P
monument to Peter I (" Bronze Horseman") is located in the heart of St. Petersburg - on Senate Square.
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 tsarist Russia- The Senate.
In 1710, the very first wooden St. Isaac's Church was located in the place of the current Bronze Horseman in the premises of the "drawing anbar".
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.
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. He worked at a porcelain factory, but dreamed of big and monumental art. When an invitation was received to erect a monument in Russia, Falcone signed the contract without hesitation on September 6, 1766. Its conditions determined: the monument to Peter should consist of "mainly equestrian statue the sculptor was offered a rather modest fee (200 thousand livres), other masters asked twice as much.
Falcone arrived in St. Petersburg with his seventeen-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot. Most likely, she also helped him in bed, but history is silent about this ...
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 the 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. He was stubborn and persistent. 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 a life-size model of the monument for three years. Work on the "Bronze Horseman" was carried out on the site of the former temporary Winter Palace Elizabeth Petrovna.
In 1769, passers-by could watch here 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'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. Marie herself offered her sketch, which was accepted by the Empress. For her work, the girl was accepted as a member Russian Academy arts, Catherine II appointed her a lifetime pension of 10,000 livres.
The snake under the horse's foot was sculpted by the Russian sculptor F. G. Gordeev.
The full-size plaster model of the monument took twelve years to prepare, and was ready by 1778. The model was opened for public viewing in a workshop on the corner of Kirpichny Lane and Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Opinions were expressed very different. The chief prosecutor of the Synod did not accept the project decisively. Diderot was pleased with what he saw. Catherine II, on the other hand, turned out to be indifferent to the model of the monument - she did not like Falcone's arbitrariness in choosing the appearance of the monument.
Bust of Falcone Marie-Anne Collot 1773
For a long time, no one wanted to take on the casting of the statue. Foreign craftsmen demanded too much a large amount, 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 a specially invited caster 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.
Finally, a caster was found - a cannon master Emelyan 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.
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 two points of support (the snake is not a point of support, more on that below).
One filling, which began on August 25, 1775, did not work out. Khailov was assigned to supervise her. 1,350 pounds of bronze were prepared, and when all of it, molten, flowed into the mold, the mold cracked and the metal poured onto the floor. A fire started. Falcone ran out of the workshop in horror, the workers ran after him, and only Khailov remained in place. Risking his life, he wrapped the form with his sermyaga and smeared it with clay, picked up the flowing bronze and poured it back into the form. The monument was saved, and the errors that arose due to the accident were later corrected when polishing the statue.
Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti wrote about these events:
"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 foreseeable, and therefore preventable. The aforementioned incident seemed so terrible that they feared that the entire building would not go on fire, but consequently, the whole thing would not have failed. Khailov remained motionless and poured the molten metal into a mold, without losing his vigor in the least in the face of danger to his life. Touched by such courage, Falcone, at the end of the case, rushed to him and kissed him wholeheartedly and gave him from himself money."
However, as a result of the accident, numerous large defects (underfilling, joints) were formed in the head of the horse and the figure of the rider above the waist.
A bold plan was devised to save the statue. It was decided to cut off the defective part of the statue and refill it, increasing new form directly on the preserved parts of the monument. With the help of pieces of a plaster mold, a wax model of the top of the casting was obtained, which is a continuation of the wall of the previously cast part of the statue.
The second filling was made in November 1777, and it was completely successful. In memory of this unique operation, 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". Not a word about Haylov.
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.
The granite monolith was found in the Lakhta region, twelve versts from St. Petersburg.
Once upon a time, according to local legends, lightning hit the rock, forming a crack in it. Among local residents the rock was called "Thunder-stone".
So they began to call it later when they installed it on the banks of the Neva under famous monument. There were rumors that in the old days there was a temple on it. And sacrifices were made.
The initial weight of the monolith is about 2000 tons. Catherine II announced a reward of 7,000 rubles to the one who comes up with the most effective method deliver the rock to Senate Square. Of the many projects, the method proposed by someone Carburi was chosen. There were rumors that he bought this project from some Russian merchant.
