(1842-1904) - great Russian artist. Best known as a battle painter. During his life, he painted many real masterpieces of painting, among which: Napoleon in Russia, They attack by surprise, In the Turkish mortuary, Go to the zindan in Samarkand, Triumph, After failure, Timur's Doors and many others. The most famous work of Vereshchagin, which can be called the "calling card" of the artist, is the painting "The Apotheosis of War".
Apotheosis of war
Painting " Apotheosis of war"Written in 1871, oil on canvas, 127 × 197 cm. Currently located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The original title of the painting The triumph of Tamerlane". There are several versions about what inspired the artist to create this picture. According to one version, with his work he wanted to show the history of the wars of Tamerlane, after whose campaigns only heaps of skulls and empty cities remained. According to another version, still associated with Tamerlane, the artist depicted a story in which the women of Baghdad and Damascus complained to the leader that their husbands were mired in debauchery and infidelity. Tamerlane ordered each of his soldiers to bring the head of lecherous husbands, as a result of which 7 pyramids accumulated. The second version is less plausible, since it weakly echoes both the first and second titles of the picture. According to the third version, Vereshchagin created this picture after he heard about the Valikhantor from Kashgar, who put the heads of executed people into a huge pyramid. "The Triumph of Tamerlane" or "The Apotheosis of War" is part of the Turkestan series of paintings by the artist, which he created while traveling around Turkestan, where he saw many deaths and the most terrible events. These experiences inspired him to create a work that tells about the horrors of war in a vivid symbolic form, which brings only grief and destruction.
The painting "The Apotheosis of War" shows a pyramid consisting of skulls. Some skulls have obvious damage from sabers and bullets. The pyramid is located on the lifeless lands of the endless desert, which once again emphasizes the devastation of war. Against the backdrop of the pyramid stands an empty, dilapidated city. There are charred trees all around. Only crows live here - symbols of death in art.
Why did I remember this picture?
I often make virtual trips. Today I wandered into Presnya. I wandered around Roshydromet, remembered my work at the State Committee for Hydrometeorology. Not far from the Committee building stood a log house on a stone foundation. Someone told me that this is the house of the artist Vasily Vereshchagin. Behind a deaf fence, the abandoned house was chosen by homeless people. And soon the house burned down. Today there is no blank fence, all firebrands have been removed, but the foundation has been preserved.
The foundation of the house in Novovagankovsky lane
Whose was he? It's hard for me to say. I didn't find an answer on the internet.
But this house, judging by the biography of the artist, was not the house of Vasily Vereshchegin. Vereshchagin's big house was located in Bolshiye Kotly. Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, at the bend of the Moskva River, in the village of Nizhnie Kotly, bought a plot in 1892, on which he built a house and a workshop according to his own design.
Vereshchagin's estate in Nizhnye Kotly
The construction of the house was connected with the marriage in 1890 to the twenty-three-year-old Lidia Vasilievna Andreevskaya. Soon the children appeared, and with them the family "nest". Vereshchagin became the owner of a spacious house with a huge workshop. The address sounded like this: “Moscow. Behind the Serpukhov outpost. The village of Nizhniye Kotly.
Vereshchagin died in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War on the battleship Petropavlovsk, which was blown up by a Japanese mine. Then Admiral Makarov also died.
After the death of her husband, the widow of Vereshchagin sold the house and the plot, the new owner put it up for scrap.
It is possible that the burnt house on Presnya belonged to someone from the Vereshchagin family. [Later I found out that the house really belonged to Vereshchagin, but who had no relationship with the artist]
And the picture reminded me of the war in Syria...
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At least in order to see with your own eyes the paintings “Girl with Peaches”, “Rooks Have Arrived”, “The Appearance of Christ to the People”, “Morning in a Pine Forest” and many other works of Russian fine art, familiar even to all people who are far from painting from candy wrappers and Internet memes.
website rummaged through the collections of an art museum and chose 10 paintings with an interesting history. We hope they will inspire you to visit the Tretyakov Gallery.
"The Apotheosis of War" Vasily Vereshchagin
The picture was painted in 1871 under the impression of military operations in Turkestan, which struck eyewitnesses with their cruelty. Initially, the canvas was called "The Triumph of Tamerlane", whose troops left behind such pyramids of skulls. According to history, once the women of Baghdad and Damascus turned to Tamerlane, who complained about their husbands, mired in sins and depravity. Then the cruel commander ordered each soldier from his 200,000-strong army to bring a severed head of lecherous husbands. After the order was executed, 7 pyramids of heads were laid out.
