Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, G. G. Chernetsov, 1827
military gallery - one of the galleries of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The gallery consists of 332 portraits of Russian generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. Portraits painted by George Doe and his assistants A. V. Polyakov and Golike (German: Wilhelm August Golike).
Posthumous portrait of George Doe (seated) painted by his student Wilhelm Golicke (standing) surrounded by the Golicke family
George Doe (Eng. George Dawe; February 8, 1781, London - October 15, 1829, Kentish Town) - English artist. In 1819-1829 he worked in St. Petersburg, where he painted (with the help of Russian painters Wilhelm August Golike and Alexander Polyakov) 329 bust portraits of generals - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, large portraits of Mikhail Kutuzov and Mikhail Barclay de Tolly (1829), 4 portraits of veteran soldiers (1828), who made up the Military Gallery in the Winter Palace.
George Doe enjoyed the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. In 1819, he went on a trip to Europe with the Duke of Kent, during which he attracted the attention of Alexander I. The emperor commissioned the artist to paint portraits of Russian generals who participated in the war with Napoleon I. In 1826, Nicholas I invited Dow to his coronation, and in 1828 George was officially appointed as the First Artist of the Imperial Court.
Portrait of George Doe. Detail of the painting by V. A. Golike. 1834
George Doe was mentioned in the historical novel by V. M. Glinka "The Fate of the Palace Grenadier" and is shown from an extremely negative side. He came out as an exploiter of a young Russian artist, a native of the village, whose talent was ruined by forcing the young man to copy other people's portraits; he passed off his work as his own, from which it turned out that most of the master's works were performed by his subordinates.
Alexander Vasilievich Polyakov (1801 - January 7, 1835) - Russian artist. The serf General P. Ya. Kornilov was given in 1822 as an assistant to George Doe. According to the agreement, Polyakov entered “study and work” with Dow until his departure for England, on the condition that the serf painter be allowed to attend evening classes at the Academy of Arts. He was entitled to a salary of 800 rubles a year. “But of this amount, Mr. Dow gives him only 350 rubles, leaving the remaining 450 in payment for an apartment and a table, although he has this last one with his lackeys,” wrote the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Dow painted portraits for the Military Gallery of Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. Some of these portraits were painted by Polyakov, but Dow himself signed them. Many decades later, experts came to the conclusion that Polyakov also restored a large number of blackened portraits, carelessly executed by Dow.
In 1833, after the release of Polyakov from serfdom, the President of the Russian Academy of Arts A. Olenin signed a decree on the elevation of Alexander Polyakov to the rank of a free artist. From his own works are known: "Peter I at the shipyard with a view of Amsterdam" (1819) and "Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I" (1829). There are also his works in the State Historical Museum in Moscow and the Kostroma Art Museum: “Portrait of the twins Arkady and Ivan Kornilov”, “Portrait of M. F. Kornilova and M. L. Kulomzina”, “Portrait of E. P. Kornilov”.
In addition to the portraits painted by Dow, Polyakov and Golick, the gallery already in the 1830s had large equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his allies - King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Emperor Franz I of Austria. The first two were painted by the Berlin court painter F. Krueger , the third - by the Viennese painter P. Kraft.
Portrait of Alexander I (1838). Artist F. Kruger
Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Artist F. Kruger
Austrian Emperor Franz I. Artist P. Kraft
In Soviet times, the gallery was supplemented with four portraits of palace grenadiers, special troops created in 1827 to guard the home of veterans of the Patriotic War. These portraits were also done by George Doe. Later, the gallery was supplemented by two works by Peter von Hess - The Battle of Borodino and The Retreat of the French across the Berezina River.
E. P. Gau, 1862
The hall that houses the gallery was designed by the architect Carlo Rossi and was built from June to November 1826. He replaced several small rooms in the middle of the main block of the winter palace - between the White Throne Hall and the Great Throne Hall, a few steps from the palace church.
Karl Ivanovich Rossi(Italian Carlo di Giovanni Rossi; 1775-1849) - Russian architect of Italian origin, author of many buildings and architectural ensembles in St. Petersburg and its environs.
The ceiling with three skylights was painted according to the sketches of J. Scotty. The solemn opening ceremony of the hall took place on December 25, 1826. By the opening of the gallery, many portraits had not yet been painted, and frames covered with green rep with name plates were placed on the walls. As the paintings were painted, they were placed in their places. Most of the portraits were painted from life, and for those already dead or dead, portraits painted earlier were used. However, images of thirteen heroes of the war of 1812 were not found; in this regard, the places reserved for them are covered with green silk.
The fire that started in the Winter Palace on December 17, 1837 destroyed the decoration of all the halls, including the Military Gallery. But not a single portrait was harmed. The new decoration of the gallery was made according to the drawings of V.P. Stasov.
Vasily Petrovich Stasov(July 24, 1769, Moscow - August 24, 1848, St. Petersburg) - Russian architect.
The architect made some changes that gave the gallery a solemnly strict and more impressive appearance: the length of the gallery was increased by almost 6 m, and a choir gallery was placed above the cornice - a bypass gallery.