A clearing was cut through from the location of the stone to the shore of the bay, and the soil was strengthened. The rock was freed from unnecessary layers, it immediately became lighter by 600 tons. The thunderstone was hoisted with levers onto a wooden platform resting on copper balls. These balls moved along grooved wooden rails, upholstered in copper. The passage was winding. Work on the transportation of the rock continued in frost and heat. Hundreds of people worked. Many Petersburgers came to watch this action. Some of the observers collected fragments of stone and ordered from them knobs for a cane or cufflinks. In honor of the extraordinary transport operation, Catherine II ordered the minting of a medal on which is written "It is like boldness. Genvara, 20. 1770."
The poet Vasily Rubin in the same year wrote:
Mount Rosskaya, not made by hands, Heeding the voice of God from the lips of Catherine, Passed into the city of Petrov through the Neva deeps. And fell under the feet of Great Peter.
By the time the monument to Peter I was erected, the relationship between the sculptor and imperial court finally deteriorated. It got to the point that Falcone began to attribute only a technical attitude to the monument.
Portrait of Marie-Anne Collot
The offended master did not wait for the opening of the monument; in September 1778, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he left for Paris.
And a monument weighing under 10 tons had yet to be erected ...
The installation of the "Bronze Horseman" on the pedestal was led by the architect F. G. Gordeev.
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 scenery.
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 a sign for the opening of the monument. The fence fell, to the drumming of the regiments moved along the Neva embankment.
By order of Catherine II, the pedestal is inscribed: "Catherine II to Peter I". Thus, the empress stressed her commitment to Peter's reforms. Immediately after the appearance of the "Bronze Horseman" on the Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya.
"The Bronze Horseman" sculpture in his poem of the same name named A. S. Pushkin. This expression has become so popular that it has become 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.
Neither the wind nor the terrible floods could defeat the monument.
legends
One evening, Pavel, accompanied by his friend Prince Kurakin, was walking through the streets of St. Petersburg. Suddenly a man appeared ahead, wrapped in a wide cloak. He seemed to be waiting for the travelers, and when they approached, he walked beside them. Pavel shuddered and turned to Kurakin: "Someone is walking beside us." However, he did not see anyone and tried to convince the Grand Duke of this. Suddenly the ghost spoke: “Paul! Poor Pavel! I am the one who takes part in you." Then the ghost went ahead of the travelers, as if leading them along. Approaching the middle of the square, he indicated the place for the future monument. "Farewell, Pavel," said the ghost, "you will see me here again." And when, as he was leaving, he raised his hat, Paul looked with horror at Peter's face.
The legend is believed to have originated in the memoirs of Baroness von Oberkirch, who details the circumstances under which Paul himself told the story publicly. Bearing in mind the high reliability of memoirs based on many years of diary entries and the friendship between the baroness and Maria Feodorovna, Paul's wife, most likely, the source of the legend is indeed the future sovereign himself ...
There is another legend. During the war of 1812, when the threat of a Napoleonic invasion was real, Alexander I decided to move the monument to Peter to Vologda. A certain captain Baturin had a strange dream: as if the Bronze Horseman was moving down from the pedestal and galloping to Kamenny Island, where Emperor Alexander I was at that time. as long as I stand where I am, my city has nothing to fear." Then the horseman, announcing the city with a "heavy ringing gallop", returned to Senate Square. According to legend, the dream of the unknown captain was brought to the attention of the emperor, as a result of which the statue of Peter the Great remained in St. Petersburg.
As you know, the boot of the Napoleonic soldier, like the fascist one, did not touch the St. Petersburg pavements.
The famous mystic and visionary of the 20th century, Daniil Andreev, in his "Rose of the World", described one of the hellish worlds. There he reports that in infernal Petersburg the torch in the hand of the Bronze Horseman is the only source of light, while Peter is not sitting on a horse, but on a terrible dragon...
During the blockade of Leningrad, the "Bronze Horseman" was covered with bags of earth and sand, sheathed with logs and boards.
When, after the war, the monument was freed from boards and bags, the Star of the Hero appeared on Peter's chest. Soviet Union. Someone drew it with chalk...
The monument was restored in 1909 and 1976. During the last of them, 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 even more. long years. A capsule was placed inside the figure with a note about the restoration and about its participants, a newspaper dated September 3, 1976.
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 left their autographs on the thunder-stone and the sculpture itself, the idea of restoring the fence was realized.