"Unequal Marriage" Vasily Pukirev
The painting depicts the wedding process in the Orthodox Church. A young dowry bride marries an old official against her will. According to one version, the painting depicts a love drama of the artist himself. The prototype in the image of the bride depicts the failed bride of Vasily Pukirev. And in the image of the best man, depicted at the edge of the picture behind the bride, with his hands folded on his chest, is the artist himself.
"Boyar Morozova" Vasily Surikov
Giant in size (304 x 586 cm), Vasily Surikov's painting depicts a scene from the history of the church schism in the 17th century. The painting is dedicated to Morozova Theodosia Prokopievna - an associate of the spiritual leader of the supporters of the old faith, Archpriest Avvakum. Around 1670, she secretly took the veil as a nun, was arrested in 1671, and in 1673 sent to the Pafnutev-Borovsky Monastery, where she was starved to death in an earthen prison.
The painting depicts an episode when the noblewoman Morozova is being transported around Moscow to the place of imprisonment. Next to Morozova is her sister Evdokia Urusova, who shared the fate of a schismatic; in the depths - a wanderer, in whose face the features of the artist are read.
"They didn't expect" Ilya Repin
The second picture, painted in 1884-1888, depicts the moment of the unexpected return home of a political exile. The boy and the woman at the piano (apparently his wife) are happy, the girl looks wary, the maid is incredulous, in the hunched figure of the mother in the foreground one feels a deep emotional shock.
Currently, both paintings are part of the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.
"Trinity" Andrey Rublev
The Tretyakov Gallery has the richest collection of ancient Russian paintings of the 11th-17th centuries, including works by Dionysius, Simon Ushakov and Andrei Rublev. In the 60th hall of the gallery hangs one of the most famous and famous icons in the world - "Trinity", painted by Andrei Rublev in the first quarter of the 15th century. Three angels gathered around the table on which the sacrificial bowl stands for a quiet, unhurried conversation.
"Trinity" is kept in the hall of ancient Russian painting of the Tretyakov Gallery, in a special glass case, which maintains constant humidity and temperature, and which protects the icon from any external influences.
"Unknown" Ivan Kramskoy
The place of action of the picture is beyond doubt - this is Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, Anichkov Bridge. But the image of a woman is still a mystery of the artist. Neither in the letters nor in the diaries did Kramskoy leave any mention of the unknown person. Critics connected this image with Anna Karenina of Leo Tolstoy, with Nastasya Filippovna of Fyodor Dostoevsky, the names of famous ladies of the world were called. There is also a version that the painting depicts the artist's daughter, Sofia Ivanovna Kramskaya.
In Soviet times, Kramskoy's "Unknown" became almost a Russian Sistine Madonna - the ideal of unearthly beauty and spirituality. And hung in every decent Soviet house.
"Bogatyrs" Viktor Vasnetsov
Vasnetsov painted this picture for almost twenty years. On April 23, 1898, it was completed and soon bought by P. M. Tretyakov for his gallery.
In epics, Dobrynya is always young, like Alyosha, but for some reason Vasnetsov portrayed him as a mature man with a luxurious beard. Some researchers believe that Dobrynya's facial features resemble the artist himself. The prototype for Ilya Muromets was the peasant of the Vladimir province Ivan Petrov, whom Vasnetsov had previously captured in one of the studies.
By the way, Ilya Muromets is not a fairy-tale character, but a historical person. The story of his life and feats of arms are real events. Having grown old and finished his labors in protecting the homeland, he became a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he died in 1188.
"Bathing the Red Horse" Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
The painting “Bathing the Red Horse”, which amazed contemporaries with its monumentality and fatefulness, brought world fame to the artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. The red horse acts as the Destiny of Russia, which the fragile and young rider is unable to hold. According to another version, the Red Horse is Russia itself. In this case, it is impossible not to note the visionary gift of the artist, who symbolically predicted the “red” fate of Russia in the 20th century with his painting.
The horse Petrov-Vodkin wrote from a real stallion named Boy. To create the image of a teenager sitting on a horse, the artist used the features of his student, the artist Sergei Kalmykov: “For the information of future compilers of my monograph. On a red horse, our dearest Kuzma Sergeevich portrayed me. ... In the form of a languid young man on this banner, I am depicted in my own person.
"The Swan Princess" Mikhail Vrubel
The painting was painted in 1900 based on the stage image of the heroine of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan based on the plot of the fairy tale of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. Vrubel designed this performance, and the part of the Swan Princess was performed by the artist's wife, Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel. “All the singers sing like birds, and Nadia - like a person!” Vrubel spoke about her.
The painting "The Apotheosis of War" was painted by Vasily Vereshchagin in 1871. She made a strong impression on the artist's contemporaries, but even more than a hundred years later, people stop in front of her, thinking about life and death. "The Apotheosis of War" can be called Vereshchagin's programmatic work. Currently, the work is in the State Tretyakov Gallery. And art historians continue to argue about the history of the plot, finding more and more confirmation or refutation of one or the other version.
