The apotheosis of war - Vereshchagin Vasily Vasilyevich. 1871. Oil on canvas. 127 x 197 cm
This canvas can be considered the most vivid and expressive exposer of the horrors of war. Although it was created under the impression of the primitive cruelty of the eastern conquerors, it does not have a narrow focus - it is addressed to everyone who started and starts wars. No wonder the author himself left an inscription on the frame of the canvas that the picture is dedicated to the conquerors of the past, present and future.
According to legend, Timur's troops were left with piles of corpses and skulls stacked in a pyramid. Even in those days when the artist lived, the barbarian tradition was preserved - the eastern rulers considered the severed parts of the body of enemies as war trophies. The artist took this habit as a symbol. As a result, a picture unique in its expressive power was obtained, which has not lost its relevance in our time.
By the strength of the impact on the mind of the beholder, contained in this canvas, it can be compared with the best works, so it is saturated with the very spirit of symbolism. But, unlike Dali, her symbolism is not harmless and lacks abstractness. Everything that is depicted on the canvas is a symbol of one specific, ruthless and inevitable disaster - war.
By depriving the picture of characteristic temporal, historical clues, the artist made it a reflection of the result of any military action, regardless of when and where they could take place. War produced such an effect a thousand years ago, in our day, and it may remain so in the future. The canvas just screams about it: “People, look what you are doing!?”.
The enormous expressive power of the canvas is achieved by minimal artistic means. Before us is a vast panorama, which is a desert, scorched area with separate surviving skeletons of burnt, charred trees. There is no life in it, not a drop of green color - only dead yellow sand and black dry trees. The only sign of life here is a flock of black crows, symbols of death. They are everywhere on the canvas - they fly in the sky, sit on trees, celebrate a feast for the fallen.
A ruined city can be seen in the distance, also depicted with yellow “dry” paints. It is empty and abandoned, there are no inhabitants left in it, there is nothing alive at all. All this picture of mass devastation is illuminated by a bright, ruthless sun under a cold, lifeless and indifferent sky.
In the foreground of the canvas is a huge mountain of human skulls stacked in a pyramid. Crows are sitting on it, and many traces of sabers and bullets indicate that we have defenders and civilians of the city in front of us. This is what the war brought with it - death, destruction and complete devastation. A land that once was bright and blooming full of life and joy, turned into scary place where only scavengers remained.
The picture does not indicate either a specific place of action, or a time period, or who committed all these atrocities. Although initially the picture was conceived as a historical one, reflecting the results of the campaigns of Tamerlane, who was famous for his cruelty and special addiction to chopping off heads, the idea outgrew itself. The canvas has become a brilliant exposer of all wars. Wherever they are fought, no matter what people fight for, the outcome of wars is always the same - massive senseless victims, destroyed to the foundation of the city, fertile lands turned into barren deserts inhabited only by ravens and creeping reptiles.
The artist, who participated in hostilities all his life and gave his life for the Tsar and the Fatherland, knew the essence of the war better than anyone else, saw its results with his own eyes. He managed to create a picture that is unique in expressiveness and symbolism - a vivid denunciation of the ruthlessness of war.
While working on his most famous painting, Vasily Vereshchagin kept in mind a very specific historical context- he was going to call it "The Triumph of Tamerlane." However, when the work was completed, the artist realized that he had created a universal image, a powerful anti-war statement that went beyond any historical era, personality or legend.
Prone to sarcasm, Vereshchagin often provided his canvases with dedications, titles or annotations that unnerved the noteworthy patriots more than the canvases themselves. It can be assumed that the picture depicting the consequences of the bloody assault on Plevna would have been met royal family much more favorably if the artist were not going to call it "Royal Name Day". And the triptych, depicting a freezing sentry, would not have caused such a violent reaction if Vereshchagin had not given him the caustic title “Everything is calm on Shipka”.
The "Apotheosis of War" was no exception: to avoid misunderstanding, the artist made an inscription on the frame: "Dedicated to all the great conquerors - past, present and future".
