Falcone E.M.

Monument to Peter I (" Bronze Horseman") is located in the center Senate Square. The author of the sculpture is the French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet.

The location of the monument to Peter I was not chosen by chance. Nearby are the Admiralty founded by the emperor, the building of the main legislative body of tsarist Russia - the Senate. Catherine II insisted on placing the monument in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture, Etienne-Maurice Falcone, did his own thing, setting the "Bronze Horseman" closer to the Neva.

By order of Catherine II, Falcone was invited to St. Petersburg by Prince Golitsyn. Professors of the Paris Academy of Painting Diderot and Voltaire, whose taste Catherine II trusted, were advised to turn to this particular master.

Falcone was already fifty years old. Before his trip to Russia, he was known as the author of such publicly recognized sculptural works as "Milon of Croton tearing the mouth of a lion", eight sculptures for the Church of St. Roch, "Cupid", "Bather", "Pygmalion and Galatea", "Winter". He worked at a porcelain factory, but dreamed of great and monumental art.

When an invitation was received to Russia for the construction of a new grandiose monument in its capital, Falcone signed a contract without hesitation in August 1766. Its conditions determined: the monument to Peter should consist of "mainly an equestrian statue of colossal size." The sculptor was obliged to create a sketch of the composition and make the monument in kind. At the same time, he was released from any other orders. The sculptor was offered a rather modest fee (200,000 livres), other masters asked twice as much.

Falcone went from Paris to St. Petersburg, accompanied by the sculptor-carver Fontaine and the seventeen-year-old student Marie-Anne Collot. To meet Falcone in Riga and accompany him to the capital, the captain of the Chancellery regiment from the buildings of M. de Laskari was sent. Subsequently, he constantly collaborated with the Frenchman and played an important role in the creation of the monument to Peter I.

The vision of the monument to Peter I by the author of the sculpture was strikingly different from the desire of the Empress and the majority of the Russian nobility. Catherine II expected to see Peter I with a rod or scepter in his hand, sitting on a horse like a Roman emperor. State Councilor Shtelin saw the figure of Peter surrounded by allegories of Prudence, Diligence, Justice and Victory. I. I. Betskoy, who supervised the construction of the monument, represented him as a full-length figure, holding a commander's baton in his hand. Falcone was advised to direct the emperor's right eye to the Admiralty and his left to the building of the Twelve Collegia. Diderot, who visited St. Petersburg in 1773, conceived the monument in the form of a fountain, decorated with allegorical figures.

Falcone, on the other hand, had a completely different idea. In a letter to Diderot, he mentioned the origin of the idea of ​​a monument to Peter I:

"The day when on the corner of your table I sketched a hero and his steed overcoming an emblematic rock, and you were pleased with my idea, we did not guess that I would meet my hero so successfully. He would not see his statue; but if he could to see her, I believe that he, perhaps, would have found there a glimpse of a feeling that would revive her" [op. according to: 2, p. 457].

Despite the pressure from the customer, the French sculptor showed stubbornness and perseverance on the way to the realization of his idea. The sculptor wrote:

“I will limit myself to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret as either a great commander or a winner, although he, of course, was both. people. My king does not hold any wand, he stretches out his beneficent right hand over the country he travels around. He rises to the top of the rock that serves him as a pedestal - this is the emblem of the difficulties he has overcome."

Defending the right to his opinion regarding the appearance of the monument, Falcone wrote to I. I. Betsky:

"Could you imagine that the sculptor chosen to create such a significant monument would be deprived of the ability to think and that the movements of his hands were controlled by someone else's head, and not his own?"

Disputes also arose around the clothes of Peter I. The sculptor wrote to Diderot:

"You know that I will not dress him in Roman fashion, just as I would not dress Julius Caesar or Scipio in Russian."

Falcone worked on the Bronze Horseman model for three years. It was carried out in the workshop of the sculptor, who lodged in the house of Major General Albrecht (house number 8 on Malaya Morskaya Street). In the courtyard of this house, one could observe how a guards officer took off on a horse on a wooden platform and put it on its hind legs. This went on for several hours a day. Falcone sat at the window in front of the platform and carefully sketched what he saw. Horses for work on the monument were taken from the imperial stables: horses Brilliant and Caprice. The sculptor chose the Russian "Orlov" breed for the monument. Falcone described this part of the work as follows:

"When I thought of sculpting him, how he completes his gallop, rearing up, this was not in my memory, even less in my imagination, so that I could rely on him. To create an accurate model, I consulted with nature. For On this I caused a platform to be built, to which I gave the same inclination as my plinth was to have. A few inches more or less in inclination would make a great change in the movement of the animal. I made rider 1st gallop—not once, but more than a hundred , 2nd - by various tricks, 3rd - on different horses "[Quoted from: 2, p. 459].

In February 1767, the Office for the Construction of Houses and Gardens ordered to begin dismantling the Temporary Winter Palace on Nevsky Prospekt in order to free up space for Falcone's workshop, where he would start casting the sculpture. To create a real large model, a large workshop was built. The stone building of the former palace kitchen, which remained from the Temporary Winter Palace, was adapted for the residence of Falcone, in which the sculptor moved in November and lived until his departure to France. Next to his state-owned house, the Frenchman ordered the construction of another barn and other necessary workshops.

To assist in the work on a large model of the monument to Peter I, two more French sculptors, Simone and Vandadrisse, were sent to Falconet in St. Petersburg on the recommendation of Diderot. But the quick-tempered master could not find a common language with the assistants, drove them away, and redid everything they had done with his own hands. Work on the model began on February 1, 1768, and was completed in July 1769. Until the next May, it was transferred to plaster and trimmed.

From May 19, for two weeks, the model of the monument to Peter I was open to the public. A crowd of people poured into Falcone's workshop. A variety of opinions were expressed about the model. Painfully reacting to criticism of Falkton, Catherine II advised: "Laugh at fools and go your own way." But there were many more positive reviews. Among those who highly appreciated the work of the sculptor were the French envoy de Corberon, the English traveler N. Rexel, the teacher of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich A. Nikolai, the teacher Falcone, the sculptor J.-B. Lemoine, to whom the student sent a small model of the monument.

Falcone's student Marie-Anne Collot sculpted the head of the Bronze Horseman. The sculptor himself undertook this work three times, but each time Catherine II advised to remake the model. A scandal was brewing, but Marie herself offered her sketch, which was accepted by the Empress. For her work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres.

According to the sculptor's idea, the base of the monument is a natural rock in the form of a wave. The waveform serves as a reminder that it was Peter I who brought Russia to the sea. The Academy of Arts began searching for the monolithic stone when the model of the monument was not even ready. A stone was needed, the height of which would be 11.2 meters.

Initially, Falcone did not even dream of a monolith, intending to create a pedestal from several parts. But the granite monolith was nevertheless found in the Lakhta region, twelve versts from St. Petersburg. At the beginning of September 1768, the peasant Semyon Grigorievich Vishnyakov informed the Office of the Building about the find. To test the suitability of the stone, de Lascaris went to him together with Vishnyakov, who discovered a huge rock that had sunk deep into the ground. From its crevice, almost half a meter wide, filled with earth, five birches grew up to seven meters high. According to local legend, lightning once hit the rock. Among the locals, she was nicknamed "Thunder-Stone". For the find, the Office of the Building awarded Vishnyakova a 100 prize of 100 rubles.

