1.
Saint Michael's Castle
St. Michaels Castle, called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers Castle, is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. St. Michaels Castle was built as a residence for Emperor Paul I by architects Vincenzo Brenna, the castle looks different from each side, as the architects used motifs of various architectural styles such as French Classicism, Italian Renaissance and Gothic. St. Michaels Castle was built to the south of the Summer Garden, afraid of intrigues and assassination plots, Emperor Paul I disliked the Winter Palace where he never felt safe. Due to his fascination with medieval knights and his constant fear of assassination. In 1800, the bronze equestrian Monument to Peter the Great was set up in front of the castle and this statue had been designed during Peter the Greats lifetime and later, with the casting being completed in 1747 by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Paul I was assassinated only 40 nights after he moved into his newly built castle and he was murdered on 12 March 1801, in his own bedroom, by a group of dismissed officers headed by General Bennigsen.
The conspirators forced him to a table, and tried to compel him to sign his abdication, Paul offered some resistance, and one of the assassins struck him with a sword, and he was strangled and trampled to death. He was succeeded by his son, Emperor Alexander I, who was actually in the palace at the time and was informed of his accession by General Nicholas Zubov, one of the assassins. After Pauls death, the family returned to the Winter Palace, St. Michaels Castle was abandoned. From on, the building was known as the Engineers Castle, between 1838 and 1843, the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky studied as a cadet at the Main Engineering School. In the early 1990s, St. A. N, petrov, 4th ed. Leningrad, Stroyizdat,1976. Nordisk Familjebok, Nordisk familjeboks förlags aktiebolag,2 ed.1904
2.
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a called Ingermanland.
A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter.
However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
3.
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic, Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader, whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects. The Anglo-Russian Entente, designed to counter German attempts to influence in the Middle East. Nicholas approved the Russian mobilisation on 30 July 1914, which led to Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August 1914 and it is estimated that around 3,300,000 Russians were killed in World War I. Following the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas abdicated on behalf of himself and his son, the recovered remains of the Imperial Family were finally re-interred in St. Petersburg, eighty years to the day on 17 July 1998. In 1981, his wife and their children were canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, located in New York City.
On 15 August 2000 Nicholas and his family were canonized as passion bearers, Nicholas was born in the Alexander Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. He had five siblings, George, Michael. Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexanders death in 1894 and he was very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and his maternal grandparents were King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent, his last ethnically Russian ancestor being Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, Nicholas was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mothers siblings included Kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, his wife Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom.
Nicholas was a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Constantine I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin-once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them the Grand Duke was often known within the Imperial family as Nikolasha and Nicholas the Tall, while the Tsar was Nicholas the Short. In his childhood, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen. The visits served as family reunions, as his mothers siblings would come from the United Kingdom, Germany. It was there in 1883, that he had a flirtation with one of his English first cousins, in 1873, Nicholas accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to England. In London and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his Uncle Bertie and Aunt Alix, the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle
4.
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, in the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a communist state. The February Revolution was a revolution focused around Petrograd, capital of Russia, in the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution, the February Revolution took place in the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War, which left much of the Russian Army in a state of mutiny. During this chaotic period there were frequent mutinies and many strikes, when the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting the war with Germany, the Bolsheviks and other socialist factions campaigned for stopping the conflict.
The Bolsheviks turned workers militias under their control into the Red Guards over which they exerted substantial control, the Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of various government ministries and seized control of the countryside, establishing the Cheka to quash dissent. To end Russia’s participation in the First World War, the Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918, soon after, civil war erupted among the Reds, the Whites, the independence movements and the non-Bolshevik socialists. It continued for years, during which the Bolsheviks defeated both the Whites and all rival socialists. In this way, the Revolution paved the way for the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, the Russian Revolution of 1905 was said to be a major factor to the February Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of protests, a council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was created in all this chaos, and the beginning of a communist political protest had begun.
