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Watercolor; 39.5 x 29.5 cm.
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky was a Russian realist painter born in the city of Taganrog in the village Frankovka or Baronovka, named after former governor Otto Pfeilizer-Frank. Savitsky's father worked as a doctor. In Frankovka the family rented a summer house. Savitsky spent his childhood and youth in Taganrog. He showed an interest for painting in the early childhood. Being on the shore of Azov Sea with his parents, he loved to make sketches, and drawing lessons at Gymnasium were his favorite subject.
When Konstantin was fifth-grader at Taganrog Gymnasium, his teenager's life changed unexpectedly. Both of his parents died suddenly. Kostya was taken by his uncle who lived in present-day Latvia and became his guardian. There Savitsky entered a private boarding-school and in 1862 he graduated and left for Saint Petersburg, where entered The Imperial Academy of Arts. Personal contacts with outstanding representatives of Russian culture - Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Mark Antokolski, Stasov, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin - made a great influence on development of the young artist. Soon Savitsky became one of the best students of the Imperial Academy of Arts. His student paintings were awarded with silver medals and for his painting "Cain and Abel"1871 he received a gold medal.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts and two years abroad, the artist becomes co-partner of mobile art exhibitions (Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist artists who in protest to academic restrictions formed an artists' cooperative, which evolved into the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions in 1870. The artwork "Repairing Railway" was one of the first paintings of that time dedicated to life of the working class.
Konstantin Savitsky is a co-author of the famous painting Morning in the Pine Forest. On the original Peredvizhniki exhibition the painting was shown by two authors Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. It was assumed that Savitsky had painted the bears and Shishkin the forest but later the scholars found that preparational drawing of the pine forest were made by both Savitsky and Shishkin. Later Savitsky withdrew his signature from the painting and it is currently attributed solely to Shishkin.
The titles of his artworks as "Lost all their possessions in the fire", "To war", "Herdsmen", "Krutchnik", "Argument at the Bound" speak about the direction of his art.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts the artist dedicated more than 20 years to teaching arts in the art schools of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Penza. In 1897 Konstantin Savitsky became member of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg, Russia.
This church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in March 1881. The church was built between 1883 and 1907. The construction was funded by the imperial family.
The Cathedral is decorated with Italian limestone and various semiprecious stones like jasper, mountain crystal, topaz, and others. On the outside, there are twenty granite plates which tell the most important events of Alexander II's reign.
The highlight of both the interior and exterior of the Cathedral are its mosaic collection based on the paintings of Vasnetsov, Nesterol, and Vrubel. With a total area of 23130 square feet, it is one of the largest mosaic collections in Europe.
Oil on canvas.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
Luitpold Adam Adrià Pina Fedor Antonov Tatiana Badanina Octav Băncilă Lyndall Bass Marcus Beilby Kent Bellows Bikash Bhattacharjee Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro Hippolyte Boulenger Fidelia Bridges Derek Buckner
David Campbell (painter)
Ernesto de la Cárcova
Jean Carolus
Mikhail Clodt
Jack Coggins
Alex Colville
D
Josef Dande
Rackstraw Downes
E
Thomas Eakins
Franz Eisenhut
Otto Erdmann
F
Giovanni Fattori
Neil Faulkner (painter)
Tully Filmus
G
William Glackens
Gavriil Gorelov
Antonio Guzmán Capel
H
Mauritz de Haas
Jacques Hnizdovsky
Simon Hollósy
Winslow Homer
H cont.
Conrad Hommel
Clark Hulings
J
Valery Jacobi
Mathurin Janssaud
Carl Ludwig Jessen
Paja Jovanović
K
Kitty Lange Kielland
Ruslan Korostenskij
Simon Kozhin
Ivan Kramskoi
Arkhip Kuindzhi
L
Henry Herbert La Thangue
Wilhelm Leibl
Dana Levin (artist)
Isaac Levitan
Nestor Leynes
Antonio López García
M
Aleksandr Makovsky
Dragan Malešević Tapi
Ans Markus
Theodor Martens
Stan Masters
Anton Mauve
Vassily Maximov
Paul Meltsner
Apollon Mokritsky
Heinrich Mücke
Archibald Herman Muller
Grigoriy Myasoyedov
N
Stephen Namara
O
Volodymyr Orlovsky
Alexander Osmerkin
P
Vasily Perov
Arkady Plastov
P cont.