Upon his return to St. Petersburg, de Laskari prepared a rough plan for transporting the stone to the city. He also owns the idea of ​​​​creating a pedestal from a single stone, which was confirmed by Falcone himself:

"I thought that this pedestal would be constructed from well-fitted parts, and the models of all the profiles I made remained long enough in my workshop to testify that the monolithic stone was far from my desires. But I was offered it, I admired it, and I said: bring it, the pedestal will be stronger" [Cit. according to: 2, p. 463].

The initial weight of the monolith is about 2,000 tons. Catherine II announced a reward of 7,000 rubles to whoever comes up with the most effective way to deliver the rock to Senate Square. Of the many projects, the method proposed by the same de Laskari was chosen. True, there were rumors among the people that he bought the idea from some Russian merchant. But Falcone wrote to Catherine II:

"G. Laskari alone invented the means and invented a machine for transferring the rock, which should serve as the foot of the statue, he led alone, without the slightest participation of anyone other than him" [Cit. according to: 2, p. 464].

Work to prepare the rock for relocation began on September 26, 1768. Barracks for 400 workers were built next to it, and then a clearing 40 meters wide was cut through to the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Next, they dug up a rock that went five meters deep into the earth. The part that had been broken off by a lightning strike was separated from it, which was divided into two more parts. The rock was freed from unnecessary layers, it immediately became lighter by 600 tons.

On March 12, 1769, the "thunder-stone" was hoisted onto a wooden platform with levers. Further work to strengthen the soil was carried out in the summer of 1769. With the onset of winter, when the paved road froze one and a half meters, the rock was lifted with the help of huge jacks, the platform was replaced by a special machine designed specifically for transporting such an unusual cargo. The machine was a platform supported by 30 metal balls. These balls moved along grooved wooden rails, upholstered in copper.

Initially, the balls were made of cast iron. They laughed at de Laskari, not believing in the possibility of "moving a rock with the help of eggs." And they laughed not without reason, since the cast-iron balls really crushed under the weight of the load. But the bronze parts poured after that coped with the task.

The movement of the rock began on November 15th. The passage was winding. Cargo transportation continued both in frost and in heat. Hundreds of people worked. Right on the stone was a forge, where the necessary tools were prepared.

48 masons continued to give the "thunder-stone" the necessary shape. According to Falcone's calculations, its height should have decreased by 80 centimeters, and its length by 3 meters. A little later, he ordered to chip off another layer of 80 centimeters from it. It began to seem to many that the rock, moved with such difficulty in St. Petersburg, would turn into an ordinary pedestal of the usual size. Catherine II decided to moderate the ardor of the sculptor and forbade further reduction of the stone. As a result, its length was 13.5 meters, width 6.5 meters, height - 4. The work on hewing the "thunder-stone" was carried out under the guidance of stone master Giovanni Geronimo Rusca.

Many Petersburgers came to watch the action. Some of the observers collected fragments of stone and ordered from them knobs for a cane or cufflinks. On January 20, 1770, Catherine II also came here, in whose presence the rock was moved 25 meters. In honor of the extraordinary transport operation, the Empress ordered the minting of a medal on which is written "It is like boldness. Genvara, 20. 1770."

By land, the rock was dragged until March 27. By this time, a dam had been built on the shore of the bay, going into shallow water for almost 900 meters. Only there it was possible to reload the rock onto a special flat-bottomed vessel - pram, capable of carrying cargo weighing more than 2,500 tons. At the dam, the ship was sunk to the bottom to a depth of 3.5 meters, after which the stone was loaded. When trying to raise the ship, only its bow and stern rose from the water. The middle remained lying on the bottom under the weight of the "thunder-stone". The Pram had to be flooded again, again providing fertile ground for de Lascaris' opponents. All summer long, attempts to lift the load continued, ending in success only after de Laskari found another successful engineering solution to the problem. He suggested placing two thick longitudinal beams under the stone, which distributed the weight of the rock evenly throughout the ship. It was only after that that the pram finally surfaced.

Pram moved along the Gulf of Finland with the help of a force of 300 rowers. He sailed along the Malaya Neva between Vasilievsky and St. Petersburg Islands, then entered the Bolshaya Neva. On September 22, on the anniversary of the coronation of Catherine II, the pram was opposite the Winter Palace. The next day, September 23, 1770, the rock arrived at Senate Square. On October 11, the "thunder-stone" was moved 43 meters overland, turning into a pedestal for the monument to Peter I. In the summer of 1768, a foundation of 76 piles was built here.

The poet Vasily Rubin in the same year wrote:

For a long time, no one wanted to take on the casting of the statue. Foreign masters demanded too much money, and local craftsmen were frightened by its size and complexity of work. According to the calculations of the sculptor, in order to maintain the balance of the monument, the front walls of the monument had to be made very thin - no more than a centimeter. Even B. Ersman, a specially invited foundry worker from France, refused such work. He called Falcone crazy and said that there is no such example of casting in the world, that it will not succeed.

Catherine II recommended Falcone to start casting himself. In the end, the sculptor studied the relevant literature and accepted the proposal of the empress. As an assistant to himself, he took cannon master Yemelyan Khailov. Together with him, Falcone selected the alloy, made samples. For three years, the sculptor mastered casting to perfection. They began to cast the "Bronze Horseman" in 1774.

Before that, in March 1773, de Lascaris resigned. Falcone was very disappointed with the dismissal of de Laskari and asked Catherine II to return the talented engineer to her team. But the empress was so turned against him that the intercession of the sculptor was useless. The architect Yu. M. Felten and assessor K. Krok were appointed to replace de Laskari.

The technology was very complex. The thickness of the front walls must necessarily be less than the thickness of the rear. At the same time, the back part became heavier, which gave stability to the statue, based on only three points of support.

One filling of the statue was not enough. During the first, a pipe burst, through which red-hot bronze entered the mold. The upper part of the sculpture was damaged. I had to cut it down and prepare for the second filling for another three years.

Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti wrote about these events:

"On August 24, 1775, Falcone poured a statue of Peter the Great on a horse here. The casting succeeded, except in places two feet by two at the top. This regrettable failure occurred through an incident that was not at all possible to foresee, and therefore prevent. The aforementioned incident seemed so terrible that they feared that the whole building would not go on fire, and, consequently, the whole thing would not fail. Khailov remained motionless and spent the molten metal in the mold, without losing his courage in the least at the danger to his life. Such courage Falcone, touched at the end of the case rushed to him and kissed him wholeheartedly and gave him money from himself.

The second casting was made on July 4, 1777. The subsequent finishing of the moment continued for another year. In about these events, on one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I, the sculptor left the inscription "Sculpted and cast by Etienne Falcone, a Parisian of 1778."