K. K. Pirate, 1861
Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich
Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov
Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly
A. S. Pushkin, in his poem "The Commander", dedicated to Barclay de Tolly, describes the Military Gallery in the first lines:
The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet;
It is not in it that the diamond of the crown is stored behind glass:
But from top to bottom, full length, all around,
With my brush free and wide
It was painted by a quick-eyed artist.
There are no country nymphs, no virgin Madonnas,
No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,
No dancing, no hunting, but all raincoats and swords,
Yes, faces full of martial courage.
Crowd close artist placed
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
Often slowly between them I wander
And I look at their familiar images,
And I think I hear their militant cliques...
From the portraits of the famous commanders of the Patriotic War of 1812, masterfully painted by George Doe, beautiful courageous faces look at us, "full of martial courage", as Pushkin said about them. Military awards burn on the dark fabric of their uniforms, the moire of sashes shimmers, gold embroidery, aiguillettes and epaulettes glisten ...
Emperor Alexander I personally approved the lists of generals compiled by the General Staff, whose portraits were to decorate the Military Gallery. These were 349 participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, who were in the rank of general or were promoted to general shortly after the end of the war.
For 10 years of work, George Dow and his Russian assistants V. A. Golike and A. V. Polyakov created 333 portraits, which are placed in five rows on the walls of the gallery. Thirteen portraits for various reasons remained unfulfilled. Instead, there are frames with the names of generals in the gallery.
All of Russia knew the names of the people whose portraits were placed in the Military Gallery. One could write a heroic ode about each of them.
Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly and Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
Field Marshal Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) - commander-in-chief of the Russian troops at the beginning of the war. He developed a plan for the retreat of the Russian army into the interior of the country and led the retreat operations until August 17, 1812. After his resignation, Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745-1813) took command, who was forced to continue the retreat and made the difficult decision to leave Moscow. All the victories that followed - from Borodin to Berezina - are associated with the name of Kutuzov, who proved himself to be a brilliant strategist.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky
General Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829) - a talented and courageous military leader. During the Battle of Borodino, Raevsky's corps defended Kurgan height, located in the center of the position of the Russian troops. There were installed 18 guns of the battery, which received the name of Raevsky and repulsed all the attacks of the French.
Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration
General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812) - "God rati he" - this is how his contemporaries pronounced his surname. For 30 years of service, Prince Bagration took part in 20 campaigns and 150 battles. In the battle of Borodino, he led the left flank, which received the first blow of the enemy. The French twice captured the earthen fortifications - Bagration Flushes and were twice driven out of there. During the next attack of the enemy, General Bagration raised his troops in a counterattack and at that moment was seriously wounded.
Alexey Petrovich Ermolov
General Alexei Petrovich Yermolov (1777-1861) - an outstanding military figure and one of the most popular people of his era. In the Patriotic War of 1812 Ermolov took part in all major battles. At the height of the battle on the Borodino field, M.I. Kutuzov sent him to the left flank, to the 2nd Army, to replace the seriously wounded Bagration, and Yermolov helped overcome the confusion of the troops there. Seeing that the central battery of Raevsky was taken by the French, he organized a counterattack, repulsed the battery and led its defense until he was shell-shocked by buckshot.
Denis Vasilievich Davydov
The name of Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (1784-1839) is inseparable from the Patriotic War of 1812 as the name of the initiator and one of the leaders of the partisan movement. The fighting talents of Denis Davydov were highly appreciated by M. I. Kutuzov and P. I. Bagration, and the poet N. M. Yazykov wrote about his poetic gift:
"Your mighty verse will not die,
Memorably alive
intoxicating, ebullient,
And militantly flying,
And wildly daring."
In 1949, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of A. S. Pushkin, a marble plaque was installed in the Military Gallery with lines from the poem of the great Russian poet "The Commander":
"... In a close crowd, the artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal glory of the Twelfth year ... ".
Gazina Alina Dmitrievna
The creative work of Gazina Alina is highly appreciated jury of the All-Russian annual festival of creativity of cadets “YOUNG TALENTS OF THE FATHERLAND” in the nomination “Journalism”.
(the festival was held in accordance with the state program "Patriotic education of citizens of the Russian Federation for 2011-2015". The creative theme of the festival
2012 was the 200th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812) and Diploma of the II degree at the Fifth interregional philological megaproject “Flipping through the calendar. War of 1812"
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Gallery of Heroes of 1812
Essay
Performed by a pupil of 31 platoon
MBOU "Uvarovsk Cadet Corps"
Them. St. George the Victorious"
GAZINA ALINA DMITRIEVNA
Supervisor:
Teacher of Russian language and literature
Ageeva Marina Viktorovna
Uvarovo
2013
Gallery of Heroes of 1812
(Military Gallery of the Winter Palace)
Essay
Crowd close artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
A.S. Pushkin
2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. It was the greatest test for the Russian people. Both ordinary men and the army showed high heroism and courage and dispelled the myth of Napoleon's invincibility, freeing their Fatherland from foreign invaders. This war revealed the mighty national forces, showed the best qualities of the Russian nation, love for the Motherland, courage, self-sacrifice. The Patriotic War brought forth a glorious galaxy of outstanding commanders and commanders.
