Bruce who was commandant of the fortress in 1704-1720. The main avenue ends up with the Mint Works. It was moved to SPb in 1724 by the order of P-I and has remained the main center of coin, medal and other production till our days. It is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in our city.The Boat House is a small fine baroque pavilion. On the roof stand an allegorical statue of Navigation. The pavilion was built in 1716 for the preservation of the boat built by P-I. The Prisoners Department in the PFF as the prison was officially called was established in 1870-1871. Before the offenders were confined in the Secret House (demolished) and in the warehouse of the curtain walls. The prison is pentagonal on shape following the configuration of the bastion where it was built. Inside the prison has a small court yard with the small one-story bath-house in the center. On the 2 floor there are 69 solitary confinement cells and 2 punishment cells. The political offender were confined here under investigation in cases of special political importance before being sent to another prison, to the place of exile of execution. The main method of psychological treatment was the total isolation from the other prisoners under conditions of strict silence in combination with constant control and observation. Knocking on the walls was the only was of contacting between those in neighboring cells. The building construction and reinforced guard both inside and outside made escape from the prison impossible. The Naryshkin bastion is the central from the side of the Neva river. The stone flag staff-tower was built on it in the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century flags and keys from the fortress were kept here. Now two guns stand on the curtain wall. Every midday one of them fires a blank shot. This tradition was introduced by P-I from the Admiralty. In our times it was renewed in 1957.
31 Alexander, or "New" Tzarskoje Selo Palace
On the territory of the Tzarskoje Selo ensemble, in the northern part of the Alexander Park, against a picturesque landscape stands a wonderful palace with more than two centuries of history. This is the Alexander, or "New" Tzarskoje Selo Palace. The foundation was laid in 1792 by order of Empress Catherine II the Great, and the palace presented as a gift to her first and favorite grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich (the future Emperor Alexander I) on the occasion of his marriage to Grand Duchess Elizaveta Alexeevna (1779 - 1826). The palace construction was completed in May of 1796, during the last year of Catherine the Great's reign,. On June 12, 1796, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich and his spouse moved into the New Palace. The architectural plans for the Alexander Palace were executed by the famous Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi. The architect Pyotr Neyelov also took part in the construction. Such renowned architects as Luigi Rusca, K. Maker, S. Cherfolio, A. Thon, D. Efimov, Andrei Stakenschneider, Vasily Stasov, A. Vidov, S. Danini and R. Meltzer also took part in the interior design and remodeling of the Alexander Palace. This palace in the classical style is an oblong two-story building with double wings on each side. In the center of the main northern facade is a magnificent Corinthian colonnade passage consisting of two rows of columns. The facade of the palace looking out on the regular part of the Alexander Park has been executed in the form of a semi-rotunda topped off by a spherical dome. The palace interiors, after plans by Giacomo Quarenghi, are also in the classical style. The joiner's work was carried out by Sponholtz, the moldings executed under the direction of Maclord, and the ceilings and walls decorated by the artist G. A. de la Giacomo. The halls of the formal enfilade, faced in imitation white marble, run the length of the facade of the palace looking out onto the park. In the center of the enfilade is a hall with a half-rotunda divided into three parts by wide archways. The middle part of the space was called the Semi-Round Hall, the eastern side is known as the Portrait Hall, adjacent to the Hall with the Hill, and the western side the Billiard Room (or Crimson Drawing Room). The wing on the left side of the palace was occupied by the Corner Drawing Room connected to the library rooms, and the wing on the right side housed the palace chapel. The left wing of the palace contained the Concert Hall, directly adjacent to the Corner Drawing Room and a series of living quarters. Emperor Nicholas I loved the Alexander Palace. Here, in the close company of family, he frequently spent long periods of time. On October 19, 1860, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (1798 - 1860) passed away in the Alexander Palace. For Alexander Alexandrovich, grandson of Nicholas I and future Emperor Alexander III, the Alexander Palace was the residence of the Grand Duke, and his apartments were located in the right wing of the palace. Following the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Alexander Palace became the permanent residence of
Emperor Nicholas II, who had been born in Tzarskoje Selo. It was here that the 22-year reign of the last Russian Emperor was passed. On the morning of August 1, 1917, the Tsar's family was taken from the palace and sent into exile in Tobolsk. All important events
connected with the activities of the Russian State were carried out here in the Alexander Palace: receptions for diplomats and foreign dignitaries, celebrations such as the 300-year anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and the 200-year anniversary of the founding of Tzarskoje Selo all took place here. The square in front of the palace was also a frequent site for official parades, court appearances and cavalry celebrations. On June 23, 1918, the Alexander Palace was opened to visitors as a state museum. The exposition included the historical interiors on the first floor of the central part and the left wing of the palace with the Romanov family collection, which had been accumulated over the course of more than a hundred years. Later the right wing of the palace would house a sanitorium for NKVD agents, and the left became the Young Communard Children's Home, in place of the former closed rooms of Nicholas II's children on the second floor of the building's left wing. In 1941, at the start of World War II, chandeliers, carpets, furniture, marble and porcelain objects and a part of the library books were evacuated from the Alexander Palace museum. The directorate of party organs occupied the basement. After the town of Pushkin was seized by German troops, the halls of the Alexander Palace housed the German headquarters and gestapo, and the cellars became a prison, the square in front of the palace was turned into a cemetery for SS soldiers.