The failure to cast the statue and subsequent delays in its correction spoiled the relationship between the empress and the sculptor. Falcone several times promised Catherine to complete the work in the near future, but constantly broke his promises. Watchmaker A. Sandoz was invited to help the Frenchman, who then restored the clock on the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral after the fire. Sandonts carefully chiselled the surface of the monument, in fact doing the work of a sculptor.

It was not possible to restore the location of the Empress Falcone. Staying in St. Petersburg weighed on him more and more. At the beginning of September 1778, he destroyed the small model of the monument and left the city together with Marie-Anne Collot. Subsequently, he did not create any more sculptures.

Under Felten's guidance, the pedestal was given its final shape. The installation of the "Bronze Horseman" on the pedestal was led by the architect F. G. Gordeev. After that, the horseman's head was attached to the sculpture, and a snake made by Gordeev was placed under the horse's legs.

By order of Catherine II, the pedestal is inscribed: "Catherine II to Peter I". Thus, the empress stressed her commitment to Peter's reforms.

The grand opening of the monument to Peter I took place on August 7, 1782 (according to the old style). The sculpture was closed from the eyes of observers by a linen fence depicting mountain landscapes. It was raining in the morning, but it did not prevent a significant number of people from gathering on Senate Square. By noon the clouds had cleared. Guards entered the square. The military parade was led by Prince A. M. Golitsyn. At four o'clock, Empress Catherine II herself arrived on a boat. She went up to the balcony of the Senate building in a crown and purple and gave the signal for the opening of the monument. The fence fell, to the drumming of the regiments moved along the Neva embankment.

On the occasion of the opening of the monument, the Empress issued a manifesto on the forgiveness of all those sentenced to death and corporal punishment, the termination of all criminal cases that had lasted more than 10 years, and the release of all those held in custody for more than 10 years for public and private debts. The tax farmer I. I. Golikov was then released from the debt prison, who made a vow to collect materials for the history of Peter the Great. So, after many years of searching, the 30-volume work "The Acts of Peter the Great" appeared.

To commemorate the opening of the monument, a silver medal with his image was issued. Three copies of this medal were made of gold. Catherine II sent one gold and one silver medal to Falcone, who received them from the hands of Prince D. A. Golitsyn in 1783.

Immediately after the appearance of the "Bronze Horseman" on the Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya. That is what it was called in official documents. But in words, the townspeople often continued to call the square in the old way - the Senate.

Many Petersburgers immediately accepted the monument to Peter I very positively. Prince Trubetskoy wrote to his daughter:

"The monument to Peter the Great made a great decoration for the city, and this is the third time I've been going around it and I still can't get enough of it. according to: 1, p. 36].

A. S. Pushkin called the sculpture "The Bronze Horseman" in his poem of the same name. Meanwhile, in fact, it is made of bronze. But the expression "The Bronze Horseman" became so popular that it became almost official. And the monument to Peter I itself has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.

The weight of the "Bronze Horseman" is 8 tons, the height is more than 5 meters.

The monument to Peter I was the site of official ceremonies associated with the anniversary of the city and its founder. On May 16, 1803, next to it, on Senate Square, a solemn ceremony was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of St. Petersburg. A 107-year-old elder who remembered the emperor came to the monument. 20 soldiers marched past the bronze Peter. A special military post for soldiers on duty was established at the monument. He remained on the Senate Square until the time he was in the naval department. With the transfer of the post in 1866 to the city department, it was abolished.

A fence was erected around the monument. A little later, four candelabra were placed in the corners. Two of them in 1874, at the direction of the City Duma, were moved to Kazanskaya Square.

On May 30, 1872, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter I was solemnly celebrated at the Bronze Horseman. By decree of Alexander II, festivities were held throughout Russia. In St. Petersburg, the boat of Peter I was brought to the monument, a solemn prayer service and a military parade were held. On this occasion, benches for spectators were installed on Senate Square. There weren't enough places, the curious people used the windows of the Senate building. People even climbed onto the roof.

The first restoration of the monument was carried out in 1909. The commission created for this purpose drew up a protocol, according to which "when opening a large closed hole in the horse's croup, it turned out that in the hind legs there is a solid forged frame, carefully soldered, as a result of which water did not penetrate into it and remained in the horse's belly"[Cit. according to: 1, p. 48]. 125 buckets of water were pumped out of the horse's belly.

During the blockade of Leningrad, the "Bronze Horseman" was covered with bags of earth and sand, sheathed with logs and boards.

During the restoration of the Bronze Horseman in 1976, the sculpture was studied using gamma rays. For this, the space around the monument was fenced off with sandbags and concrete blocks. The cobalt gun was controlled from a nearby bus. Thanks to this study, it turned out that the frame of the monument can serve for many more years. A capsule was placed inside the figure with a note about the restoration and about its participants, a newspaper dated September 3, 1976.

Before the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the monument was once again restored. The sculpture was cleaned of patina, a low fence was installed around the monument.

In Soviet times, a tradition took root, according to which the newlyweds lay flowers at the foot of the "Bronze Horseman" - the founder of St. Petersburg. Sometimes it is observed in our time.

Etienne-Maurice Falcone conceived "The Bronze Horseman" without a fence. But it was nevertheless created, it has not survived to this day. "Thanks" to the vandals who leave their autographs on the thunder-stone and the sculpture itself, the idea of ​​restoring the fence may soon be realized.

Most tourists who want to see all the sights of the Northern capital are interested in where exactly in St. Petersburg the legendary monument The Bronze Horseman, depicting Peter 1, is located. This symbol of the city has been around for more than two centuries and is fanned by many legends and myths.

Finding the famous statue, which is dedicated to the well-known poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin, is not difficult. The Bronze Horseman monument is located on one of the central squares of St. Petersburg - the former Decembrists Square (now the Senate Square) - in an open park. It is very convenient to get to it through the Alexander Garden, passing through its western part.

The exact address of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg: Senatskaya Square, St. Petersburg, RF, 190000.

The Bronze Horseman the history of the creation of the monument

The idea of ​​creating a monument designed to perpetuate the memory of an outstanding monarch belongs to Empress Catherine II. She believed that such a responsible task could only be entrusted to a true master. In search of such a person, Prince Golitsyn, a confidant of the Empress, turned to the venerable representatives of French culture of that time, Diderot and Voltaire, for help. The great philosophers advised their royal correspondent Etienne-Maurice Falcone - at that time the author of not very well-known sculptural compositions.

Falcone worked at a factory for the production of porcelain, but deep down he had long dreamed of trying his hand at monumental art. In 1766, he signed a contract with representatives of Catherine II for the creation of a bronze monument, according to which his reward was only 200,000 livres.

Interestingly, Etienne-Maurice came to Russia with the talented 17th student Marie-Anne Collot, who later married his son. Various rumors circulated about the relationship between the sculptor and his young assistant, and not always decent ones.

Opinions on how the symbol of Russian autocracy should look turned out to be very different:

• The head of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Belsky, believed that Peter I should be depicted majestically standing to his full height and with a scepter in his hand.
• Empress Catherine II wanted to see her predecessor on horseback, but always with symbols of royal power in her hands.
• The educator Diderot intended instead of a statue to create a large fountain with allegorical figures.
• The modest official Shtelin sent a letter to the Academy of Arts, in which he proposed to surround the statue of the emperor with images of virtues such as Honesty and Justice, trampling vices underfoot (Boasting, Deception, Laziness, etc.).