I wanted to visit the Gallery of Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, located in the Hermitage. It is she who is a kind of echo of those heroic days. The military gallery of 1812 became a monument to the feat of the Russian army and military leaders. On the walls of the gallery there are portraits of participants in the war against Napoleon of 1812-1814, executed by George Dow and his St. Petersburg assistants A.V. Polyakov and V.A. Golik.
Here in front of me, in the middle of the gallery, are two full-length portraits. They depict the famous field marshals M. I. Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly. How majestic Kutuzov is in a general's uniform and overcoat, with a ribbon and orders on his chest - the star of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, with the stars of the orders of St. George, St. Vladimir, Maria Theresa and with a portrait of Alexander I!
The portrait of Barclay de Tolly, like the portrait of Kutuzov, is one of the best works of the artist. A tall figure, drawn into a narrow uniform, looms lonely against the backdrop of the camp of Russian troops near Paris. And the sky above it is still darkened by a heavy cloud - the last echo of the noisy military thunderstorm.
But Bagration ... A talented military leader, a brave general, one of the most glorious and beloved by the people heroes of the Patriotic War. "Prince Peter" - so affectionately called Suvorov Bagration. In the portrait of the Military Gallery, Bagration is depicted dressed in a general's uniform with gold embroidery in the form of oak leaves on the collar. Exactly as the artist depicted him - with a blue St. Andrew's ribbon, with three stars of the orders of Andrei, George and Vladimir and many order crosses - Bagration was seen in the battle of Borodino. His face expresses the calm and inflexibility characteristic of him during the battle.
And this is the famous hussar and poet - Denis Vasilyevich Davydov, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, commander of a partisan detachment of hussars and Cossacks. He terrified the enemy. The fame of Davydov's military exploits went beyond the borders of Russia, they wrote about him in many European magazines and newspapers. In the portrait, we see that Davydov's face is directly turned to the viewer, and his shoulders are turned almost in profile. He is confident and feels relaxed and at ease. D. Davydov's eyes are wide open and carefully look into the distance. It is felt that this man is not only a brave warrior, but also a deeply feeling, intelligent person. A bright spot in the picture is the hero's mentic, embroidered with gold laces and trimmed with black batik.
But why was this portrait chosen for the Military Gallery? After all, many people know the portrait of Davydov by Orest Kiprensky: a gallant hussar in a red mentik, embroidered with gold galloons, in white leggings, stands proudly, leaning on a column. In his left hand is a saber. The ARTIST pays the main attention to the face of a warrior and a thinker, in which there is spirituality, dreamy thoughtfulness, lyrical elation. Davydov's deliberately laid-back pose creates an image full of energy and personal dignity, merged with a sense of military honor. Such an interpretation of the image of the colonel expresses the idea that developed in Russian society at the beginning of the century about the ideal warrior - the defender of the fatherland. The modern art critic M.V. Alpatov highly appreciated this portrait: “In his figure there is hussar youth and Russian prowess, and at the same time one can guess that he is capable of both a lively, passionate feeling and reflection. Davydov is standing, slightly leaning against a stone slab, his calmness is not disturbed by the quick glance of black eyes. A bright beam falls on the white leggings of the hussar, and this bright spot, combined with the red color of the mentic, softens the brilliance of the gold braids.
Perhaps there is some explanation for the fact that the work of George Doe, and not Orest Kiprensky, has been placed in the Hermitage? The catalog search surprised me! It turns out that the portrait of an elegant hussar with a pensive look does not depict Denis Davydov, but his cousin, Evgraf Davydov! And this mistake is one hundred and forty years old! The fate of Evgraf Davydov was both happy and tragic. The military career of Evgraf Davydov is admirable: in 1797 he was a cornet, and by 1807 already a colonel! The Life Guards Hussar Regiment, in which he served, Evgraf equipped with his own money. In 1805, he fought near Austerlitz, in 1812, near Ostrovnoy, a bullet pierced his arm, and Evgraf was sent for treatment: the battle of Borodino was taking place without him. In 1813, the colonel returned to duty, and after the battle of Lutzen, Emperor Alexander I, admiring his courage, presented him with a golden sword with diamonds, on which the words "For Courage" were carved. He distinguished himself in the battles near Bautzen and Pirn, and in Bohemia (Battle of Kulm) Evgraf Davydov's hussars completely exterminate the 1st Army Corps of French General Dominique Vandam. And 38-year-old Evgraf becomes a general! The "Battle of the Nations" near Leipzig in August 1813 turned Evgraf Davydov into a cripple: he lost his left leg and right arm below the elbow. For this battle, he received the Order of George, 3rd class, the Austrian Commander's Cross of the Order of Leopold, and the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class. Upon his retirement, he was promoted to major general. Evgraf Davydov died at the forty-eighth year of his life, and only in the portrait by Kiprensky did he forever remain a handsome hussar, a favorite of women and a darling of fate ...