World War I prompted a Russian outcry directed at Tsar Nicholas II and it was another major factor contributing to the retaliation of the Russian Communists against their royal opponents. However, the problems were merely administrative, and not industrial as Germany was producing great amounts of munitions whilst constantly fighting on two major battlefronts, the war developed a weariness in the city, owing to a lack of food in response to the disruption of agriculture. Food scarcity had become a problem in Russia, but the cause of this did not lie in any failure of the harvests. As a result, they tended to hoard their grain and to revert to subsistence farming, thus the cities were constantly short of food. At the same time rising prices led to demands for wages in the factories. The outcome of all this, was a criticism of the government rather than any war-weariness. The original fever of excitement, which had caused the name of St. Heavy losses during the war strengthened thoughts that Tsar Nicholas II was unfit to rule, the Liberals were now better placed to voice their complaints, since they were participating more fully through a variety of voluntary organizations
5.
Stroganov Palace
The Stroganov Palace is a Late Baroque palace at the intersection of the Moika River and Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, Russia. The palace was built to Bartolomeo Rastrellis designs for Baron Sergei Grigoriyevich Stroganov in 1753-1754, the interiors were remodeled by Andrei Voronikhin at the turn of the 19th century. The first house for the Stroganovs was built on the site probably in the 1720s, Аrchitect Mikhail Zemtsov erected a second, two-storey house on the site in the 1740s. Since the Stroganovs were the richest family in Russia and were related to the Empress by marriage, Rastrelli could not turn down the commission, like the Vorontsov Palace, the Stroganov Palace was not rapidly built. The Main Staircase decorated with marble sculptures led to the elegant Grand Hall, after Sergei Stroganovs death in 1756, the decoration was completed by his son Alexander in 1760. Within several years, the new empress, Catherine II introduced the Neoclassical taste, the style was championed by Alexander Stroganov, who became President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1800.
In the 1790s and 1800s decades, architect Andrei Voronikhin was charged with refurbishing the interiors in Neoclassical style, voronikhins mother was the Stroganovs serf, and it was rumored that his father was Alexander Stroganov. The first suites by Voronikhin were the Mineral Study, Picture Gallery, another two enfilades in the west wing were created for Pavel Stroganov, of which the Small Drawing Room survives. After Alexander Stroganov died in 1811, the passed to his son Pavel. Pavel Stroganov had four daughters, but his son was killed in the Battle of Craonne. He established the Stroganov entail, i. e. a non-divisible estate which would pass to the oldest family member and this chain of ownership was preserved until 1919 when the last Count Sergei Stroganov sold his rights to the entail. A new apartment was decorated for Aglaida Pavlovna Stroganov by Carlo Rossi in 1820, after the October Revolution in 1917, the remaining Stroganovs emigrated from Russia, and the palace was nationalized.
The family line is now extinct, the Soviets declared the palace a national museum chronicling the lifestyle of the Russian nobility. In 1929 the museum was shut down, and much of its contents were taken to the Hermitage Museum, the palace was handed over to a botanical institute. The Ministry of Shipbuilding occupied the premises for half a century, in 1988 the palace was given to the Russian Museum and became a branch housing some of its exhibitions. The dilapidated building underwent a thorough and painstaking restoration process between 1991 and the present moment, in keeping with Rastrellis original design, its walls are now painted light pink. It is one of the few Baroque structures on Nevsky Prospect to preserve its original appearance, the main façade of the Stroganov palace faces Nevsky Prospect. Here, Rastrelli rejects the cour dhonneur in the French manner, like the one in the design of the Vorontsov Palace, Rastrelli gives the building a single mass movement toward the center
6.
Vasily Surikov
Vasily Ivanovich Surikov was a Russian Realist history painter. Many of his works have become familiar to the public through their use as illustrations. He was born to an old Don Cossack family that had settled in Siberia and his father was a Collegiate Registrar, a civil service rank that often served as postmasters. In 1854, as a result of his father being reassigned, the moved to the village of Sukhobuzimskoye. In 1859, his father died of tuberculosis so the family returned to Krasnoyarsk and were forced to rent the second floor of their house to make ends meet and he began drawing while attending the district school and was encouraged by the local art teacher. His first formal work dates from 1862, but his family could not afford to continue his education and he became a clerk in a government office. This brought him contact with Pavel Zamyatin, the Governor of Yenisei, who was able to find him a patron, Pyotr Kuznetsov. After a year there, he was allowed to audit classes at the Academy, from 1869 to 1875, he studied with Pavel Chistyakov, Bogdan Willewalde and Pyotr Shamshin, winning several medals.