However, the author of the future monument, the Bronze Horseman, had his own idea of ​​​​how his creation should look like. Falcone abandoned the allegorical interpretation of the image of the emperor and intended to show him as a great legislator and guardian of the well-being of his country. According to the idea of ​​the sculptural composition, it was supposed to demonstrate the triumph of human will and reason over elemental natural forces.

Bronze Horseman sculptor Etienne Maurice Falcone

Falcone approached the creation of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg very responsibly. The model of the statue was created during 1768-1770 on the territory of the former summer residence of Empress Elizabeth. The prototype of the horse for the monument was the two Oryol trotters Brilliant and Caprice, who were considered decorations of the royal stables. At the request of the sculptor, a platform was made, the height of which practically coincided with the future pedestal. One of the officers on horseback flew up to its edge and put the horse on its hind legs, so that Falcone could sketch all the features of the structure of the body and muscles of the horse.

The emperor's head was sculpted by Maria Anna Collo, since her mentor's options were not approved by Catherine II. The features of the face of Peter I with wide eyes reflected the main qualities of the sovereign: courage, strong will, high intelligence, justice. For this work, the Empress awarded the talented girl membership in the Imperial Academy of Arts and a lifetime pension.

The horse, on which the sovereign sits, tramples on a snake, which was made by the Russian master Gordeev.

After making the plaster model, Falcone proceeded to cast the statue, but ran into a number of problems:

• Because of the size of the monument, even casters with a good reputation refused to cast, because they could not vouch for the quality of work.
• When the sculptor finally found an assistant - a master for the manufacture of Khailov's cannons, it turned out to be very difficult to choose the right composition of the alloy. Since the monument had only 3 points of support, the walls of its front part had to be no thicker than 1 cm.
• The first casting of the sculptural composition in 1775 was unsuccessful. While working in the workshop, a pipe burst, through which molten bronze flowed. Catastrophic consequences were averted thanks to the courage of Khailov, who plugged the hole with his own clothes and covered it with clay. For this reason, the upper part of the monument had to be poured again two years later.

Many legends fanned the origin of the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman. It is popularly known as the Thunder Stone. In alternative historical theories regarding the construction of St. Petersburg, he occupies a key place. Some researchers suggest that the official version, according to which the Thunder-stone was transported to the city from the vicinity of the small settlement of Konnaya Lakhta, is falsified.

However, historical documents and eyewitness accounts, including those of foreign origin, refute the assumption that the giant granite block for the Bronze Horseman monument was located on the territory of St. Petersburg before processing. Any attempts to connect it with the mythological civilization of the Atlanteans, who allegedly were the founders of the city on this site, are unfounded. The technologies of that time made it possible to transport even such a huge rock to the place where the monument was erected.

The thunder stone weighed more than 1600 tons, and its height exceeded 11 meters, so it was delivered to the shores of the Gulf of Finland on a special platform. She moved along 2 gutters, located strictly parallel to each other. They housed three dozen large balls made of copper alloy. The movement of the platform was possible only in winter, when the ground froze and could better withstand the heavy load. The transportation of this natural pedestal to the coast took about six months, after which it was transported by water to St. Petersburg and took its place on the square in 1770. As a result of hewing, the size of the Thunder Stone has significantly decreased.

12 years after Falcone's arrival in the northern capital, his relationship with the Empress deteriorated significantly, so he was forced to leave the country. Felten supervised the completion of the statue, and in 1782 its grand opening took place.

Symbolism and legends of the monument

Falcone depicted Peter I in a simple and light attire, without the excessive luxury that befitted his status as emperor. By this, he sought to show the dignity of the monarch as a person, and not as a great commander and winner. Instead of a saddle, the horse is covered with an animal skin, symbolizing the arrival of enlightenment and the blessings of civilization in the country thanks to Peter I.

The statue's head is crowned with a laurel wreath, and a sword is attached to the belt, which indicates the ruler's readiness to defend the Fatherland at any moment. The rock denotes the difficulties that Peter had to overcome during his reign. The pedestal is decorated with an inscription, which is a tribute to Empress Catherine II to her great predecessor, in Russian and Latin. Another inscription is hidden in the folds of the cloak, testifying to the authorship of the monument. The weight of the monument is 8 tons, and the height is 5 meters.

Many legends are associated with the Bronze Horseman, one of which was reflected by Pushkin in the poem of the same name. According to some of them:

• Allegedly, even before the installation of the sculptural composition, the ghost of Peter I met the future Emperor Paul I at the place where the monument is now located. The deceased monarch warned his heir of the danger that threatened him.
• In 1812, the Bronze Horseman was about to be evacuated as the city was threatened by the French. However, the emperor appeared in a dream to Major Baturin and said that as long as he remained in place, nothing threatened Petersburg.
• Some people believed that the monument is Peter I himself, who decided to jump the Neva on his beloved horse with the words "All of God and mine." However, he mixed up and said “All mine and God”, for which he was punished by higher powers and instantly petrified right on the square.

Where is the Bronze Horseman

The monument is available for free visits. You can listen to a fascinating story about the creation of the statue and the legends associated with it by taking part in sightseeing tours of St. Petersburg. Their cost is on average from 780 RUR per person to 2800 RUR - 8000 RUR per group (depending on the duration of the tour).

There are several ways to get to the monument:

• From the Admiralteyskaya metro station, turn left to Malaya Morskaya street, then turn left onto Dekabristov Avenue and then turn right to the banks of the Neva. The journey will take no more than 10 minutes.
• From the Nevsky Prospekt metro station, walk along the Griboedov Canal to the end of Nevsky Prospekt and walk towards the Alexander Garden.
• Buses No. 27, 22 and 3, as well as trolleybus No. 5 also run to Senate Square.

The Bronze Horseman is the most popular attraction in St. Petersburg, without which it is impossible to get a complete picture of the city.

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" was written by Pushkin in 1833 in Boldino. The poem, consisting of an introduction and two chapters, does not pass the tsarist censorship and was published with cuts after the death of the poet. The censored notes (there are nine of them) made by Nicholas I have been preserved, which have not been fully processed by A.S. Pushkin. These notes required a distortion of the author's intention, so initially Pushkin simply refused to publish the poem, although he was in great need of money.

She combines two themes: personality and people and the theme of the "little man". In this poem, two forces are figuratively opposed: the state, personified in the image of Peter I (and then in the symbolic image of a revived monument, the Bronze Horseman) and a simple person in his personal, partial interests and experiences. The poem has a subtitle- "Petersburg story". He points to the same two themes: historical and majestic, as well as the theme of the common man. The preface follows: “The incident described in this story is based on truth. The details of the flood are borrowed from the magazines of the time.” Pushkin describes the flood that occurred in St. Petersburg in 1824

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" begins with the history of the creation of the city. The place where it was built was dominated by the elements: wind and water, but it is here that Tsar Peter decides to build a new capital. In spite of nature, the city rises "magnificently, proudly." It would seem that nothing will remind you of the chaos that once reigned here: “the Neva dressed in granite”, “bridges hung over the waters”. Everything around speaks of the triumph of man over the forces of nature, but this impression is deceptive: during floods, St. Petersburg appears not as a winner, but as a kind of accomplice of the elements. In the "Introduction" the main principle of the image of the city is outlined - contrast. In the first part, the appearance of St. Petersburg changes, it is no longer a magnificent "young city", but a "gloomy Petrograd". The city turns into a fortress besieged by the Neva. The Neva is also part of the city. The trouble comes as if from within, the city itself takes itself by storm; everything that was unworthy of the image comes out. Pushkin compares how it was - empty, poor, gloomy, lonely, and how it became - cramped, rich, beautiful, noisy, crowded.