“Here the point is not only with what skill Vereshchagin painted with his brushes a dry, burned steppe and among it a pyramid of skulls, with crows fluttering around, looking for a still surviving, maybe a piece of meat, - critic Vladimir Stasov wrote about this picture. - No! Here appeared in the picture something more precious and higher than the extraordinary Vereshchagin virtuality of colors: this is a deep feeling of the historian and judge of mankind.
Both as an artist and as a "judge of mankind" Vereshchagin always strove for objectivity, always tried to show both sides of the coin. If he painted a picture with the name "After luck", then he would certainly balance it with a canvas, which he called "After failure", if he painted "Winners", then he would definitely find time for "The Defeated". The Apotheosis of War differs from most of Vereshchagin’s “military” paintings by the certainty of the author’s position: there is no other bottom, no reverse side. A mountain of skulls carved with sabers, dead mouths open in a silent scream, scavengers feasting in the middle of a barren desert - this is the essence of any war, its true appearance and the only result.
Today, "The Apotheosis of War" is the object of numerous imitations and parodies, a visual meme that knows no temporal or geographical boundaries. Those who were born in the USSR remember him from school textbooks, those who are younger are faced with his echoes, for example in cinema - from "Terminator" to the recent "Survivor".
However, the effectiveness of Vasily Vereshchagin as a "judge of mankind" was already clear to his contemporaries. Being in the USA at the invitation of the Art Institute of Chicago, the artist wrote from there in a letter: “When I was offered to take children to the exhibition at a low price, they answered me that my paintings could turn young people away from the war, which, according to these “gentlemen”, is undesirable”. It is unlikely that Vereshchagin is the first ever nominee for Nobel Prize the world - could count on the best compliment.
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is one of the most famous Russian battle painters, which is not surprising, because he personally took part in many military campaigns and several major battles. In addition, Vasily Vasilyevich traveled quite a lot around Russia and Central Asia where in always reigned enough cruel morals. And this was especially noticeable in times of uprisings, wars, riots and other bloody actions, involving the obligatory death of many people. Vereshchagin was very impressed with the scale of the bloodshed in Turkestan, where Russian troops, at that time, were "implanting democracy."
The cruelty of the modern military and legends about the cruelty of the military of the past, in particular, the legends about Tamerlane and his methods of suppressing uprisings. It was the warriors of Tamerlane who left behind pyramids of the severed heads of their enemies. Eager to convey own emotions, Vereshchagin created the painting "The Apotheosis of War", original name which was dedicated just to the founder of the Timurid dynasty - "Triumph of Tamerlane". It is this work that, according to many experts, is the highest work of Vereshchagin, which in no way detracts from the dignity of his other works. But Apotheosis of War is something special.
The painting was created by the artist as one work from the "Barbarians" cycle, but stands out from the rest of the paintings depicting warriors in peace and war time but alive. And "Apotheosis" is a real portrait of death, an illustration of war, its true essence. Many are surprised to learn that the date of the painting is 1871. Vereshchagin was then only 29 years old, in fact - he was still quite a young man, but it was his youth and the experience accumulated by that time that, apparently, allowed him to write his opus magnum.
Hot steppe, clear blue sky in smoke or dust. The silence hanging there is almost palpable. Just the cawing of crows circling over the pyramid of human skulls, and the flapping of their wings. If it were not for the bullet holes, the picture could be attributed to a completely different historical period. But no. “These are our contemporaries,” as the author would like to say. In the distance - a ruined city, charred trees. Yellowness, lifelessness and a certain surrealism of what is happening. And you look at all this, but not a single thought arises in your mind, only all those wars that are going on right now, in different parts of the world, are remembered. And the blue sky, usually pleasing to the eye, covered with an incomprehensible haze, begins to seem as cruel and indifferent as the desert that lies beneath it. And a terrible mountain of skulls, as a monument to human cruelty, ambition and stupidity.