His great attention to composition earned him a nickname, The Composer, in 1875, he graduated with the title of Artist, first degree. In 1877, he received a commission to paint murals at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, unable to afford a house, he lived in rented apartments and hotels and visited Krasnoyarsk whenever possible. In 1878, he married Elisabeth Charais, a French woman who was descended from the Decembrist, Pyotr Svistunov, after that, he chose to remain in Moscow and began the series of historical paintings that would establish his reputation, starting with The Morning of the Streltsy Execution. In 1881, he had his first exhibition with the Peredvizhniki, in 1883, Menshikov in Berezov was bought by Pavel Tretyakov for a sum that allowed him to take a European tour. In 1887, he added portraits to his repertoire, beginning one of his mother. In 1888, his wife died and he returned to Krasnoyarsk with his daughters and this was followed by a visit to his ancestral home in Siberia.
There, on the Ob River, he made sketches for one of his most familiar works and this brought him a full membership in the Imperial Academy. In 1897, he visited Switzerland and painted Suvorov Crossing the Alps, in 1907, he left the Peredvizhniki and joined the Union of Russian Artists. Three years later, he visited Spain, together with his son-in-law and that same year, he and the architect, Leonid Chernishyov, opened an art school. Four years later, he made a stay in Krasnoyarsk
7.
Museum
Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public.
The purpose can depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums.
While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
8.
Ivan Nikitin (painter)
Ivan Nikitich Nikitin was a Russian painter, an author of portraits and battle paintings. Ivan Nikitin was born in Moscow to a family of an Orthodox priest and he received his first artistic lessons from a Dutch artist Schwonbek at the engraving shop of the Kremlin Armoury. In 1711 the Armory together with Ivan Nikitin was moved to Saint Petersburg, in 1716–1720 he and his brother Roman Nikitin were sent to Italy by Peter the Great. The brothers learnt the art of painting at Florence and Venice, after returning to Russia Nikitin became the favorite court painter of Peter the Great. He worked in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Ivan was tortured, for five years imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and exiled to Tobolsk. In 1740 Anna of Russia signed an amnesty for the brothers, the amnesty came into force in 1741. By request of the new Empress Elizabeth of Russia, Nikitin travelled back from Tobolsk to Saint Petersburg, the early portraits by Nikitin had a strong influence of the traditional 17th century parsuna style, no perspective, rigid local colors, dark backgrounds.
The portraits are typical Baroque paintings, most art historians consider the Nikitins best portraits to be Chancellor G. I. Besides portraits, Ivan Nikitin is considered to be the first notable Russian battle painter due to his paintings of the Battle of Poltava, Nikitins site – in Russian Biography – in Russian Biography – in Russian
9.
Medici lions
The sculptures depict standing male lions with a sphere or ball under one paw, looking to the side. The Medici lions have been copied, directly or with variations, according to Vacca, the lion had been a relief, which was carved free of its background and reworked by Giovanni Sciarano or Giovanni di Scherano Fancelli, of whom little is now known. The second was made and signed by Vacca, in marble, the pair were in place at the Loggia dei Leoni in 1598 The pendant was made from a capital that had come from the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The sculptures were replaced by copies at the Villa Medici when Napoleon relocated the French Academy in Rome to the villa in 1803 and these copies were made by the French sculptor Augustin Pajou. The original Medici lions are since 1789 standing at the Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, there is smaller bronze left-looking sculpture attributed to Italian sculptor Pietro da Barga and the same period. Eight sculptures are now in the Museo del Prado, of which four support the tabletop of Rodrigo Calderón, Sculptures in Colmenar marble at the Montforte Gardens, Valencia by José Bellver.