Vasily Polenov
Alexander Evgenievich Ponomarev
Uroš Predić
Illarion Pryanishnikov
R
Josip Račić
Manuel Lopes Rodrigues
Joram Rozov
S
Konstantin Savitsky
Alexei Savrasov
August Schneider
Valentin Serov
Ivan Shishkin
Alan Shuptrine
Dmitri Sinodi-Popov
Isaac Soyer
Raphael Soyer
R. B. Sprague
Johann Gottfried Steffan
Harijadi Sumodidjojo
Vasily Surikov
T
Henry Jones Thaddeus
Mór Than
Alton Tobey
William B. T. Trego
Konstiantyn Trutovsky
V
Fyodor Vasilyev
Viktor Vasnetsov
Vasily Vereshchagin
Nicolae Vermont
Vladimir Nasedkin
W
Pedro Weingärtner
Harold Weston
Geoff Williams (painter)
Y
Nikolai Yaroshenk
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky was a Russian realist painter born in the city of Taganrog in the village Frankovka or Baronovka, named after former governor Otto Pfeilizer-Frank. Savitsky's father worked as a doctor. In Frankovka the family rented a summer house. Savitsky spent his childhood and youth in Taganrog. He showed an interest for painting in the early childhood. Being on the shore of Azov Sea with his parents, he loved to make sketches, and drawing lessons at Gymnasium were his favorite subject.
When Konstantin was fifth-grader at Taganrog Gymnasium, his teenager's life changed unexpectedly. Both of his parents died suddenly. Kostya was taken by his uncle who lived in present-day Latvia and became his guardian. There Savitsky entered a private boarding-school and in 1862 he graduated and left for Saint Petersburg, where entered The Imperial Academy of Arts. Personal contacts with outstanding representatives of Russian culture - Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Mark Antokolski, Stasov, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin - made a great influence on development of the young artist. Soon Savitsky became one of the best students of the Imperial Academy of Arts. His student paintings were awarded with silver medals and for his painting "Cain and Abel"1871 he received a gold medal.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts and two years abroad, the artist becomes co-partner of mobile art exhibitions (Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist artists who in protest to academic restrictions formed an artists' cooperative, which evolved into the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions in 1870. The artwork "Repairing Railway" was one of the first paintings of that time dedicated to life of the working class.
Konstantin Savitsky is a co-author of the famous painting Morning in the Pine Forest. On the original Peredvizhniki exhibition the painting was shown by two authors Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. It was assumed that Savitsky had painted the bears and Shishkin the forest but later the scholars found that preparational drawing of the pine forest were made by both Savitsky and Shishkin. Later Savitsky withdrew his signature from the painting and it is currently attributed solely to Shishkin.
The titles of his artworks as "Lost all their possessions in the fire", "To war", "Herdsmen", "Krutchnik", "Argument at the Bound" speak about the direction of his art.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts the artist dedicated more than 20 years to teaching arts in the art schools of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Penza. In 1897 Konstantin Savitsky became member of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Masterpiece of the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg (Russia).
Rivaling the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow as the world's finest collection of Russian art, the State Russian Museum has an illustrious history that began when the fiercely nationalist Tsar Alexander III became the first Russian ruler to make a significant collection of art by Russian artists. His son, Nicholas II, decided to open a museum in his father's honour and, in 1895, bought the Mikhailovskiy Palace to house the collection. Originally called the Alexandrovskiy Museum, it was opened to the public in 1898. After the Revolution, the museum benefited massively from state confiscations of privately owned artworks, and the permanent exhibition was slowly expanded to include the palace's Rossi and Benois Wings. The museum's collection includes over 400,000 artworks covering the complete history of Russian art, from 11th century icons to work by contemporary video artists. Unlike the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum continues to exhibit art from all periods in one space.
Masterpiece of Vrubel.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (Russian: Михаил Александрович Врубель) (Omsk, 5/March 17 1856 -- 1/April 14 1910) was a Russian painter and sculptor. He also made ceramics and he designed for theater. Vrubel was the son of a lawyer and officer of the Russian army and graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Saint Petersburg in 1880. The following year he entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. In 1884 he was commissioned to Saint Cyril Cathedral Kiev to provide frescoes in place of the
12th century frescoes. This went to Vrubel Venice to study medieval religious art.