It's scary to look at, but it's impossible not to watch either. Because this picture, being artwork for us, sitting at monitors in peaceful sleepy cities, is a reality for the inhabitants of Syria, Libya, Mexico, Iraq, Donbass, etc. And the TV will never show you mountains of corpses the way Vasily Vereshchagin did, but the essence of this will not change. And the next time you turn on the news and listen to about terrorists, separatists, rebels, militants and the “forces of peace and good” who are at war with them, remember this picture, because war always has one result. And a bad peace is still better than a good war, whatever one may say.
"Dedicated to all the great conquerors, past, present and future", - Vasily Vereshchagin, caption for the painting "The Apotheosis of War".
The painting "The Apotheosis of War" was painted by Vasily Vereshchagin in 1871. On the contemporaries of the artist, she produced strong impression, but even more than a hundred years later, they stop in front of it, reflecting on life and death. "Apotheosis of War" can be called program work Vereshchagin.
The work is currently in the State Tretyakov Gallery. And art historians continue to argue about the history of the plot, finding more and more confirmation or refutation of one or the other version.
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is best known as a battle painter. He was born in 1842 in Cherepovets, graduated from the Marine cadet corps, served for a short time, then entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, studied painting in Paris.
In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where, with the rank of ensign, he was an artist under the Governor-General K.P. Kaufman. “I went because I wanted to know what true war, about which I read and heard a lot ... "", - the artist wrote. Here he conceived the famous "Turkestan series", in which he later depicted not actually battle scenes, and the moments preceding the battle or following it. He also painted the nature and scenes of everyday life of the inhabitants of Central Asia. However, in the war, Vereshchagin did not just contemplate what was happening in order to capture it later on paper. Having changed a pencil for a gun, he participated in the battles, withstood the siege of Samarkand together with soldiers and officers, for military merit received the Order of St. George 4th class. But in any conditions he made sketches.
Returning from Turkestan, Vereshchagin left for Munich in 1871, where, on the basis of sketches and brought collections, he worked hard on Turkestan subjects. In its final form, the "Turkestan Series" included thirteen paintings, eighty-one studies and one hundred and thirty-three drawings. In this composition, she was shown on the first personal exhibition Vereshchagin in London in 1873, and then in 1874 in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Row battle paintings was united by the artist into a series, which he called "Barbarians". The painting "The Apotheosis of War" is included in it, and it, in turn, is part of " Turkestan series».
The painting depicts a pyramid of human skulls against the backdrop of a ruined city and charred trees in the middle of a hot steppe. Flocks of hungry birds of prey circle over the pyramid, sit on the skulls. All the details of the canvas, including the grayish-yellow color, symbolize death and devastation, convey the feeling of a sun-dried, dead nature. The clear blue sky only emphasizes the deadness of the picture. Only crows live here - symbols of death in art.
"The Apotheosis of War" in a symbolic form tells about the horrors of war, which brings only grief, destruction, destruction. In it, the artist severely condemns all aggressive wars, bringing death.
Famous Russian art critic Vladimir Stasov wrote about the "Apotheosis of War":
“Here it’s not just the skill with which Vereshchagin painted with his brushes the dry, burnt steppe and among it a pyramid of skulls, with crows fluttering around, looking for a piece of meat that still survived, maybe. No! Here appeared in the picture something more precious and higher than the extraordinary Vereshchagin virtuality of colors: this is a deep feeling of a historian and judge of mankind ... "
Several versions of the painting
Initially, the canvas was called "The Triumph of Tamerlane." There are several versions about what inspired the artist to create this picture. According to one of them, with his work, he wanted to show the history of the wars of Tamerlane, after whose campaigns only piles of skulls and empty cities.
According to another version, still associated with Tamerlane, the artist depicted a story in which the women of Baghdad and Damascus complained to the leader that their husbands were mired in debauchery and drunkenness. Tamerlane ordered each of his 200,000 warriors to bring the head of the wicked. After the order was executed, seven pyramids were laid out of the heads. This version is less plausible, as it weakly echoes both the first and second titles of the picture.