Sculptures in marble at the Canalejas Park, sculpture in bronze in the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts building, Stockholm. Sculpture in bronze at the Royal Institute of Art, sculpture in bronze in Nacka, Stockholm. Sculptures in lead at Stowe House attributed to John Cheere, formerly placed at Stanley Park, Blackpool. Sculpture in the park of Kedleston Hall, carved by Joseph Wilton, two artificial stone versions are found in the garden of the Osborne House, Isle of Wight. Sculptures at the Stanley Park and these were produced, by Rupert Harris Conservation, using casts from the former sculptures which were returned, on loan, to Stowe house in 2013. Versions in Saint Petersburg, Russia include, The Lion Cascade in bronze at Peterhof Palace, Sculptures in marble at the Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence. Sculptures in bronze at the staircase of the old Mikhailovsky Palace, Sculptures at the entrance of Yelagin Palace. The Lions at the Dvortsovaya pier in bronze at the Admiralty embankment, versions in southern Russia and Ukraine include, Sculptures in marble at the Vorontsov Palace, Odessa.
Six pairs of lion sculptures at the Voronstov Palace, Crimea. Pair of lion sculptures at Starosinnyi Garden, Sculptures in marble by Augustin Pajou at the Villa Medici. Four miniature versions surrounding the Akademie- or Löwenbrunnen in the palace garden, two gilded versions as part of the Lion Fountain in front of Glienicke Palace, Berlin. Statues at the entrance of Schloss Monrepos, two versions outside the Cathedral de la Purisma Concepción in Cienfuegos, Cuba
10.
Alexander Palace
The Alexander Palace is a former imperial residence at Tsarskoye Selo, on a plateau around 30 minutes by train from St Petersburg. The Alexander Palace is situated in the Alexander Park, not far from the larger Catherine Palace, today it is undergoing renovation as a museum housing relics of the former imperial dynasty. The Alexander Palace was constructed in the Imperial retreat of Tsarskoe Selo, the Neoclassical edifice was planned by Giacomo Quarenghi and built between 1792 and 1796. It was agreed that the architect had excelled himself in creating a masterpiece, in 1821, a quarter of a century later, the architects son wrote, An elegant building which looks over the beautiful new garden. In Tsarskoe Selo, was designed and built by my father at the request of Catherine II, as a residence for the young Grand Duke Alexander. In keeping with the august status of the person for whom the Palace was conceived and its dignified façade, harmonic proportions, and moderate ornamentation. are manifested in its interiors.
Without compromising comfort in striving for magnificence and elegance, Alexander used the palace as a summer residence through the remainder of his grandmothers and his father, reign. When he became emperor, however, he chose to reside in the larger nearby Catherine Palace. Alexander I gave the palace to his brother, the future Nicholas I, from that time on, it was the summer residence of the heir to the throne. From 1830–1850, extensive redecoration was carried out according to designs by D. Cerfolio, A. Thon, D. Yefimov, A. Stakenschneider and others in keeping with rapidly changing tastes. The appearance of the formal and private rooms of the palace during Nicholas reign can be seen in exquisite watercolors by E. Hau, the famous Mountain Hall which had a large slide built in for the children of Nicholas I was built during this time. In 1842, the Imperial couple celebrated their wedding anniversary with a series of galas including a medieval jousting tournament. Two years later, the family mourned the death of Nicholass daughter Grand Duchess Alexandra, on October 19,1860, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna died at the palace.
Alexander III and his Danish born wife Maria Feodorovna had their apartments in the right-hand or western wing of the palace near the gardens, before their accession to the imperial throne, Maria gave birth to their eldest child, the future Nicholas II, at the Alexander Palace. In his diary, the Tsarevich Alexander recorded the event of the birth of his first child, Around 12.30 my wife came to the bedroom. The pains became stronger and stronger, and Minny suffered very much, helped me hold my darling the whole time. Finally, at 2.30, the last minute came, god sent us a son whom we named Nicholas. I sprang to embrace my darling wife, and she instantly became cheerful and was terribly happy, I had been weeping like a child but suddenly my heart became light and cheerful
11.