Here is a portrait of a middle-aged man in a general's uniform. His soft smile and attentive look make you stop. This is Alexei Vasilievich Voeikov, general, poet and translator. Voeikov is a hereditary nobleman, a native of the village of Rasskazovo, Tambov province. In the Battle of Borodino, he commanded a brigade in the battles for the village of Shevardino, participated in the battles near Tarutino, Maloyaroslavets and Krasny, holder of the orders of St. Anna and St. Vladimir, was awarded two golden swords "For Courage". The wounds received in the war undermined the health of the hero. He retires and settles in the estate of his wife Staraya Olshanka (now the village of Krasnoye Znamya, Uvarovsky district). In memory of her husband, Vera Nikolaevna Voeikova built the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, which was considered one of the brightest pearls of Tambov Orthodoxy. The Old Olshanka estate was destroyed by time and people, but the temple survived. This architectural monument, although slowly, is being restored, and this, I think, will be a wonderful tribute to the memory of General Voeikov, whose portrait rightfully occupies a worthy place in the Gallery of Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812...
Unfortunately, I have never been to St. Petersburg, I did not admire the Hermitage masterpieces with my own eyes, but a virtual excursion to the gallery of the Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 allowed me to get acquainted not only with portraiture, but also with several bright pages of the glorious military history of our Fatherland.
In a row of ceremonial interiors of the Winter Palace, between the Armorial and St. George's Halls, there is the Military Gallery of 1812.
This is an exceptional monument in its historical and artistic significance to the great feat of the Russian people, who defended their national independence in the formidable 12th year and liberated the peoples of Europe from the yoke of Napoleon.
Three hundred and thirty-two portraits of Russian generals, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, placed in the gallery, reflect in their totality one of the most striking events in the military history of our Motherland.
The gallery makes an indelible impression on everyone who has visited it. The images of the distant heroic past, so familiar and close to us from "War and Peace", have found their pictorial embodiment here, complementing Tolstoy's immortal pages.
Standing in the gallery, you involuntarily recall another great Russian name - the name of Pushkin, whose creative flourishing is undoubtedly due to the rise of national self-consciousness caused by the glorious epic of the Twelfth Year.
Pushkin often visited the gallery and in the poem "The Commander" gave its poetic description:
The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls: It is not rich in gold, not in velvet; It is not in her that the diamond of the crown is kept behind glass; But from top to bottom, in full length, around, With His free and wide brush, She was painted by a quick-eyed artist. There are no country nymphs, no virgin madonnas, No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives, No dances, no hunts, but all cloaks and swords, Yes, faces full of warlike courage. In a tight crowd, the artist placed Here the chiefs of our people's forces, Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign And the eternal memory of the Twelfth year. Often I wander slowly between them, And I look at their familiar images, And, it seems, I hear their militant cliques. Many of them are gone; others, whose faces are still so young on a bright canvas, have already grown old and bow down in silence with the head of a laurel... 1835
These lines of Pushkin are carved on a marble plaque installed in the gallery on June 5, 1949, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the poet's birth.
The merit of creating a grandiose portrait gallery belongs to a group of artists headed by the English painter George Dawe (1781-1829). A talented portrait painter, Dow was invited to Russia in 1819 to work on the memorial portrait gallery of the Winter Palace, which was supposed to perpetuate the Russian victories of 1812-1814. For the last ten years of his life, the artist worked on fulfilling the vast task assigned to him, and the portrait gallery created under his leadership was his highest creative achievement. Working with a speed that astonished his contemporaries, possessing a confident technique and an uncommon ability to capture in his portraits a striking resemblance to nature, Dow managed to avoid the inevitable, it would seem, tedious monotony in the gallery. Having created a single artistic complex, he at the same time showed a lot of freedom and diversity in the depiction of individuals. Dow himself painted about one hundred and fifty portraits. The rest of the portraits that came out of his workshop, located in the Hermitage building, were made by his assistants, young Russian artists A. V. Polyakov (1801-1835) and V. A. Golike (d. , rare greed, cruelly exploited.
It should be noted that the fact that Alexander I invited a foreign artist to work on the monument to the Patriotic War of 1812 even then aroused bitter feelings among people who loved national Russian art and pointed out that among the Russian portrait painters of that time there were such wonderful masters as A. G. Venetsianov , V. A. Tropinin, A. G. Varnek, who, it would seem, would be natural to entrust the work of perpetuating one of the most glorious events in the military history of our Motherland. However, of the three named major Russian portrait painters of that time, only Tropinin was involved in indirect participation in the work on the creation of the gallery: he painted a number of portraits of the participants in the Patriotic War who lived there in Moscow. His portraits were then copied in Dow's workshop, where they were fitted into a single format chosen for the gallery.
The grand opening of the grandiose portrait gallery in the Winter Palace took place on December 25, 1826, on the day of the annual celebration of the expulsion of the French from Russia. Created on the site of six small rooms that used to be here, the gallery was finished by one of the largest Russian architects of the early 19th century, K. I. Rossi. This interior did not last long in its original form: it died during a great fire in 1837, which destroyed almost the entire Winter Palace. All the portraits, however, were selflessly saved from the flames by the soldiers of the Guards regiments, and a year and a half later, the architect V.P. Stasov restored the premises with some changes in its decoration. These changes can be detected by comparing the gallery with a painting by the artist G. G. Chernetsov hanging between the columns, depicting it before the fire.