In the introduction the poem creates a majestic image of Peter I, who glorified his name with many glorious deeds. “Out of the darkness of the forests” and “swamp the blat”, he creates a beautiful city. At the beginning of the poem: before us is the personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country, the arbiter of great deeds. Peter thinks about the power of Russia "to cut a window into Europe." This is a visionary statesman. This is a great person.

Petersburg was the personification of the power and glory of Russia. "To spite the arrogant neighbor" Peter I strengthened the Russian state on the shores of the Baltic Sea, etc. The introduction ends with a hymn to Peter and Petersburg: Show off, city of Petrov, and stand invincible, like Russia. The main part of the poem tells about life, modern Pushkin. Petersburg is still as beautiful as it was under Peter. But the poet also sees another image of the capital. This city marks a sharp border between the "powerful of this world" and ordinary residents. Petersburg is a city of contrasts, where “little people” live and suffer. One of these people is Eugene - the hero of the work. It is told about in the first part of the poem. This is an "ordinary person". He is a descendant of a glorious and ancient family, but now an ordinary Russian inhabitant. Eugene is an ordinary petty employee. He receives a tiny salary, dreams of rising to the "town". In addition, the hero also has personal plans: to find quiet family happiness with the same poor girl Parasha as the hero himself. She lives with her mother in a "dilapidated house" on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. But a terrible flood begins, which destroys everything in its path. It destroys houses, deprives people of shelter, warmth and even life: Evgeny worries about his girlfriend Parasha. Their dilapidated house waves of the Neva must be washed away first. At the end of the first part, it seems to the hero that he sees this disaster. And above everything, calmly and majestically, stands the monument to Peter. The entire first part is a picture of a national disaster, and it is at this moment that the figure of the “idol on a bronze horse” first appears, which is imperturbable, unlike the living king, powerless to resist the elements.

The Bronze Horseman, and Peter 1 is meant, acquires not human features, but the features of the "master of fate" - the features of power and unkind formidable strength. The cruelty, indifference of the ruler is shown. Second part of the poem draws the aftermath of the flood. For Eugene they are scary. The hero loses everything: his beloved girl, shelter, hopes for happiness. The distraught Yevgeny considers the culprit of his tragedy The Bronze Horseman - the twin of Peter himself. In his frustrated imagination, the Bronze Horseman is a “proud idol”, “by whose will the fatal city was founded here”, who “raised Russia with an iron bridle”, “he is terrible”. Memories of the tragedy on the flooded Petrovsky Square turn Yevgeny, filled with hatred and indignation, into a rebel: But Yevgeny's rebellion is just a flash, completely meaningless. The struggle with the Bronze Horseman is insane and hopeless: until the morning he pursues the unfortunate Yevgeny through the streets and squares of St. Petersburg. Our hero dies next to his fiancee's house, which he found while wandering in a frenzy around the city.

Petersburg appears as a stronghold of Russian autocracy, as a center of autocracy, and it is hostile to man. Pushkin, as it were, emphasizes that the city, forcibly built on this site contrary to the smooth flow of history, if it stands, then its inhabitants will have to pay for the fact that the founder practically went against the laws of nature. And then nature, in turn, will go against man. And the image of the rider is not accidental, the rider is destiny.... This unjust autocratic state structure persecutes the common man. The Bronze Horseman is the personification of the autocratic system, in which a person is unhappy ...

The image of Peter is contradictory and complex. On the one hand, Peter is given in the poem as a great statesman, which finds understanding and support from Pushkin. But the progressive meaning of its construction turns into the death of a poor, simple person who has the right to happiness in the conditions of an autocratic state. Peter did a great and necessary deed, but innocent people suffered in the process. With his poem, Pushkin wanted to say that the price of Peter's reforms was too high for the common people, all the burdens of innovation fell on his shoulders. Eugene, a small man, protests against the great miracle worker, the holder of the "half-world", but his protest is weak, he cannot decide anything!

The Bronze Horseman - the history of creation

The initiative to create a monument to Peter I belongs to Catherine II. It was on her orders that Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn turned to the professors of the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture Diderot and Voltaire, whose opinion Catherine II fully trusted. Well-known masters recommended for this work Etienne-Maurice Falcone, who worked at that time as the chief sculptor at the porcelain factory. “There is an abyss of fine taste, intelligence and delicacy in him, and at the same time he is uncouth, stern, does not believe in anything. .. He does not know self-interest, ”wrote Diderot about Falcon

Etienne-Maurice Falcone always dreamed of monumental art and, having received an offer to create an equestrian statue of a colossal size, he agreed without hesitation. On September 6, 1766, he signed a contract in which the remuneration for the work was determined in the amount of 200 thousand livres, which was a fairly modest amount - other masters asked for much more. The 50-year-old master came to Russia with 17-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.

Opinions about the appearance of the future sculpture were very different. Thus, the President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Ivan Ivanovich Belskoy, who supervised the creation of the monument, presented a sculpture of Peter I, standing in full growth with a staff in his hand. Catherine II saw the emperor sitting on a horse with a rod or scepter, and there were other suggestions. So, Diderot conceived a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures, and the state councilor Shtelin sent Belsky a detailed description of his project, according to which Peter I was to appear surrounded by allegorical statues of Prudence and Diligence, Justice and Victory, which prop up the vices of Ignorance and Sloth with their feet, Deception and Envy.

Falcone rejected the traditional image of the victorious monarch and refused to depict allegories. “My monument will be simple. There will be neither Barbarism, nor the Love of the Peoples, nor the personification of the People ... I will limit myself only to the statue of this hero, whom I do not interpret as either a great commander or a conqueror, although he, of course, was both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what people need to show,” he wrote to Diderot.

Work on the monument to Peter I - The Bronze Horseman

Falcone created a model of sculpture on the territory of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna from 1768 to 1770. From the imperial stables, two horses of the Oryol breed Kapriz and Brilliant were taken. Falcone made sketches, watching as a guards officer took off on a horse to the platform and put it on its hind legs.

The model of the head of Peter I was remade by Falcone several times, but did not get the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted by Marie-Anne Collot.

Portrait of Marie Anne Collot. Hood. Pierre Etienne Falcone (son of Etienne Maurice Falcone)

The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with wide-open eyes and illuminated by deep thought. For this work, the girl was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts and Catherine II assigned her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres. The snake under the horse's feet was made by the Russian sculptor Fyodor Gordeev.