Recent studies of the monument brought two sensations:
1. The monument rests not on three points of support, as previously thought, but on two. The snake and the tail of the horse do not bear the load.
The snake trampled by the horse and the tail serve only to separate air currents and reducing the windage of the monument.
2. Peter's pupils are made in the form of hearts. Peter looks at the city with loving eyes. So Falcone passed on to the descendants the news of Peter's love for his offspring - St. Petersburg.
3. Thanks to Pushkin and his poem, the monument is called "Copper", but it is not made of copper, but of bronze.
4. The monument was depicted on Yudenich's money.
The monument is covered with myths and legends. It is also found in foreign collections. This is how the Japanese represented him.
Illustration from the 11th Kankai Ibun scroll. The monument is drawn Japanese artist according to sailors
Late in the evening, the monument is no less mysterious and beautiful...
Info and part of the photo (C) Wikipedia, the site "Legends of St. Petersburg" and other places on the Internet
Monument Bronze Horseman (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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The Bronze Horseman on Senate Square is not the only monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg, but, undoubtedly, the most famous, which has long become a symbol northern capital. Already at the end of the 18th century, many urban legends and anecdotes were associated with him, and in the 19th century, poets of that time liked to mention the Bronze Horseman in their works.
Contrary to its name, the monument is not copper, but bronze. A popular name He received the monument to Peter thanks to Pushkin's poem of the same name.
According to the idea of Catherine II, who ordered the sculpture, and her consultants, Voltaire and Diderot, Peter was to appear in the solemn guise of a victorious Roman emperor with a rod and a scepter in his hands. However french sculptor Etienne Falcone, who was invited to work on the monument, dared to argue with the crowned heads and showed the world another Peter, without belittling either his military talents or his title as a wise ruler.
After 16 years of work, on August 7, 1782, according to the old style, an equestrian statue of the young king was solemnly installed on a huge pedestal. The monument was the first to be erected in the city square. Peter confidently sits on a rearing horse, covered with a bearskin. The animal personifies the rebellious, ignorant people who submitted to the emperor. Crushed by the horse's hooves huge snake, symbolizing the opponents of reforms, and also serving as an additional support for the structure. The figure of the king himself expresses strength, aspiration and steadfastness. On a granite block, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication was carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: "To Peter I Catherine II of the summer of 1782."
On the granite block on which the monument is erected, by order of Catherine the Great, a dedication is carved in two languages, Russian and Latin: “To Peter I Catherine II of the summer of 1782”.
An interesting story is connected with the stone on which the monument was erected. It was found by a peasant Semyon Vishnyakov at a distance of about 9 km from the square. The Thunder Stone was delivered to the place of installation of the monument with the help of a device that was truly unique for that time, working on the principle of a bearing. Initially, the block weighed about 1600 tons. Then, according to the Falcone project, it was hewn and given the shape of a wave, embodying the power of Russia as a maritime power.
The history of the creation of the monument
And many more stories and tales still go around the gesture of the emperor. Peter's right hand is commandingly stretched forward, with his left he firmly holds the reins. Some say that the hand points down to the place where "the city will be laid." Others believe that Peter is looking towards Sweden - the country with which he fought for so long and stubbornly. In the 19th century, one of the most interesting versions was born. She claims that right hand Petra is actually turned towards the Neva. With his left elbow, he points pointing towards the Senate, which in the 19th century served as the Supreme Court. The interpretation of the gesture is as follows: it is better to drown yourself in the Neva than to sue in the Senate. It was a very corrupt institution in those days.
Address: Senatskaya Square, Nevsky Prospekt, Admiralteyskaya metro station.
The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg - a monument to Peter IThe Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg is the most famous monument Peter I. It is located in an open park on Senate Square and is a unique work of Russian and world culture. The Bronze Horseman is surrounded by well-known sights: the buildings of the Senate and the Synod are located in the west, the Admiralty in the east, St. Isaac's Cathedral in the south. 