The portraits recreate vivid images of participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 in all the diversity of their individual characters. The decorativeness of painting and its romantic elation, which naturally flowed from the purpose of the gallery - the main palace hall and a monument to the struggle and victory of the Russian army - are uniquely combined in the best portraits with keen observation and convincing realism.
In a brief essay, it is impossible even to casually touch on all the portraits. Let us therefore dwell on the images of only the most significant participants in the epic of the Twelfth Year.
In the center of the gallery, on the sides of the door leading to the St. George Hall, there are large, full-length portraits of Field Marshals Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly.
The great Russian commander Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745-1813) is depicted standing at a snow-covered spruce with a bare head, in an overcoat thrown over his shoulders. The figure of the commander, full of calm and self-confidence, dominates the snowy plain with the fighting masses of troops. The imperious gesture of Kutuzov's hand, symbolizing the expulsion of the enemy from the borders of the Russian land, is full of natural expressiveness, internally justified and far from theatricality. The portrait was painted by Dow in 1829; Kutuzov's facial features were taken from a portrait painted by R. Volkov from nature in the summer of 1812 before Kutuzov's departure from St. Petersburg to the active army.
Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) is depicted against the background of Paris, on the day of the capture of which by the allied forces he was promoted to field marshal. The image of the commander is imbued with restrained lyricism. The tall figure of Barclay, immersed in thought, drawn into a narrow uniform, is drawn lonely against the background of the sky with a heavy cloud - the last echo of a thunderstorm that has died down.
This portrait, like the portrait of Kutuzov, was painted by George Dow in 1829 - the last year of the artist's life - and is one of his best works.
Around the large portraits of Kutuzov and Barclay are smaller bust portraits of their closest associates.
The portraits placed around Kutuzov depict:
Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812). Beloved student of Suvorov, hero of all wars and campaigns of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. At Borodino, Bagration at the head of the 2nd Army heroically repulsed the furious but futile efforts of the French troops to break the resistance of our left flank and was mortally wounded in the midst of the battle. The portrait conveys an expression of majestic calm, characteristic of Bagration, according to contemporaries, in an ordinary setting. Only in moments of extreme tension in the battle did Bagration's face take on an expression of frantic inspiration.
Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (1784-1839). A talented poet of Pushkin's time, for several years he was Bagration's adjutant. A brilliant cavalry commander, he was the first to form a partisan detachment from regular cavalry in the twelfth year for operations against the "great army" that had invaded Russia.
Fedor Petrovich Uvarov (1769-1824). He led a massive cavalry attack near Borodino, undertaken, on the orders of Kutuzov, in the midst of the battle. The actions of the Russian cavalry, having created confusion on the left flank of the enemy, forced Napoleon to postpone a decisive attack of his troops on the center of our positions, which made it possible for Kutuzov to prepare to repel it.
Yakov Petrovich Kulnev (1764-1812). He became famous for his bold vanguard actions during the war with Sweden in 1808-1809 and at the beginning of the 1812 campaign. He died on July 20 in the battle of Klyastitsy, which prevented the French from advancing on St. Petersburg. After the death of Kulnev, his name, and previously popular, became the name of a folk hero. Engraved portraits of the "brave Kulnev", brought into the village by peddlers-ofen, appeared even in poor peasant huts.
Alexander Alekseevich Tuchkov (1777-1812). He died near Borodino at the moment when, with a banner in his hands, he led his sponsored Revel regiment into a bayonet attack. His body, despite all the searches for the young widow, was not found. Tuchkov's face is covered with poetic sadness, characteristic of romantic portraits of that time and so appropriate and justified in this portrait.
Alexander Nikitich Seslavin (1785-1858). Partizan, who was the first to discover the movement of Napoleon, who was leaving Moscow, to Maloyaroslavets and reported this to the Headquarters of the Russian troops. The impulsive pose of Seslavin is characteristic, as if ready for a swift movement, for a dashing raid on the enemy.
Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov (1756-1816). He enjoyed the invariable trust and love of Kutuzov, was distinguished by unusually calm courage and great modesty. Near Borodino, after the wounding of Bagration, Dokhturov led our left flank; near Maloyaroslavets, commanding the corps, he took upon himself the blow of the entire army of Napoleon and delayed it until the approach of Kutuzov with the main forces of the Russian army.
Alexei Petrovich Ermolov (1777-1861). One of the most gifted and popular Russian generals during the Napoleonic wars. In the portrait of Dow, his sharp, strong-willed profile stands out effectively against the background of the dark sky and the snowy mountains of the Caucasus, where Yermolov commanded the Separate Georgian Corps from 1816. Pushkin in 1829, on his way to the Caucasus, visited the disgraced Yermolov, who lived in Orel. Describing the general's appearance in Journey to Arzrum, the poet drew attention to his "tiger's head on a Herculean torso". “When he thinks and frowns,” Pushkin wrote, “then he becomes beautiful and strikingly resembles his poetic portrait painted by Dov.”