At the end of the war the palace remained standing, and in 1946 was turned over to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR to house the collections of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) and expositions from the All-Union Alexander Pushkin Museum. In 1947 - 1951, reconstruction and resotration work on the palace began, during which it was decided to repair not only those interiors designed by Giacomo Quarenghi, but also to recreate the interiors from the reigns of Emperor Nicholas I and Nicholas II. However, as work was in progress, the remaining decorative elements in the Maple and Rosewood rooms of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna and the Dressing Room of Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich were destroyed. In 1951 the Alexander Palace by government decree was transferred to the Navy Department, and the palace museum's collection sent for keeping to the Catherine and Pavlovsk palace museums, including objects created especially for the interiors of the Alexander Palace. In 1996 a grant from the World Monuments Fund was obtained to finance the restoration of the Alexander Palace. In August of 1997, with the active assistance of the Tzarskoje Selo Museum Reserve, as well as the military organization located in the palace itself, following remodeling of the left wing, the exhibition "Reminiscences in the Alexander Palace" was opened in the personal apartments of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. The partially preserved historical and non-authentic interiors (exhibit rooms) today display furnishings and personal belongings of the Emperor, his spouse and their daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia, as well as their son, Crown Prince Alexis.
Russian museum
1895 – the date of foundation of the Russian museum. 1898 – it was opened for visitors.
The tour lasts for an hour and a half. You’ll be acquainted with the history of Russian art. It’s like an illustration to Russian history. Russian museum originally was built as a palace and a living residence for Grand Duke Michael, one of the younger sons of Paul I. The style: You can call it – Russian classical style or an Empire style. It was borrowed from France after the defeat of Napoleon. The architect Rossi built this building in 1819-1825. The interior didn’t survive and only a few rooms can give an idea how the building looked like. For example, the staircase. Here the military motives were chosen for decoration. The ceiling is decorated in grisaille technique. Greyish-brownish colors look very much like moulding. In 1898 the first Russian gallery was opened in this building. Most of the objects of art came from the Academy of Fine Arts, from private collections of Russian tsars. This museum numbers over 300000 exhibits.
Russian portraiture
In the XVII century one can observe gradual transition from icon painting to secular portraiture. This transition wasn’t sudden. First portraits were known as “parsuns” from the word “person”. They were painted on canvases in oil (icon technique). Nevertheless, the change from the beginning was a surprising achievement for single generation. There were very few moments in the history of art when so profound changes occurred during the reign of Peter I. In the first quarter of the XVIII century Russia was a backward state. The period of Peter’s reforms was the most important landmark in the history of Russian culture and art. Peter I invited a great number of foreign artists to Russia. Besides he founded a drawing school in the new capital and sent some of Russian painters to study abroad. Nikitin and Matveev were among them. Nikitin spent 5 years studying art in Venice. “Peter I on Death Bed” belongs to his brush. Matveev was sent to Antwerp. Very few portraits painted by this artist are left in the museums. He’s best known for portrait paintings. He had portrayed himself, his wife and his daughter. In general, the decades following the death of Peter I weren’t favorable to the development of Russian national art. They were in particular years of Anna Ioanovna. And even later during the time of Elizabeth when arts were flourishing the priority was always given to the foreign artists.