According to the third version, Vereshchagin created this painting after he heard that the ruler of Kashgar, Valikhan-Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered to put his head on top of a pyramid made of the skulls of other executed people.
It is also believed that the painting was inspired by Tamerlane's ruthless suppression of the Uighur uprising in western China. However, round marks from bullets in the skulls eloquently testify that Tamerlane has nothing to do with this picture. In addition, the illusion of the Middle Ages is dispelled by the inscription made by the artist on the frame: "Dedicated to all the great conquerors - past, present and future."
Vereshchagin's paintings were offered to be burned
The "Apotheosis of War" made a depressing impression on the high-society audience in Russia and abroad. Imperial court considered this and other battle paintings of the artist discrediting the Russian army. One general from Prussia even persuaded Alexander II to burn all Vereshchagin's paintings about the war, because they have "the most pernicious influence." Because of this work, the masters were not sold, only a private philanthropist Tretyakov bought several paintings from the Turkestan series.
Vasily Vereshchagin died not in his bed. At first Russo-Japanese War the artist again went to the place where the battles raged. IN pacific ocean on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur, he died in a mine explosion on the battleship Petropavlovsk, along with Admiral Makarov.
Unfortunately, modern man so accustomed to the violence and death occurring every day around the world that massacres now do not surprise anyone. To create the "Apotheosis of War", Vereshchagin had only a few skulls, which he depicted from various angles. Vereshchagin did not know that in order for the pyramid to human heads was stable, the skulls should be without a lower jaw. However, the horrifying realities of the twentieth century make us all sad "experts" in this matter.
Illustration taken from the Internet
Reviews
Very good text: informative and simple, without false prettiness. I was lucky: I saw this picture in the Tretyakov Gallery in 1970. The canvas is much smaller than expected. But the impression is strong. This masterpiece is as iconic as Picasso's dove of peace. And it’s right that it’s unpleasant to look at: this is exactly what the artist wanted. Thanks to the author of the essay for reminding me of such an apotheosis. In the Donbass, it is now possible to build such a pyramid from the skulls of Russians and Ukrainians.
Read: 4753Not so long ago it became known that two paintings by an outstanding Russian painter - "Pearl Mosque in Agra" and "Portico of the XVII century Church in Yaroslavl" were put up for auction in London trading house Christie "s. The estimated cost of the first painting reached $ 2 million, and the second - $ 750 thousand. So, the director of the Nikolaev Vereshchagin Museum, in a comment noted that the paintings of the painter high prices sold not only there. Moreover, the museum worker told what Vereshchagin's creation he himself admires.
First of all, Roslyakov, having heard from an NL correspondent that in London Vereshchagin's paintings are sold for almost $3 million, hastened to add that his paintings are popular and highly valued not only there.
Vereshchagin's paintings are sold not only in London. For example, they were sold two years ago in New York. They were very expensive - 1.5 million. True, there was a lot of work. From the Palestinian series. And now prices are going up even more. Yes, prices for such things rise over time. And this is far from the limit, - he smiled.
In addition, the museum worker spoke about his favorite painting by Vereshchagin.
Painting by Vasily Vereshchagin "The Apotheosis of War" (1871). The original creation is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow. There is an inscription on the frame: "Dedicated to all the great conquerors - past, present and future." "The Apotheosis of War" is Vereshchagin's protest against wars, violence and murder.
It's called "Apotheosis of War". These are skulls. Skulls of people killed in the war. This is the most tragic picture, but the most, in my opinion, his iconic. It does not attract me in any way, but it expresses a very deep idea: war is death. This is scary. And war brings nothing but death. He (approx. NL - Vereshchagin) was a pacifist, he was a man opposed to all wars, - Roslyakov admitted.
The director of the museum himself believes that the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, which is now on everyone's lips, will in any case end in peace.
Here I will not guess on the coffee grounds. I think that it will end in nothing, because after all, in last moment We must remember that we are kindred peoples. Therefore, fighting each other is, in my opinion, something close to paranoia, - he added.
Recall how the presentation of the picture was not without an emergency and blood.