The history of the creation of the monument
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. Notable masters Etienne-Maurice Falconet, who at that time worked as the chief sculptor at a porcelain factory, was recommended for this work. "There is an abyss in it fine taste, intelligence and delicacy, and at the same time he is uncouth, harsh, does not believe in anything. .. He does not know self-interest,” Diderot wrote 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 who led the creation of the monument Imperial Academy Arts Ivan Ivanovich Belskoy presented a sculpture of Peter I, who stood in full height with a wand in 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 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, 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 no Barbarism, no Love of the peoples, no 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 winner, 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
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. Falcone reworked the model of the head of Peter I several times, but did not get the approval of Catherine II, and as a result, the head of the Bronze Horseman was successfully sculpted
Marie Anne Collot. 
The face of Peter I turned out to be courageous and strong-willed, with a wide open eyes and illumined 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 hard 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. 
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. The upper part of the Bronze Horseman was damaged anyway, it had to be cut down. Preparations for the new casting took another three years, but this time it was successful, and in honor of the successful completion of the work, the sculptor left the inscription in one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I: “Etienne Falcone, a Parisian of 1788, sculpted and cast.” 
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. 
The weight of the monolith is about 1600 tons and is called the Thunder-stone, according to legend, lightning hit it and broke off a piece of the block. To deliver the stone, piles were driven, a road was laid, a wooden platform was made moving along two parallel gutters, in which 30 balls made of copper alloy were laid. This operation was carried out in winter from November 15, 1769, when the ground was icy and on March 27, 1770 the stone was delivered to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Then the monolith was loaded onto a special raft, built by the master Grigory Korchebnikov, fortified between two ships. Thousands of people took part in the extraction and transportation of the stone. On September 25, 1770, crowds of people met the Thunder-stone on the banks of the Neva near Senate Square. During transportation, dozens of masons gave it the necessary shape. This event was marked by the minting of the medal "It is like boldness. January 1770".
Back side
Front side 
In 1778, Falcone's relationship with Catherine II finally deteriorated and, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he was forced to leave for Paris.
The installation of the Bronze Horseman was led by Fyodor Gordeev, and on August 7, 1782, Grand opening monument.
The military parade at the celebration was led by Prince Alexander Golitsyn, and Catherine II arrived along the Neva in a boat and climbed onto the balcony of the Senate building. The empress came out wearing a crown and purple and gave a sign to open the monument. Under the roll of a drum, the shields covering the monument opened up - an exclamation of admiration swept through ... and the regiments of the guards marched along the Neva embankment. 
But the author was not among the enthusiastic audience, he was not even invited to the opening ceremony. Only later Prince Golitsyn in France presented Falcone with gold and silver medals from Catherine II. This was a clear recognition of his talent, which the queen could not appreciate before. They say that at this Falcone, who spent 15 years of his life on his main sculpture, began to cry. 
Bronze Horseman - title
The name of the Bronze Horseman was later given to the monument thanks to the poem of the same name by A.S. Pushkin, although in fact the monument is made of bronze.
Monument Bronze Horseman
Falcone depicted the figure of Peter I in dynamics, on a rearing horse, and thereby wanted to show not a commander and winner, but, first of all, a creator and legislator. We see the emperor in simple clothes, and instead of a rich saddle - an animal skin. Only the wreath of laurel crowning the head and the sword at the belt tell us about the winner and the commander. The location of the monument on the top of the rock indicates the difficulties Peter overcame, and the snake is a symbol of evil forces. The monument is unique in that it has only three points of support. On the pedestal there is an inscription "TO PETER the first EKATERINA second summer 1782", and on the other side the same text is indicated in Latin. The weight of the Bronze Horseman is eight tons, and the height is five meters.
Legends and Myths about the Bronze Horseman
There is a legend that Peter I, being in a cheerful mood, decided to jump over the Neva on his beloved horse Lisette. He exclaimed: "All God's and mine" and jumped over the river. The second time he shouted the same words and was also on the other side. And for the third time he decided to jump over the Neva, but he made a reservation and said: “All mine and God’s” and was immediately punished - he turned to stone on Senate Square, in the place where the Bronze Horseman now stands.
They say that Peter I, who fell ill, was lying in a fever and fancied that the Swedes were advancing. He jumped on a horse and wanted to rush to the Neva against the enemy, but then a snake crawled out and wrapped around the horse's legs and stopped him, did not allow Peter I to jump into the water and die. So the Bronze Horseman stands in this place - a monument to How the snake saved Peter I.