A plaster model of the Bronze Horseman was made by 1778 and opinions about the work were mixed. If Diderot was satisfied, Catherine II did not like the arbitrarily chosen appearance of the monument.

Casting the Bronze Horseman

The sculpture was conceived on a colossal scale and the casters did not undertake this complex work. Foreign craftsmen demanded a lot of money for casting, and some frankly said that the casting would not succeed. Finally, a caster, a cannon maker Yemelyan Khailov, was found, who took up the casting of the Bronze Horseman. Together with Falcone, they selected the composition of the alloy and made samples. The difficulty was that the sculpture had three points of support and therefore the thickness of the walls of the front of the statue had to be small - no more than one centimeter.

Etienne Maurice Falcone December 1, 1716 (Paris, Kingdom of France) - January 4, 1791 (74 years old Paris, Seine, Ile-de-France, France)

During the first casting, the pipe through which the bronze was poured burst. In desperation, Falcone ran out of the workshop, but master Khailov did not lose his head, took off his coat and soaked it with water, smeared it with clay and applied it as a patch to the pipe. Risking his life, he prevented the fire, although he himself received burns to his hands and partially damaged his eyesight.

Touched by such courage, Falcone, at the end of the case, rushed to him and kissed him with all his heart and gave him money from himself.

In February 1767, the Office for the Construction of Houses and Gardens ordered the dismantling of the Temporary Winter Palace on Nevsky Prospekt. The place was vacated for the workshops of Falcone. Two workshops were built: one for preliminary work, the second, much larger, for creating a life-size model. The former palace kitchen was converted into a sculptor's dwelling.

In the history of Falcone's life, there is something that is common to the biographies of many artists who worked in Russia but came from other countries. These are both Rastrelli, and Vincenzo Brenna, and Giacomo Quarenghi, and Charles Cameron, and a little later, Auguste Montferrand. All these most talented people did not come to Russia from childhood, and they were already invited as experienced, proven masters, but their highest achievements belong precisely to those years when they gave their talent to Russia.

How to cast a bronze equestrian statue

Casting a statue in metal is not an easy task. One can imagine how they do it now, but it is much more interesting to understand how sculptors coped with such a task in the 13th century. A series of engravings by Robert Benard from the "Encyclopedia of Sciences, Arts and Crafts" by Diderot and Alembert, which shows the step-by-step technology of casting a bronze figure of a horseman.

This is a collapsible form of blocks. Inside is a master model sculpted by the sculptor. Bricks fit together like puzzle pieces:

The molten metal was supplied through tubes marked as "1", and gas and steam were removed through "2":

The technology was very complex. The thickness of the front walls must necessarily be less than the thickness of the rear. At the same time, the back part became heavier, which gave stability to the statue, based on only three points of support.

. Touched by such courage, at the end of the case, Falcone rushed to him and kissed him with all his heart and gave him money from himself.

Installation of the Bronze Horseman

Falcone wanted to erect a monument on a plinth in the form of a wave, carved from a natural piece of rock. It was very difficult to find the right block with a height of 11.2 meters, and therefore an appeal was published in the St. Petersburg News newspaper to individuals who wanted to find a suitable piece of rock. And soon the peasant Semyon Vishnyakov responded, who had long noticed a suitable block near the village of Lakhta and informed the head of the prospecting work about this.

Falcone himself went to inspect the rock and warmly approved what he saw. Vishnyakov received 100 rubles.

In 1768, a granite rock split by lightning was found near Lakhta, called the "Thunder-stone"

The stone was huge. The shortest route to the coast of the Gulf of Finland, where it could be loaded onto a barge, passed mostly through a damp lowland. And so far, having dug up the stone from all sides, they only examined it, figuring out where to start, the commander of the combined regiment, Captain Palibin, was preparing the workforce. About half a thousand soldiers and peasants under the command of the captain were collected by winter. Huts and barracks began to grow along the already marked future clearing to the shore of the bay.

The pit around the stone, when everything around it was cleared of trees and bushes, and the stone itself was dug in, turned out to be two fathoms deep. But the eye is afraid, but the hands do it: they scraped off the moss from the stone and along the crack left by lightning, hammering iron wedges into the crack, they separated a huge fragment. However, even without the chipped part, the stone seemed huge. Its dimensions in terms of meters were approximately as follows: 13.5 by 6.7 by 8.2.

"Thunder Stone"

What is this stone? Are there others like him?

Millions of millions of boulders similar to the "Thunder-stone" are scattered almost throughout the entire territory of the European part of Russia. Especially a lot of them in Karelia. And they are especially well visible from the plane.

These stones are boulders. They were moved by a giant glacier that once covered vast expanses of our country. In Karelia, boulder fields alternate with lakes stretched from northwest to southeast. The glacier moved in this direction, rolling giant boulders. Its dimensions were such that it moved not only these, but also other, even larger blocks, like fluffs.

24.

Now such a glacier rests in Antarctica. Its thickness reaches there in some places 4-5 kilometers! Put even the largest boulder on such a layer, and it will turn out to be negligible compared to the entire mass of ice.

They moved by sea only in the fall - they waited for suitable winds and built a cargo ship "according to the made drawing" by the famous shipbuilder Grigory Korchebnikov - pram. With the greatest care, they loaded the stone onto a pram, and two sailing ships, with a fair wind, pulled it to Peter. The experienced rigger Matvey Mikhailov was the head of all the work on the transportation of the "Thunder-stone". Captain-Lieutenant Yakov Lavrov led the ships to the Neva embankment.

A competition was announced to propose the best way to deliver the stone to Senate Square. The project of transporting such a huge monolith attracted everyone's attention, causing astonishment throughout Europe. The winner in the competition was the Greek Martien Carburi (aka Laskari, aka Delascari), who proposed to move a platform with a rock immersed on it on bronze balls rolling along the gutters. There were persistent rumors that Carburi bought this project from someone deftly and for a pittance, but one way or another, it was he who got the reward of seven thousand rubles.

The cunning Greek was well known to the St. Petersburg police under the name of Laskari or Delascari as a swindler and swindler who had come to Russia in order to amass a decent fortune by any means. I can’t believe that such a person could invent something! That's not what his brains are set for! According to many contemporaries, Carburi bought from an unnamed Russian blacksmith "a way to move a stone" and someone else's fame for 20 rubles.

On March 12, 1769, with the help of gates and levers, soldiers and peasants lifted the rock from the pit and placed it on a log platform, under which there were rollers covered with copper. And while one part of the people was busy lifting the stone and placing it on the platform, the other was already cutting a clearing to the shore of the Gulf of Finland.

On January 20, 1770, Catherine II came to see the movement of the "Thunder-stone"

However, an attempt to start moving the platform immediately showed the danger of such haste. The thaw had already begun, and the coast was more than eight miles away. The places ahead were low-lying, patchy and swampy. There was nothing to do but wait for frost. All summer the road was strengthened. Pits were filled in, mounds were cut off, grass, fallen leaves and moss were removed from the strip, so that with cold weather the soil would freeze faster and deeper. From the large trees on the sides of the road, stumps were left for the ropes from the gate. Where there were no trees, piles were driven in every hundred fathoms for the same purpose. Finally, the cold came, the tests showed that the ground was frozen through four feet, and on November 15 the platform with the stone was moved. The movement has begun.