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is best known as a battle painter. He was born in 1842 in Cherepovets, graduated from the naval cadet corps, served briefly, then entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, studied painting in Paris.
In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where, with the rank of ensign, he was an artist under the Governor-General K.P. Kaufman. “I went because I wanted to know what a true war is, about which I read and heard a lot…”,” the artist wrote. Here he conceived the famous "Turkestan series", in which he later depicted not the actual battle scenes, but the moments preceding the battle or following it. He also painted the nature and scenes of everyday life of the inhabitants of Central Asia. However, in the war, Vereshchagin did not just contemplate what was happening in order to capture it later on paper. Having changed a pencil for a gun, he participated in the battles, withstood the siege of Samarkand together with soldiers and officers, received the Order of St. George 4th class for military merits. But in any conditions he made sketches.
Returning from Turkestan, Vereshchagin left for Munich in 1871, where, on the basis of sketches and brought collections, he worked hard on Turkestan subjects. In its final form, the "Turkestan Series" included thirteen paintings, eighty-one studies and one hundred and thirty-three drawings. In this composition, she was shown at Vereshchagin's first solo exhibition in London in 1873, and then in 1874 in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
A number of battle paintings were combined by the artist into a series, which he called "Barbarians". The painting "The Apotheosis of War" is included in it, and it, in turn, is part of the "Turkestan Series".
Plot
The painting depicts a pyramid of human skulls against the backdrop of a ruined city and charred trees in the middle of a hot steppe. Flocks of hungry birds of prey circle over the pyramid, sit on the skulls. All the details of the canvas, including the grayish-yellow color, symbolize death and devastation, convey the feeling of a sun-dried, dead nature. The clear blue sky only emphasizes the deadness of the picture. Only crows live here - symbols of death in art.
"The Apotheosis of War" in a symbolic form tells about the horrors of war, which brings only grief, destruction, destruction. In it, the artist severely condemns all aggressive wars that bring death.
The well-known Russian art critic Vladimir Stasov wrote about the "Apotheosis of War" as follows:
“Here it’s not just the skill with which Vereshchagin painted with his brushes a dry, burned steppe and among it a pyramid of skulls, with crows fluttering around, looking for a still surviving, maybe a piece of meat. No! Here appeared in the picture something more precious and higher than the extraordinary Vereshchagin virtuality of colors: this is a deep feeling of a historian and judge of mankind ... "
Several versions of the painting
Initially, the canvas was called "The Triumph of Tamerlane." There are several versions about what inspired the artist to create this picture. According to one of them, with his work, he wanted to show the history of the wars of Tamerlane, after whose campaigns only heaps of skulls and empty cities remained.
According to another version, still associated with Tamerlane, the artist depicted a story in which the women of Baghdad and Damascus complained to the leader that their husbands were mired in debauchery and drunkenness. Tamerlane ordered each of his 200,000 warriors to bring the head of the wicked. After the order was executed, seven pyramids were laid out of the heads. This version is less plausible, as it weakly echoes both the first and second titles of the picture.
According to the third version, Vereshchagin created this painting after he heard that the ruler of Kashgar, Valikhan-Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered to put his head on top of a pyramid made of the skulls of other executed people.
It is also believed that the painting was inspired by Tamerlane's ruthless suppression of the Uighur uprising in western China. However, round traces of bullets in the skulls eloquently testify that Tamerlane has nothing to do with this picture. In addition, the illusion of the Middle Ages is dispelled by the inscription made by the artist on the frame: "Dedicated to all the great conquerors - past, present and future."
Vereshchagin's paintings were offered to be burned
The "Apotheosis of War" made a depressing impression on the high-society audience in Russia and abroad. The imperial court considered this and other battle paintings of the artist to discredit the Russian army. One general from Prussia even persuaded Alexander II to burn all Vereshchagin's paintings about the war, because they have "the most pernicious influence." Because of this work, the masters were not sold, only a private philanthropist Tretyakov bought several paintings from the Turkestan series.
Vasily Vereshchagin died not in his bed. At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the artist again went to where the battles raged. In the Pacific Ocean, on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur, he died in a mine explosion on the battleship Petropavlovsk, along with Admiral Makarov.
Unfortunately, modern man is so accustomed to violence and death occurring daily around the world that massacres are now no surprise. To create the "Apotheosis of War", Vereshchagin had only a few skulls, which he depicted from various angles. However, in modern history there are already cases when in practice what is drawn by the artist is recreated. Vereshchagin did not know that in order for a pyramid of human heads to be stable, the skulls must be without a lower jaw. However, the horrifying realities of the twentieth century make us all sad "experts" in this matter.