There are several myths and legends in which Peter I prophesies: "As long as I am in place, my city has nothing to fear." And indeed, the Bronze Horseman remained in his place during Patriotic War 1812 and during the Great Patriotic War. During the siege of Leningrad, it was sheathed with logs and boards, and bags of sand and earth were laid around it.
Peter I points with his hand towards Sweden, and in the center of Stockholm there is a monument to Charles XII, Peter's opponent in the Northern War, left hand which is directed towards Russia.
Interesting facts about the Bronze Horseman monument
The transportation of the stone-pedestal was accompanied by difficulties and unforeseen circumstances, and often there were emergency situations. All of Europe followed that operation, and in honor of the delivery of the Thunder Stone to Senate Square, a commemorative medal was issued with the inscription “It is like boldness. Genvarya, 20, 1770"
Falcone conceived a monument without a fence, although the fence was nevertheless installed, but has not survived to this day. Now there are people who leave inscriptions on the monument and spoil the pedestal and the Bronze Horseman. It is possible that soon a fence will be installed around the Bronze Horseman
In 1909 and 1976, the restoration of the Bronze Horseman was carried out. The latest examination, carried out using gamma rays, showed that the frame of the sculpture is in good condition. Inside the monument was laid a capsule with a note on the restoration and a newspaper dated September 3, 1976
The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg - main character Newlyweds and numerous tourists come to the Senate Square and admire one of the most famous sights of the city on Senate Square. 
"The Bronze Horseman" - a monument to the first Russian emperor Peter I, became one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. Its grand opening, timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the reign of Empress Catherine II, took place on August 18 (August 7, old style), 1782, on Senate Square.
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.
Famous masters recommended for this work Etienne-Maurice Falcone, who had long dreamed of creating monumental work. The wax sketch was made by the master back in Paris, and after his arrival in Russia in 1766, work began on a plaster model in the size of the statue.
Rejecting the allegorical solution offered to him by Catherine II's entourage, Falcone decided to present the tsar as "the creator, legislator and benefactor of his country", who "stretches his right hand over the country he travels around." He instructed his student Marie Ann Collot to model the head of the statue, but later, he made changes to the image, trying to express in the face of Peter a combination of thought and strength.
The casting of the monument took place at the end of August 1774. But it was not possible to complete it at one time, as Falcone expected. During casting, cracks formed in the mold, through which liquid metal began to flow. The workshop started on fire.
The selflessness and resourcefulness of the foundry master Yemelyan Khailov made it possible to extinguish the flame, but the entire upper part of the casting from the knees of the rider and the chest of the horse to their heads was irreparably damaged and had to be cut down. During the time between the first and second casting, the craftsmen repaired and minted the holes left in the cast part of the monument from the pipes (gating gates) through which liquid metal was fed into the mold, and polished the bronze. The upper part of the statue was cast in the summer of 1777.
Then began the connection of the two parts of the sculpture and the sealing of the seam between them, chasing, polishing and patination of bronze. In the summer of 1778, the decoration of the monument was basically completed. In memory of this, Falcone engraved an inscription in Latin on one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I: "Etienne Falcone, a Parisian 1778, molded and cast." In August of the same year, the sculptor left Russia without waiting for the opening of the monument.
Following the departure of the French sculptor from Russia, the architect Yury Felten supervised the progress of work on the construction of the monument.
The monument is supported by a snake trampled by a horse by the sculptor Fyodor Gordeev, symbolizing envy, inertness and malice.
The foot of the sculpture - a giant granite block, the so-called thunder-stone, was found in 1768 on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, near the village of Konnaya Lakhta. The delivery of a colossal monolith weighing about 1.6 thousand tons to the site of the monument was completed in 1770. First, it was transported overland on a platform with grooved skids, which, through 32 bronze balls, rested on portable rails laid on a prepared surface, and then on a specially built barge. According to the drawing of the architect Yuri Felten, the stone was given the shape of a rock, as a result of processing, its dimensions were significantly reduced. On a pedestal in Russian and Latin Mounted inscription: "To Peter the Great Catherine the Second". The installation of the monument was supervised by the sculptor Gordeev.
The height of the sculpture of Peter I is 5.35 meters, the height of the pedestal is 5.1 meters, the length of the pedestal is 8.5 meters.