In January 1770, Catherine II arrived in Lakhta to see with her own eyes the movement of the Thunder-Stone. The empress was satisfied with what she saw. In honor of what was happening, it was ordered to mint a medal with the inscription: “It is like boldness. Genvarya, 20. 1770.

Medal "Boldness is like" for the transportation of a monolith under the monument to Peter I. 1770

The inscription referred to those who moved the rock. But similar words of the empress could be addressed to another bunch of events of those days. It was during these days that the Russian Baltic Fleet entered the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. The decisive stage of the Archipelago expedition, the most important of the stages of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, was approaching.

If we assume that the simultaneity of the beginning of the transportation of the "Thunder-stone" with the beginning of the movement of the Russian squadron across the Mediterranean was a mere coincidence, we will have to admit that for brilliant directors, real life can line up like a theater.

The cavalryman had to, having taken off on the platform, to put the horse on its hind legs.
FALCONE AT THE OPEN WINDOW SKETCHED A CAPTURED MOVEMENT...

“When I thought of sculpting him, how he completes his gallop, rearing up,” Falcone wrote, “this was not in my memory, even less in my imagination, so that I could rely on him. To create an accurate model, I consulted with nature. To this end, I ordered a platform to be built, to which I gave the same slope that my pedestal was supposed to have. A few inches more or less in stoop would make a big difference in the movement of the animal. I made the rider gallop not once, but more than a hundred different tricks on different horses..

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Colonel, later General Peter Melissino (1726-1797), known for his amazing resemblance to Peter the Great, posed for the sculptor.

Cavalryman (most often this role was played by Colonel Peter Melissino, similar in appearance and build to Peter I) had to take off onto the platform and rear up the horse. Falcone, at the open window, sketched a seized movement ... Then he asked with a sign to repeat what he had just seen

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The largest stone, on the right in the picture, with an even cut, is called "Big Stone". Here nearby it is written for a few tourists that this is really a fragment of the Thunder Stone.

Sources report different things about the weight of the stone. As the highest it is indicated - 2400 tons, as the smallest - 1500. And it is repeated many times that this is allegedly the heaviest monolith stone ever transported. Neither confirming nor refuting what has been said, we nevertheless urge you to remember that what was described happened two and a half centuries ago, when there were still no floating cranes, no electric welding, no hydraulic jacks. Watt's steam engine was fifteen years away. And there were only ropes, blocks, an innate concept of a lever arm, and a skillful grip of experienced men.

Pram moved along the Gulf of Finland with the help of a force of 300 rowers. He sailed along the Malaya Neva between Vasilievsky and St. Petersburg Islands, then entered the Bolshaya Neva. On September 22, on the anniversary of the coronation of Catherine II, the pram was opposite the Winter Palace.

ANY SUBJECT SHOULD KNOW THAT THE NEW STATE
- NOW ALREADY CATHERINE II - AND THERE IS A SUCCESSOR OF PETER I'S ACTIONS, WHICH CONQUESTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE HOLY TO HER

The appearance of the "Thunder-Stone" in front of the Winter Palace on the anniversary of her coronation and in the days of grandiose successes in the most fateful of the Russian-Turkish wars is one of such performances.

The huge light gray rock, which all of Petersburg had already seen, played its next, but still intermediate role in the play conceived by Catherine. The stone floated to the place where it was determined to stand forever - between the Admiralty and the Senate. The stone arrived on time and perfectly calculated. The next day, September 23, another holiday was celebrated - St. Peter's Day.

It was impossible to unload the rock at Senatskaya Square in the same way as it was loaded here because of the great depth of the Neva, and therefore piles had to be driven into the bottom at the place of unloading. They were hammered in in advance, in six rows, then sawed off at a depth of eight feet. Now that the barge with the stone was filled with water, it sat down on these sawn piles. And from it, which had already risen steadily, the rock was slowly pulled out in blocks ... The crowd of those who wanted to see an unprecedented spectacle was huge.

It happened on September 26, 1770. "Thunder-stone" stood on the shore. And two weeks later, on October 11, the stone was moved to the place where it is now. The movement of the rock weighing 1600 tons was finally completed. Scaffolding was placed around the rock. And the processing began.

Quarrel between the sculptor and the empress.

Despite the fact that Catherine was delighted with Falcone's project, the protracted work on casting the statue quarreled with her sculptor.

The sculptor, who several times called Catherine the deadline for completing the work, over and over again failed to fulfill his promises.

The Empress, however, found it increasingly difficult to achieve that majestic calmness with which she once urged Falcone not to pay attention to other people's opinions. An impostor traveled around Europe for the third year, posing as Princess Tarakanova, the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and Alexei Razumovsky.

Falcone, on the other hand, was extremely vulnerable ... And yet, despite the deteriorating attitude of both the empress and officials towards him, he found talented assistants in St. Petersburg, and in the end the second filling was successful. But the patience of the empress, obviously, was already exhausted. A. Sandoz, a watchmaker, was sent to help Falcone, one of whose works had previously been the restoration of the clock on the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral after a fire. Sandoz carefully minted the surface of the monument, actually doing the work of a sculptor, and architect Yuri Felten and assessor K. Krok were appointed to replace Delascari.

Yuri Felten. Portrait by S. S. Schukin. Around 1797

In 1778, in his last letter to Catherine II, Falcone finally reported on the completion of the work. Here he refuted the rumors about the insufficient stability of the sculpture. But the empress did not answer this letter. It was not destined to regain the favor of Empress Falcone. Without this, his further stay in Petersburg seemed to him meaningless and painful. And in early September 1778, having destroyed a small model of the monument, Falcone, together with Marie Anne Collot, left the city. The monument to Peter was the last of the sculptures created by the master.

Under Felten's guidance, the pedestal was given its final shape. The installation of the "Bronze Horseman" on the pedestal was led by the architect F. G. Gordeev. After that, the horseman's head was attached to the sculpture, and a snake made by Gordeev was placed under the horse's legs.

Under the horse's hooves, a huge snake was crushed (made by Fyodor Gordeev), which became a symbol of Peter the Great's victory over opponents of his reforms and enemies in arms, and is also a skilfully executed third point of support for the horse.

A rider on a rearing horse and a snake under his hooves are characters in the plot of Russian icon painting, known as the Miracle of St. George about the Serpent.

As before, your copper serpent winds,
A copper horse freezes above the serpent...
And the victorious will not devour you
All-cleansing fire.

By order of Catherine II, inscriptions were made on the pedestal in Latin and Russian:

FIRST - SECOND. In this way, the empress, no doubt, emphasized her commitment to Peter's reforms.

The opening of the monument to Peter I, timed to coincide with the centenary of Peter's accession to the throne, took place on August 7, 1782.

The crowd was great, although it had been raining since morning, and the canvases with pictures of mountains and cliffs, with which the monument was draped, were soaked through. By noon the sky cleared up, the regiments of the Life Guards lined up. Catherine arrived at the Senate Square on a boat at four o'clock and, having risen to the balcony of the Senate building, gave a sign for the opening of the monument.