The portraits placed on the sides of the portrait of Barclay de Tolly depict:
Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829). He commanded a corps in Bagration's army. Under the name of "Raevsky's battery", the redoubt that was in the Battle of Borodino went down in history, along with the "Bagration flushes", the target of especially fierce attacks by the French. During his visits to the gallery, Pushkin, who knew Raevsky closely, more than once, of course, fixed his gaze on this portrait. According to the poet, Raevsky was "a man with a clear mind, with a simple, beautiful soul," who "will involuntarily bind to himself anyone who is only worthy of understanding and appreciating his high qualities."
Dmitry Petrovich Neverovsky (1771-1813). In 1812 he commanded the 27th Infantry Division, formed by him just before the war from recruits. In the battle on August 2 near Krasny, Neverovsky's division took on the blow of Murat, who was trying to break through from the south to undefended Smolensk. The heroic resistance of the "young" division prevented the French from reaching the rear of our troops. The retreat of Neverovsky from Krasnoye was called by the enemies themselves "retreat of the lions". On October 16, 1813, near Leipzig, Neverovsky was mortally wounded.
Dmitry Efremovich Kuteinikov (1766-1844). Combat Cossack general, former associate of Suvorov, who saved his life on the Kinburn Spit. In 1812 he commanded a brigade of the Don Cossacks. The portrait successfully combines realism in the transfer of the face with a spectacular warlike pose.
Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn (1764-1822). He commanded the rearguard during the withdrawal of the Russian army from Smolensk to Borodino. Thanks to the steadfastness and skillful actions of Konovnitsyn, who held back the enemy’s advance, the Russian army moved calmly, in perfect order, leaving not a single wagon for the French, and deployed unhindered at the Borodino positions chosen by Kutuzov. After leaving Moscow, Konovnitsyn was a general on duty under Kutuzov and was one of his most active assistants.
The portrait was painted from life and well conveys the firm, open look of Konovnitsyn, who was distinguished by a direct character and enjoyed great love and respect from his subordinates.
Alexander Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy (1770-1857). One of the bravest participants in the epic of the Twelfth Year, who, in the words of a contemporary, "even among his famous peers knew how to show himself." On July 13, near the village of Ostrovnaya, he gave the French the first serious battle; here the enemy fully felt what the resistance of the Russians fighting for their native land meant. In the battle near Kulm on August 17-18, 1813, Tolstoy, commanding the guards infantry, defeated the corps of Vandam, who was trying to break through to the rear of the allied Russian-Austrian troops. His portrait is one of the best in the gallery. A carelessly thrown overcoat masks the absence of the left hand, lost by Tolstoy in the battle near Kulm. A sharp look and a slightly "disappointed" fold of the mouth reflect the peculiar and independent character of the hero Kulm, who "did not get along" with Nicholas I and retired under him.
Valerian Grigorievich Madatov (1780-1829). A participant in many wars of the early 19th century, who enjoyed a reputation as one of the most dashing cavalrymen of that time. The portrait of Madatov vividly conveys his characteristic appearance and stormy temperament.
Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (1788-1865). In 1812 he commanded a partisan detachment. For participation in the revolutionary conspiracy of the Decembrists, he was sentenced in 1826 to hard labor. Volkonsky is depicted in a modest uniform without gold embroidery; the artist paid all attention to the transfer of his characteristic face, written broadly and freely. After the trial of Volkonsky, this portrait, dated 1823, was withdrawn, by order of Nicholas I, from among the works intended for placement in the gallery, and only many years later took its rightful place in it.
In addition to portraits of Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly, the gallery contains two more large, full-length portraits by Dow, the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon in 1815 at Waterloo, and led. book. Konstantin Pavlovich (the latter is an old copy of a portrait painted by Dow for one of the Warsaw palaces, placed in the gallery around 1830). The equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his ally in the campaigns of 1813-1814, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III, located at the end of the gallery, were painted by the German painter F. Kruger (1797-1859) around 1837 and then placed in the gallery. One of the favorite artists of Nicholas I, Kruger, adapting to the tastes of the customer, painted spectacular, cold portraits, flaunting in them a virtuosic rendering of "roundaboutness" - cloth of military uniforms, buttons, orders, lapels, etc., depicting "not so many people in clothes, how many clothes are on people. It is characteristic that Dow's large portrait of Alexander I, which was originally in the gallery, was rejected for "inappropriate" realism in the depiction of the monarch and gave way to Kruger's portrait - very elegant, cleverly painted, but internally empty and inexpressive.
An equestrian portrait of another ally of Alexander I, the Austrian emperor Franz I, was painted by the Viennese artist P. Krafft (1780-1856) in 1832.
Thirteen empty frames, covered with green silk, have been in the gallery in this form since its opening; they are carved with the names of those generals, participants in the war of 1812, whose portraits were not painted due to their death or for other reasons.
The gallery has been preserved unchanged since its restoration after the fire of 1837, therefore, along with portraits of the heroes of the Twelfth Year honored by the people's memory, we see in it portraits of such reactionaries as Arakcheev, Benkendorf, Chernyshev and others, who played the darkest role in the subsequent history of Russia.