Neoclassicism
The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, laterally competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th, European Neoclassicism in the visual arts began c.1760 in opposition to the then-dominant Baroque and Rococo styles. Each neo-classicism selects some models among the range of classics that are available to it. They ignored both Archaic Greek art and the works of Late Antiquity, the Rococo art of ancient Palmyra came as a revelation, through engravings in Woods The Ruins of Palmyra. While the movement is described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism. The case of the main champion of late Neoclassicism, demonstrates this especially well. The revival can be traced to the establishment of formal archaeology, the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. With the advent of the Grand Tour, a fad of collecting antiquities began that laid the foundations of many great collections spreading a Neoclassical revival throughout Europe, Neoclassicism in each art implies a particular canon of a classical model.
In English, the term Neoclassicism is used primarily of the arts, the similar movement in English literature. This, which had been dominant for decades, was beginning to decline by the time Neoclassicism in the visual arts became fashionable. Though terms differ, the situation in French literature was similar, in music, the period saw the rise of classical music, and Neoclassicism is used of 20th-century developments. Ingress coronation portrait of Napoleon even borrowed from Late Antique consular diptychs and their Carolingian revival, much Neoclassical painting is more classicizing in subject matter than in anything else. A fierce, but often very badly informed, dispute raged for decades over the merits of Greek and Roman art, with Winckelmann. The work of artists, who could not easily be described as insipid, combined aspects of Romanticism with a generally Neoclassical style. Unlike Carstens unrealized schemes, the etchings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi were numerous and profitable and his main subject matter was the buildings and ruins of Rome, and he was more stimulated by the ancient than the modern.
Neoclassicism in painting gained a new sense of direction with the success of Jacques-Louis Davids Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. Despite its evocation of republican virtues, this was a commission by the royal government, David managed to combine an idealist style with drama and forcefulness. David rapidly became the leader of French art, and after the French Revolution became a politician with control of government patronage in art
12.
Viktor Vasnetsov
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, Viktor Vasnetsov was born in the remote village of Lopyal in Vyatka Governorate in 1848, the second of the six children. His father Mikhail Vasilievich Vasnetsov, known to be inclined, was a member of priesthood. His grandfather was an icon painter, two of Mikhail Vasnetsovs three sons and Apollinary, became remarkable painters, the third one becoming a schoolteacher. It was in Lopyal that Viktor started to paint, mostly landscapes and scenes of village life, recalling his childhood in a letter to Vladimir Stasov, Vasnetsov remarked that he had lived with peasant children and liked them not as a narodnik but as a friend. From the age of ten, Viktor studied in a seminary in Vyatka, during his seminary years, he worked for a local icon shopkeeper. He helped an exiled Polish artist, Michał Elwiro Andriolli, having graduated from the seminary, Viktor decided to move to Saint Petersburg to study art.
He auctioned his paintings of Woman Harvester and Milk-maid in order to raise money required for the trip to the Russian capital, in August 1867 Viktor entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. Three years later, the Peredvizhniki movement of realist painters rebelled against the Academism, Vasnetsov befriended their leader Ivan Kramskoi, referring to him as his teacher. He became close to his fellow student Ilya Yefimovich Repin. It is ironic, but Viktor, whose name is associated with historical and mythological paintings, for his graphic composition of Christ and Pontius Pilate Before the People, the Academy awarded a small silver medal to him. In the early 1870s he executed a lot of engravings depicting contemporary life, two of them won him a bronze medal at the World Fair in London. At that period he started producing genre paintings in oil. Such pieces as Peasant Singers and Moving House were warmly welcomed by democratic circles of Russian society, in 1876 Repin invited Vasnetsov to join the Peredvizhniki colony in Paris.
While living in France, Viktor studied classical and contemporary paintings, at that period, he painted Acrobats, produced prints, and exhibited some of his works at the Salon. It was in Paris that he became fascinated with fairy-tale subjects, starting to work on Ivan Tsarevich Riding a Grey Wolf, Vasnetsov was a model for Sadko in Repins celebrated painting Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom. In 1877 he returned to Moscow and these works were not appreciated at the time they appeared. Many radical critics dismissed them as undermining the realist principles of the Peredvizhniki, even such prominent connoisseurs as Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov refused to buy them
2.jpg)
.jpg)