Oil/Canvas (1871)
Description
According to another version, the famous painting "The Apotheosis of War" was created by Vereshchagin under the impression ...
The picture was painted in 1871. Initially, the canvas was called "The Triumph of Tamerlane", the idea was associated with Tamerlane, whose troops left behind such pyramids of skulls, but the picture is not of a specific historical nature. According to history, once women of Baghdad and Damascus turned to Tamerlane, who complained about their husbands, mired in sins and depravity. Then Tamerlane ordered each soldier from his 200,000-strong army to bring a severed head of lecherous husbands. After the order was executed, 7 pyramids of heads were laid out.
According to another version, the famous painting “The Apotheosis of War” was created by Vereshchagin under the impression of a story about how the despot of Kashgar, Valikhan-Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered his head to be placed on top of a pyramid made of the skulls of other executed people. In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where he was an ensign under the Turkestan Governor-General Kaufman. Russia then conquered Turkestan and Vereshchagin had seen enough of death and corpses, which aroused compassion and philanthropy in him. The well-known Turkestan series appeared in Turkestan, where Vereshchagin, a battle painter, depicted not only military operations, but also the nature and scenes of life in Central Asia. And after a trip to Western China in 1869, where the troops of the Bogdykhan ruthlessly pacified the uprising of the local Dungans and Uighurs, the painting “The Apotheosis of War” appeared.
"The Apotheosis of War" is one of Vereshchagin's most striking program works. The painting depicts a pyramid of human skulls against the backdrop of a ruined city and charred trees, in the midst of a hot steppe; crows hover around the pyramid. All the details of the picture, including the yellow color of the canvas, symbolize death and devastation. The clear blue sky emphasizes the deadness of the picture. The idea of the "Apotheosis of War" is also vividly expressed by the scars from sabers and bullet holes on the skulls.
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is one of the most famous Russian battle painters, which is not surprising, because he personally took part in many military campaigns and several major battles. In addition, Vasily Vasilyevich traveled quite a lot around Russia and Central Asia, where rather cruel customs always reigned. And this was especially noticeable in times of uprisings, wars, riots and other bloody actions, involving the obligatory death of many people. Vereshchagin was very impressed with the scale of the bloodshed in Turkestan, where Russian troops, at that time, were "implanting democracy."
The cruelty of the modern military and legends about the cruelty of the military of the past, in particular, the legends about Tamerlane and his methods of suppressing uprisings. It was the warriors of Tamerlane who left behind pyramids of the severed heads of their enemies. In an effort to convey his own emotions, Vereshchagin created the painting "The Apotheosis of War", the original title of which was dedicated to the founder of the Timurid dynasty - "Triumph of Tamerlane". It is this work that, according to many experts, is the highest work of Vereshchagin, which in no way detracts from the dignity of his other works. But Apotheosis of War is something special.
The painting was created by the artist as one work from the "Barbarians" cycle, but stands out from the rest of the paintings depicting soldiers in peacetime and wartime, but alive. And "Apotheosis" is a real portrait of death, an illustration of war, its true essence. Many are surprised to learn that the date of the painting is 1871. Vereshchagin was then only 29 years old, in fact - he was still quite a young man, but it was his youth and the experience accumulated by that time that, apparently, allowed him to write his opus magnum.
Hot steppe, clear blue sky in smoke or dust. The silence hanging there is almost palpable. Just the cawing of crows circling over the pyramid of human skulls, and the flapping of their wings. If not for the bullet holes, the picture could be attributed to a completely different historical period. But no. “These are our contemporaries,” as the author would like to say. In the distance - a ruined city, charred trees. Yellowness, lifelessness and a certain surrealism of what is happening. And you look at all this, but not a single thought arises in your mind, only all those wars that are going on right now, in different parts of the world, are remembered. And the blue sky, usually pleasing to the eye, covered with an incomprehensible haze, begins to seem as cruel and indifferent as the desert that lies beneath it. And a terrible mountain of skulls, as a monument to human cruelty, ambition and stupidity.
It's scary to look at, but it's impossible not to watch either. Because this picture, being a work of art for us, sitting at monitors in peaceful sleepy cities, is a reality for the inhabitants of Syria, Libya, Mexico, Iraq, Donbass, etc. And the TV will never show you mountains of corpses the way Vasily Vereshchagin did, but the essence of this will not change. And the next time you turn on the news and listen to about terrorists, separatists, rebels, militants and the “forces of peace and good” who are at war with them, remember this picture, because war always has one result. And a bad peace is still better than a good war, whatever one may say.
"Dedicated to all the great conquerors, past, present and future", - Vasily Vereshchagin, caption for the painting "The Apotheosis of War".