Only in the Soviet years, on the end wall of the gallery, as well as between the columns at its opposite end, were four portraits of palace grenadiers painted by Dow - veterans of the Twelfth Year. These portraits are of particular interest and significance for us as extremely rare portrait images of Russian soldiers - heroes of the Patriotic War, who defended the independence of our Motherland under the leadership of Kutuzov and his associates.
At the entrance to the gallery from the front church there are two large paintings by the artist P. Hess (1792-1871), who in the 40s of the last century executed twelve paintings for the Winter Palace depicting the battles of 1812. Before proceeding with the execution of the received order, Hess carefully studied the materials on the history of the Patriotic War, traveled in 1839 to all the battlefields that he was to depict, and created a kind of battle panorama paintings, distinguished by the clarity of the story and the abundance of conscientiously transmitted details. From the series he wrote in the gallery, there are paintings "The Battle of Borodino" and "The Retreat of the French through the Berezina".
The Gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812 in the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum is an amazing place. This gallery in the most complete manner presents the art and its assistants A. V. Polyakov and Golike, who wrote everything 332 portraits of Russian generals that are presented in this room. The entire collection, as you probably already understood from the title, refers to the Patriotic War of 1812 and its participants. This is not only a gallery of beautiful works of art by great artists, but also a tribute to the memory of the heroes of that war.
In addition to a large number of portraits of the above artists, there are two large equestrian portraits of Alexander I and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III by the artist F. Kruger, as well as a large equestrian portrait of the Austrian Emperor Franz I by the artist P. Kraft. Two more works were written by Peter von Hess, these are: “The Battle of Borodino” and “The Retreat of the French across the Berezina River”.
It is worth saying that the gallery itself is very beautiful and unusual. It was designed by the famous architect Carlo Rossi. The fire in the Winter Palace, which occurred on December 17, 1837, destroyed many rooms, including this one, but, fortunately, every single painting was saved and was not damaged. It can be said with certainty that this is one of the most unusual rooms in the entire Hermitage Museum. A huge collection of portraits is in one place. Eyes widen from their abundance. If we consider each of them, then it will probably take several hours.
E. P. Renne, Candidate of Art History, Art. n. With. State Hermitage
The Military Gallery of the Winter Palace is perhaps one of the outstanding and grandiose monuments created in honor of the victory of the Russian army in the war against Napoleon.
The walls of the gallery, located in the heart of the imperial palace next to the Throne Room, are covered with five rows of bust portraits. The monotony of long rows of images of the same size is interrupted by seven huge portraits framed by solemn Corinthian columns and a passage to neighboring rooms. Three of them show equestrian images of the heads of state – allies of the Russian Emperor Alexander I: the Prussian King Friedrich-Wilhelm III and the Austrian Emperor Franz I. Four others show full-length portraits of the commanders-in-chief: Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, M. I. Kutuzov, M. B. Barclay de Tolly, Duke of Wellington.
The idea of creating a memorial gallery with portraits of more than 329 participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Foreign Campaigns of 1812-1814 is attributed to Alexander I himself. In any case, it was he who invited the English artist George Doe to paint portraits. The emperor personally reviewed and approved the lists of those whose names were to decorate the gallery. The main condition was the direct participation in the hostilities against the French in the campaigns of 1812-1814 in the rank of general. The military men in bust portraits are depicted in the uniforms of their regiments with a full set of orders and insignia. Captured from different angles, the generals against the background of clouds or trees, against a neutral dark or light background, with a mountain landscape or red drapery, do not seem monotonous. Moreover, they surprise with a pronounced individuality. Numerous testimonies of contemporaries about the striking similarity of portraits with the originals have been preserved. “The similarity in his portraits (Dow. - E. R.) extraordinary, striking action, faces go out of bounds,” wrote Pavel Svinin, publisher of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine. He was echoed by the English physician Augustus Granville, who visited St. Petersburg in 1827: “... the portraits are executed in a bold, inspired manner, with the expectation of a certain room. In addition, they, as I understand it, convey a striking resemblance. I can confirm this in relation to those with whom I already knew or met later. Rightly credited for having succeeded in capturing so many outstanding personalities, Mr. Dow can be extra proud that he has varied the pose and accessories of each of them so much that no two compositions are the same in the gallery.”
The military gallery in the Winter Palace is unique. It gives us a visual representation of a whole section of the Russian society of Pushkin's time. Unlike other monuments that commemorate glorious military victories, the gallery not only glorifies a few military leaders, but demonstrates an understanding of the role played by the army as a whole, an army that relied on the people who rallied to repel the enemy. Long rows of portraits give rise to associations with warriors lined up shoulder to shoulder, standing up for the defense of the Fatherland.