In the statue of Peter, pacifying the horse on steep peak rocks, the unity of movement and rest is superbly conveyed; The regally proud landing of the king, the commanding gesture of the hand, the turn of the upturned head in laurel wreath, personifying the resistance of the elements and the assertion of the sovereign will.
The monumental statue of a rider, with his imperious hand clutching the reins of a horse reared in a swift impulse, symbolizes the growth of Russia's power.
The location of the monument to Peter I on Senate Square 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 Falcone, did his own thing by erecting a monument closer to the Neva.
Senate Square after the opening of the monument was named Petrovskaya, in 1925-2008 it was called Decembrists Square. In 2008, it was returned to its former name - Senate.
Thanks to Alexander Pushkin, who used fantasy story about the revived monument during the flood that shook the city in his poem, the bronze monument of Peter.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the monument was covered with sandbags, on top of which a wooden case was built.
The Bronze Horseman has been repeatedly restored. In particular, in 1909 the water accumulated inside the monument was drained and cracks were repaired, in 1912 holes were drilled in the sculpture for water drainage, in 1935 all newly formed defects were eliminated. The complex of restoration works was carried out in 1976.
The monument to Peter I is an integral part of the ensemble of the city center.
On City Day in St. Petersburg official festive events traditionally on the Senate Square.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
In 1782, the centenary of the accession to the Russian throne of Peter I was celebrated in St. Petersburg by the opening of a monument to the tsar by the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falcone. The monument began to be called the Bronze Horseman thanks to A.S. Pushkin.
The monument to Peter I (“The Bronze Horseman”) is located in the center of Senate Square. The author of the sculpture is the French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falcone.
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. He worked at a porcelain factory, but dreamed of great and monumental art. When an invitation was received to erect a monument in Russia, Falcone signed the contract without hesitation on September 6, 1766. Its conditions determined: the monument to Peter should consist of "mainly an equestrian statue of colossal size." The sculptor was offered a rather modest fee (200 thousand livres), other masters asked twice as much.
Falcone arrived in St. Petersburg with his seventeen-year-old assistant Marie-Anne Collot.
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 the 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. He was stubborn and persistent. The sculptor wrote:
“I will confine myself to the statue of this hero, whom I interpret neither as a great commander, nor as a winner, 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. 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 Falcone monument, 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 a life-size model of the monument for three years. Work on The Bronze Horseman was carried out on the site of the former temporary Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1769, passers-by could watch here 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'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. 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 appointed her a lifelong pension of 10,000 livres.
The snake under the horse's foot was sculpted by the Russian sculptor F.G. Gordeev.
The full-size plaster model of the monument took twelve years to prepare, and was ready by 1778. The model was opened for public viewing in a workshop on the corner of Kirpichny Lane and Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Opinions were expressed very different. The chief prosecutor of the Synod did not accept the project decisively. Diderot was pleased with what he saw. Catherine II, on the other hand, turned out to be indifferent to the model of the monument - she did not like Falcone's arbitrariness in choosing the appearance of the monument.
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 a specially invited caster 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.
Finally, a foundry worker was found - cannon master Emelyan Khailov. Together with him, Falcone selected the alloy, made samples. For three years, the sculptor mastered casting to perfection. Casting of the Bronze Horseman began in 1774.
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. This time the job was successful. In memory of her, 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."
Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti wrote about these events:
“On August 24, 1775, Falcone cast a statue of Peter the Great on horseback here. Casting succeeded except in places two feet by two at the top. This regrettable failure occurred through an event 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 poured the molten metal into a mold, not losing his vigor in the least in the face of danger to his life. 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.
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.
The granite monolith was found in the Lakhta region, twelve versts from St. Petersburg. Once upon a time, according to local legends, lightning hit the rock, forming a crack in it. Among the locals, the rock was called "Thunder-stone". So they began to call it later when they installed it on the banks of the Neva under the famous monument.
The initial weight of the monolith is about 2000 tons. Catherine II announced a reward of 7,000 rubles to anyone who comes up with the most effective way to deliver the rock to Senate Square. Of the many projects, the method proposed by someone Carburi was chosen. There were rumors that he bought this project from some Russian merchant.