In the middle of the XVIII century new genres in painting began to develop in this country such as “cityscape”. Many artists painted still life. Flower-pieces were quite popular. For a long period Russian painters were more at ease in portraiture. Antropovand Argunov were the most notable artists at that period. We can’t consider Matveev to be their teacher. None of them was sent abroad for professional training. They weren’t aristocrats, some of them were even serves. However, they created whole gallery of portraits. Vishnyakovsky The works of this painter present a considerable interest as they convey a good commandof color and at the same time reveal the heritage of the parsuns painters. Proportions of the body are unnatural and the movement of posture is strange, too. Argunov He came from a highly gifted family but they were serves. They belonged to count Sheremetiev who was the richest landowner of Russia and supported various arts. They had their own teachers for their pupils for Sheremetiev’s theaters but all actors were serves. Argunov painted portraits of his owners and his friends and so fame came to him. He was commissioned to paint portrait of the new empress Catherine II. Antropov He was the first artist who took a step towards realistic representation. “Portrait of Rumiantseva”. She was the mother of general Rumiantsev. When looking at his portraits one can see how the old and the new are interwoven. There’s no idealization of western type of society portraits. It’s a direct influence of iconic treatment when the most prominent figures couldn’t be painted at any angles but front. In the sphere of art great contribution was made by Lomonosov who revived the art of mosaic the secret of which was lost in the XIII century. Lomonosov carried out many experiments and created the process of making colored glass. Rokotov, Levitsky and Boroviakovsky At the end of the XVIII century 3 names appeared in Russian portraiture: Rokotov, Levitsky and Boroviakovsky. The fate of Rokotov was quite unusual. His life covered long period from 1735 to 1808. He created series of very specific portraits. His style resembles that of the English artist Gainsborough. It’s hardly possible that Rokotov was aware of Gainsborough’s works. He developed his own half-length composition and subtle color scheme of olive-green, silver-grey or golden-pink. Unfortunately, after his death he was forgotten. The largest part of his works was lost. It’s only due to the exhibition organized in Taurida palace by Diagilev in 1905 that all art connoisseurs turned to Rokotov’s paintings with great interest. The Academy of Fine Arts was established in Saint-Petersburg in 1757. It gave excellent technical training to its students and, of course, greatly influenced the development of Russian art. There were rules according to which artist had to paint official portraits. For example, the book is red. If the nose of a sitter is crooked it should be straightened, if the shoulders are stooped the figure must be painted upright. Should it be too short or stout the painter’s task is to make it tall and slim. In the Academy young artist received not only artistic instructions but on early days a general education as well. The project of the Academy had been formulated in the last years of Peter I. It was Catherine I who transformed Peter’s school of drawing into a department of incorporated Academy of Sightseeing. But it was Elizabeth who founded the Academy in 1757. Count Shuvalov was given a task of organization. The staff of professors was selected from numbers of the French academy as they accepted only on
condition that they should work in Saint-Petersburg. It was the way how they eventually founded the Academy. The dominating artist’s style of that period was neoclassicism. A long process of systematic study in Saint-Petersburg was followed by the furthering training in Italy. The predominant genre was historical, mythological and Biblical subjects. Anton Losenko (1737-1773) Russian classicism of the XVIII century found its fullest expressionin his works. He’d done a lot for the further development of Russian art. He ranks among the best artists of the XVIII century. He was one of the first students of the Academy and later he became a president and a professor of historical painting., “Vladimir and Rogneda”. Vladimir, the prince of Kiev, was in love with princess Rogneda. He failed in awaking feelings in her. His troops fought against her farther and Vladimir killed him and Rogneda’s brother. He broke into her palace to present his matrimonial proposal. The girl who knew that he killed her family fainted in disgust seeing the conqueror approaching her. Losenko painted his friend Volkov who was called the farther of Russian theater as Vladimir. White columns room It’s one of the guest-rooms in the former Michael palace. It was intended for music parties in which such prominent musicians as Liszt and Chopin took part. The hall was designed by Rossi. Everything here is stuccowork. Mouldings, parquet floor, furniture were made to his drawings. Karl Briullov (1799-1852) He received the best academy training. He was an artist of a great talent. He painted pictures on historical and mythological subjects, portraits. His graduation work was best on mythological subjects. For his work “Narcissus Admiring His Reflection in the Water” he was given a golden medal set up by the Academy. He left for Italy and his painting “Italian Noon” dates back to that period. It’s a genre scene and according to the established rules it wasn’t to be depicted. He stepped away from the regulation set up by the Academy. He used to say: “I want everything to be suffused with light.” Usually painter chooses one subject for his works. Briullov painted beautiful gala portraits. These portraits look very festive. Of course, the most famous Briullov’s work is “The Last Day of Pompei”. In 1827 he visited the city where Pompei stood and began his work on his huge canvas. He faithfully followed the description of eyewitness. In addition, he visited an excavation of ruins of ancient towns. This picture had a success in Rome. It was seen by many distinguished visitors including Walter Scott. Finally, it was seen in Saint-Petersburg. Pushkin said that the last day of Pompei had become the first day of Russian brush. May I remind you that Karl Briullov was the artist who painted the ceiling of the main room of St Isaac’s Cathedral. The oil painting called “Madonna in Glory” covers an area of more than 800 square meters but the painter didn’t live to complete it. The severe illness sent him to Italy where he died soon afterwards. Bruni finished his work in St Isaac’s Cathedral. Ilya Repin (1844-1930) He received his education at the Academy. He lived a long life. He began his work as an icon painter but later he came to Saint-Petersburg and studied at the Academy. He got a gold medal for his picture “Raising of Izarius’s Daughter”. While still a student of the Academy Repin began one of his most famous pictures “Volga Bargemen”. Together with another painter Vasiliev he spent the summer of 1870 in Volga region. Repin got to know the ordinary people well and it was one of the reasons why he succeeded in painting this picture well. At the same time he was trying his hand in many other subjects. On finishing the “Volga Bargemen ” he went to Paris where he studied art of great masters. He visited Louvre. Back from Paris he drew some portraits and in addition his famous “Meeting in the State Council”. Repin was a brilliant historic genre painter. Over 12 years he was working on the picture “The CossacksWriting a Mocking Letter to the Turkish Sultan”. Repin had carefully studied documents, manuscripts, he visited places where the event depicted in the picture took place. There he listened to the folk songs, the narration of people about the brave Cossacks. Here’s the subject of this picture: there was a story about Cossacks and their chieftain Ivan Serkov who replied to the Turkish sultan who offered him and his men to side with him. The event took place in 1675. The painting depicts a crowd of Cossacks giving a note of diplomatic rebuff to the offer of the sultan. You can see here the diversity of characters. Repin said that it was impossible to add anything here or to take away anything if the picture was perfectly completed. Venetsianov
He studied painting independently outside the Academy. Sometimes hisstudyingwas guided by Boroviakovsky. The artist devoted his first years of work to portrait. During the war of Russia against Napoleon Venetsianov took
part in publication of series of engraved political caricatures.
A new stage of Venetsianov’s work began in 1820. He went to his own village where he occupied himself with the whole-hearted study of nature. He drew subjects from everyday life, portrayed the work and life of peasants. His picture “The Threshing Barn (Floor)” showed a new trend in art. Everything here is in contradiction with the principles of the Academy (its subjects, its heroes). In order to paint from real life he ordered to remove the part of the wall of a peasant’s house.Ivan Shishkin
He was the one who depicted that you just have to keep your eyes open. Look around and see that Russian nature was as beautiful as that of Italy, of the south of France. You just have to be able to see. Then his second step was that you have to know how to paint it. Moreover, in his studies he first painted flowers, grass as he was to paint it as a picture for a book on botany. Every little flower was painted carefully like a textbook or encyclopedia of botany but they were his first steps. Later he started to paint differently. For example, his picture “Three Old Oaks” is considered to be one of his best. This time Shishkin took a small canvas. He painted those oak-trees not in a whole length of them but as if he hadn’t enough space. This way he showed that these old oaks were very powerful and very strong.
One of his later pictures is the “Mast-Pine Grove”. It looks like a photo but at that time to paint Russian landscape in such a way showing the sunlight, every stone, water was a progressive thing to do.