A lucky chance helped Alexander I find an artist for such a large-scale project. The talented portrait painter caught the eye of the Russian emperor during the First Congress of the Holy Alliance in the small German town of Aachen. In the autumn of 1818, not only crowned and high-ranking representatives of Russia, England, Austria and Prussia came here to discuss issues of European politics that had become urgent after the war with Napoleon, but also numerous artists who were looking for contacts and orders. One of them was the Englishman George Doe (1781–1829), who arrived in Aachen in the retinue of the Duke of Kent. According to the memoirs of the aide-de-camp of Emperor Alexander I A. I. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, the future military historian and writer, the artist asked “permission to bring me pictures of his work and leave them in my room for several days, so that our compatriots who came to me could to see and thereby to know him. He brought me three or four portraits, of which everyone was amazed by the similarity, and by the way, Prince Volkonsky ... who said that I should send Dow to him to take a portrait from him ... ". The sovereign, who saw the portrait, was amazed at the similarity and speed with which the artist worked, and ordered Dou to make an offer to come to Russia to create portraits of the generals, to which the latter, "as you can easily imagine, gladly agreed."
Already in the spring of 1819, Dow arrived in St. Petersburg, and in the fall of 1820 he showed at an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts several of his works brought from England, and paintings that he managed to create in Russia, including 5 of 80 portraits painted for the future galleries. Unusual for the Russian eye, the artist’s pictorial manner, which seemed too bold, sketchy, theatrical, caused an ambiguous reaction from critics, although everyone recognized the artist’s “extraordinary talent”, and he was awarded the title of “honorary free associate of the Academy of Arts”.
No matter how quickly Dow worked, and in terms of productivity combined with quality, not a single Russian artist of that time could argue with him, but the gallery was not ready for the moment of the unexpected and still remaining mysterious death of Emperor Alexander I in the fall of 1825. Judging by the documents of the Court Office, the curator of the Hermitage, F.I. by this time, almost all members of the imperial family and the inner circle, government officials and secular ladies, representatives of science and the artistic elite, and many portraits were made life-size and repeated several times. It is clear that with such a volume of work, he needed assistants. In 1822, the Kostroma landowner, General P. Ya. Kornilov, sent his serf, self-taught artist Alexander Polyakov (1802–1835) to Dow's training. Simultaneously with Polyakov, another assistant worked in Bulant's house at 47 Palace Square - "a poor and timid man who did not know his own worth" Vasily (Wilhelm August) Alexandrovich Golike (1802–1848). Despite the fact that all the portraits were cataloged by the Hermitage as works by George Doe, the stylistic differences between them are obvious.
Under the new emperor Nicholas I, in June 1826, the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi began to build a gallery on the site of small rooms in the central part of the Winter Palace between the White (later Armorial) and the Great Throne (Georgievsky) halls. Construction was carried out in a hurry. The solemn illumination of the gallery took place on December 25, 1826, the day of the annual celebration of Napoleon's expulsion from Russia. As Pavel Svinin wrote in the journal: “... this great enterprise... has now been brought to an end... On December 25, the day of the birth of Christ and the deliverance of Russia in 1812 from the invasion of the Gauls with twenty languages, this gallery was consecrated in the presence of the imperial surnames and all generals, officers and soldiers who have medals of 1812 and for the capture of Paris. However, much more had to be done. At the time of the opening of the gallery, about 100 bust portraits were missing. The portrait of Alexander I riding a white horse was installed in the year. After the death of George Doe in October 1829, his relative and executor Thomas Wright transferred to the Hermitage the finished portraits that remained in the artist’s studio, among which were several bust and three large portraits of Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly and Wellington, dated 1829. The final form of the gallery was captured by the artist G. G. Chernetsov in 1829 (Hermitage Collection). In 1832–1833, the equestrian portraits of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III by Franz Krüger (1797–1857) and the Austrian Emperor Franz I by P. I. Krafft (1780–1856) were placed in the gallery. In 1837 Dow's equestrian portrait of Alexander I (Moscow, Kremlin Museums) was replaced by a more successful portrait by F. Kruger. In 1834-1836 A. S. Pushkin often visited the Winter Palace. In the poem “The Commander”, dedicated to Barclay de Tolly, he remarkably accurately described his feelings from visiting the gallery, where “all the cloaks, yes swords, and faces full of martial courage”, the faces of those whom he knew well, disliked someone, he was friends with many, treated many with deep respect, seeing in them heroes who rallied the nation, which he brilliantly expressed in the lines of the same poem: ".
The fire that raged in the Winter Palace in December 1837 destroyed the decorations of all the halls, while the portraits of the Military Gallery were saved by the guards. In a record short time (1838-1839), the entire Winter Palace was restored and decorated in a new way. The gallery was rebuilt according to the project of the architect V.P. Stasov, who somewhat changed its appearance. “The ceiling is raised, and more light is given from above; here you can see some parts of the cunning roof-lantern device (clearances) of the ceiling. A lovely gallery (choirs) with a bronze lattice decorated with girandoles was again made above the cornice, ”wrote the writer Alexander Bashutsky in the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine.
The gallery successfully survived the revolution of 1917 and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, when the portraits, along with other works of art, were evacuated beyond the Urals, to the city of Sverdlovsk. For the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, it was restored, the walls were returned to their original color, the ceiling paintings were restored, the old glass shades were replaced with new ones with modern lighting, all portraits were conserved. The grand opening took place on the city's birthday on May 27, 2003, and now, as before, the gallery preserves for us the appearance and names of those who wrote one of the best pages in Russian history.