The shields fell - and a mighty rider on a rearing horse opened up. The guns of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Admiralty and the ships on the Neva rumbled. The regiments standing on the square to the beat of drums solemnly marched along the Neva embankment. The empress, wearing a crown and purple, looked at what was happening from the balcony.

Opening of the monument to Peter I on the Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Engraving by A.K. Melnikova

On the occasion of the opening of the monument, the Empress issued a manifesto on the forgiveness of all those sentenced to death and corporal punishment, the termination of all criminal cases that had lasted more than 10 years, and the release of all those held in custody for more than 10 years for public and private debts. The tax farmer I. I. Golikov was then released from the debt prison, who made a vow to collect materials for the history of Peter the Great. So, after many years of searching, the 30-volume work "The Acts of Peter the Great" appeared.

On the occasion of the unveiling of the monument, to which Falcone was not invited, a medal was issued. Two such medals with the image of the monument - gold and silver - Catherine sent Falcone. The prince handed them to the sculptor Dmitry Golitsyn. Falcone could not hold back his tears.

Falcone. Bust by Marie Anne Collot

This happened six months before he had an apoplexy. Broken by paralysis, Falcone spent the last eight years of his life in bed. He was looked after by Marie Ann Collot, who became the wife of his son. In 1791, the life of a remarkable artist was cut short. Few people noticed his death then. Waves of the French Revolution rolled across France. Russia again, for the fourth time in this century, fought with Turkey.

Immediately after the appearance of the "Bronze Horseman" on the Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya. That is what it was called in official documents. But in words, the townspeople often continued to call the square in the old way - the Senate.

Many Petersburgers immediately accepted the monument to Peter I very positively. Prince Trubetskoy wrote to his daughter:

"The monument to Peter the Great made a great decoration for the city, and this is the third time I've been going around it and I can't get enough of it yet.

Neither the wind nor the terrible floods could defeat the monument.

A. S. Pushkin called the sculpture "The Bronze Horseman" in his poem of the same name. Meanwhile, in fact, it is made of bronze. But the expression "The Bronze Horseman" became so popular that it became almost official. And the monument to Peter I itself has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.

The weight of the "Bronze Horseman" is 8 tons, the height is more than 5 meters.

A special military post for soldiers on duty was established at the monument. He remained on the Senate Square until the time he was in the naval department. With the transfer of the post in 1866 to the city department, it was abolished.

The models for the sculpture of the horse were Brilliant and Caprice - from the stables of Catherine II

A fence was erected around the monument. A little later, four candelabra were placed in the corners. Two of them in 1874, at the direction of the City Duma, were moved to Kazanskaya Square.

The Bronze Horseman before the revolution (early 20th century)

By the way, until 1900 there was a high (under 2 meters) fence around the monument.

Etienne-Maurice Falcone conceived "The Bronze Horseman" without a fence. But it was nevertheless created, it has not survived to this day. "Thanks" to the vandals who leave their autographs on the thunder-stone and the sculpture itself, the idea of ​​restoring the fence may soon be realized.

The buildings of the Senate and the Synod (all on the same Decembrists Square) were erected much later than the monument - in 1829-1834, according to the project of K.I. Russia.

A.E. Schaubert supervised the construction.

Above the arch is the sculpture "Justice and Piety" by V.I. Demut-Malinovsky.

The ones below and with wings are "Geniuses who hold the law." Even lower and white - Faith, Wisdom, Truth, etc. (16 pieces).

http://walkspb.ru/pam/medn_vsad.html

http://www.enlight.ru/camera/324/

etc.

The poem "The Bronze Horseman" was written by Pushkin in Boldin in October 1833 and is considered the most perfect of his poems in terms of meaning, depth, complexity of content and writing talent, as it was written in the period of absolute heyday, at the top of the poet's creative takeoff.
In 1824, on November 7, a severe flood occurred in St. Petersburg. At this time, Pushkin was in exile in Mikhailovsky. The poet was worried mainly about ordinary people who were in distress. The upper classes could not have suffered much from the flood, and they were not so worried about the problems of the poor. Apparently, this sad event remained deeply in the mind of the poet, because nine years later this theme was reflected in The Bronze Horseman.
In August 1833, Pushkin himself fell into the beginning flood on the Neva, and this could revive in him the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating the "Petersburg Story" (as he called his poem).
In his work, Pushkin touched on two themes - "Peter's", about the personality and activities of Peter the Great, and "the theme of a petty hero", about a small person compared to a huge city, a tradesman.
The canvas of the poem "The Bronze Horseman" formed many lines of the poem "Yezersky", the main character of which has much in common with the hero of the "Horseman", in particular, landscapes, a description of the urban city and the general tone of the work were taken from the unfinished work. The protagonist is an "insignificant person", unremarkable, not belonging to the St. Petersburg world.
The main creative work on the "Petersburg story" was done by Pushkin in about 26-27 days. While in Boldin, the poet almost did not indicate in his letters about his work on works, this was due to the reluctance that his work was known in St. Petersburg before the circulation, and with the bad mood of the poet (this can be seen from his letters). Simultaneously with the "Horseman" the poet wrote "The History of Pugchev" and "The Captain's Daughter", they were his main work. Fairy tales and poems, the poem "Angelo" and other works were also written at the same time.
Pushkin began to create the poem on October 6, 1833, by which time he had a completely clear plan for creating the work, the main lines and images. There are few drafts of the creation of the poem, because the poet almost immediately wrote in a clean copy, and the beginning of the poem was exactly taken from the first words in the drafts. The end of the introduction also included several revised lines from the "Fountain of Bakhchisaray". And in the future, many times in the poem there were lines from the unfinished "Jezersky", the poet decided not to finish the old work, but to include it in the "Horseman". When describing the flood, the poet used Bulgarin-Berkh's article, supplementing it with his own ideas and eyewitness accounts. Pushkin began to rewrite his poem in white, not yet finishing it - this is how the first white manuscript appeared. Subsequently, the poet supplemented, compressed, added, crossed out, and at the end created a very concise and very complex, rich in thought text of his "Petersburg Tale". The poet made the last edition of the poem already in St. Petersburg, at the end of November. Then he turned to Benckendorff with a request to submit to censorship (Pushkin's works were re-read by censors many times and very critically, including by the emperor's gendarmes). Censorship, and in particular, the emperor, who was Pushkin's personal censor, did not let The Bronze Horseman pass. Formally, there was no ban, but there were comments from the royal court that were quite equivalent to a ban, because a lot of political undertones were found in the poem, and this was a very big blow for the poet, for whom the "horseman" became one of the most important and expensive works.
Only in 1834 did Pushkin give an introduction to the poem to the "Library for Reading" for publication.
In 1836, the poet again wanted to publish his work and even made corrections to the poem. But he did not remove several aspects that Nicholas especially did not like, for example, the comparison of Moscow and St. Petersburg as the old and new capitals. Pushkin did not want to follow the lead of censorship and, because of this, spoil the lines of the work that he created so reverently. So during his lifetime he never managed to print a poem.
The Bronze Horseman was published by Zhukovsky after the death of the poet, in Sovremennik in 1837.