A clearing was cut through from the location of the stone to the shore of the bay, and the soil was strengthened. The rock was freed from unnecessary layers, it immediately became lighter by 600 tons. The thunderstone was hoisted with levers onto a wooden platform resting on copper balls. These balls moved along grooved wooden rails, upholstered in copper. The passage was winding. Work on the transportation of the rock continued in frost and heat. Hundreds of people worked. Many Petersburgers came to watch this action. Some of the observers collected fragments of stone and ordered from them knobs for a cane or cufflinks. In honor of the extraordinary transport operation, Catherine II ordered the minting of a medal on which is written “It is like daring. Genvarya, 20. 1770.
The poet Vasily Rubin in the same year wrote:
Rosskaya Mountain, miraculous here,
Heeding the voice of God from the lips of Catherine,
Passed into the city of Petrov through the Nevsky abyss
And fell under the feet of Great Peter.
By the time the monument to Peter I was erected, the relationship between the sculptor and the imperial court had finally deteriorated. It got to the point that Falcone began to attribute only a technical attitude to the monument. The offended master did not wait for the opening of the monument; in September 1778, together with Marie-Anne Collot, he left for Paris.
The installation of the "Bronze Horseman" on the pedestal was led by the architect F.G. Gordeev.
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 a sign for the opening of the monument. The fence fell, to the drumming of the regiments moved along the Neva embankment.
By order of Catherine II, the pedestal is inscribed: "Catherine II to Peter I." Thus, the empress stressed her commitment to Peter's reforms.
Immediately after the Bronze Horseman appeared on the Senate Square, the square was named Petrovskaya.
A.S. called the sculpture “The Bronze Horseman” in his poem of the same name. Pushkin. This expression has become so popular that it has become 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.
Legend of the Bronze Horseman
From the day it was installed, it became the subject of many myths and legends. Opponents of Peter himself and his reforms warned that the monument depicts the "horseman of the Apocalypse", bringing death and suffering to the city and all of Russia. Supporters of Peter said that the monument symbolizes greatness and glory Russian Empire, and that Russia will remain so until the horseman leaves his pedestal.
By the way, there are also legends about the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman. As conceived by the sculptor Falcone, it was supposed to be made in the form of a wave. Suitable stone was found near the village of Lakhta: supposedly a local holy fool pointed to the stone. Some historians find it possible that this is the very stone that Peter climbed more than once during Northern war, in order to better see the location of the troops.
The fame of the Bronze Horseman spread far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. In one of the remote settlements, their own version of the origin of the monument arose. The version was that once Peter the Great had fun jumping on his horse from one bank of the Neva to the other. For the first time, he exclaimed: "All God's and mine!" and jumped over the river. The second time he repeated: "All God's and mine!", And again the jump was successful. However, the third time the emperor mixed up the words, and said: "All mine and God's!" At that moment, God's punishment overtook him: he turned to stone and forever remained a monument to himself.
Legend of Major Baturin
During the Patriotic War of 1812, as a result of the retreat of the Russian troops, there was a threat of the capture of St. Petersburg French troops. Worried about this prospect, Alexander I ordered especially valuable works of art to be taken out of the city. In particular, Secretary of State Molchanov was instructed to take a monument to Peter I to the Vologda province, and several thousand rubles were allocated for this. At this time, a certain major Baturin achieved a meeting with the personal friend of the tsar, Prince Golitsyn, and told him that he, Baturin, was haunted by the same dream. He sees himself on Senate Square. Peter's face turns. The horseman rides off his rock and heads along the streets of St. Petersburg to Kamenny Island, where Alexander I then lived. The horseman enters the courtyard of the Kamenoostrovsky Palace, from which the sovereign comes out to meet him. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter the Great tells him, “but as long as I am in place, my city has nothing to fear!” Then the rider turns back, and the “heavy-voiced gallop” is heard again. Struck by Baturin's story, Prince Golitsyn conveyed the dream to the sovereign. As a result, Alexander I canceled his decision to evacuate the monument. The monument remained in place.
There is an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin formed the basis of the plot of A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman". There is also an assumption that the legend of Major Baturin became the reason that during the years of World War II the monument remained in place and was not hidden, like other sculptures.
During the blockade of Leningrad, the Bronze Horseman was covered with bags of earth and sand, sheathed with logs and boards.
The monument was restored in 1909 and 1976. During the last of them, 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.
Currently, the Bronze Horseman is a popular place for honeymooners.
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.