In 1886 Vrubel went back to Kiev, where he meets the St. Volodymyr Cathedral worked together with Viktor Vasnetsov. This period began Vrubel also working on a series of sketches and watercolors illustrating the epic poem Demon of Mikhail Lermontov.
In 1890 moved to Vrubel Moscow. He also worked as ceramics, majolica, And glass.
Moreover, he also designs scenery and costumes. The painting of the Demon seated
in a garden (1890) was received with mixed feelings. Some critics found it anything but, there were others rave about. This painting Vrubel finally drew his name.
In 1896 he was in love with the opera singer Nadjezjda Zabela, with whom he later married half years. Vrubel designed costumes for his wife, who played roles in Snow Girl and The tale of Tsar Saltan (if the swans princess). He also made paintings that were inspired by these works. Vrubel returned in 1901 returned to the theme of the demon. After a time the face of a demon had been working at the underlying spiritual message across to the audience, fell in Vrubel. He had entered into a clinic. There he made some work. In 1906 he was nearly blind and had become overwhelmed by his mental illness to give up painting.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) is a Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia which currently functions as a secular museum and church at the same time. The structure was constructed between 1883 and 1907. It is one of Saint Petersburg's major attractions.
The church was erected on the site where political nihilists assassinated Emperor Alexander II in March 1881. The church was funded by the Romanov imperial family in honor of Alexander II, and the suffix "on [Spilled] Blood" refers to his assassination.
Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, two years after the assassination of his father Alexander II. The church was consecrated as a memorial to his father. Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles. The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal. On March 13, 1881 (Julian date: March 1), as Alexander II's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later.
A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken. In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church. An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones, making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.
Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.[citation needed] This record may be surpassed by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which houses 7700 square meters of mosaics. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day—including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in Saint Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million rubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.
In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior. The Soviet government closed the church in 1932. During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary morgue for those who died in combat and from starvation and illness. The church suffered significant damage. After the war, it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Saviour on Potatoes.
In July 1970, management of the church passed to Saint Isaac's Cathedral and it was used as a museum. The proceeds from the Cathedral funded the restoration of the church. It was reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration, but has not been reconsecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship. The Church of the Saviour on Blood is a museum of mosaics. In the pre-Revolution period it was not used as a public place of worship. The church was dedicated to the memory of the assassinated tsar and only panikhidas (memorial services) took place. The church is now one of the main tourist attractions in Saint Petersburg.
In 2005, the State Museum of St. Isaac's Cathedral began the recreation of the Holy Gates (permanently lost in the 1920s during the Soviet period). Entirely produced with enamels and based on the pictures and lithographies of the time, the new Holy Gates were designed by V. J. Nikolsky and S. G. Kochetova and reified by the famous enamel artist L. Solomnikova and her atelier. Orthodox bishop Amvrosij of Gatchina celebrated the consecration of these new Holy Gates on 14 March 2012, the 129th anniversary of Alexander II's assassination.
Over 40 years on, “the girl from the chocolate wrapper” tried to sue the confectionery for millions, but was unsuccessful in proving that she indeed was the little blue-eyed child in the headscarf.
“We need a widely available, affordable milk chocolate!” Such was the task set by the Soviet government’s food program in the 1960s. Out of the companies competing for the government tender, ‘Krasny Oktyabr’ (“Red October”) was chosen. The confectionery’s ‘Alenka’ line then became the “national” chocolate of the day.
The bar took its name from the daughter of the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova. However, the honor of becoming the face of the chocolate went to a different girl. In 1966, the first chocolate bars came out with eight month-old Elena Gernias’s face gracing the packaging.
A long search preceded the final decision. The designers tested different options - there was a girl with carnations, a girl with pigtails, a little ‘Snegurochka’ (“Snow maiden”) - but nothing was being approved. Since the designers had reached a dead end, someone suggested using the girl from Viktor Vasnetsov’s painting, ‘Alenushka’. However, the idea was criticized: Vasnetsov’s girl sits with bare feet - and “Soviet children are not in any need of shoes!”, the Communist Party deemed. The impasse resulted in the submission of a new request for tenders.
In 1965, the newspaper ‘Vechernyaya Moskva’ (“Evening Moscow”) received more than 1,500 shots of the would-be packaging, but the one that ended up winning was a picture already known to the nation from state-produced magazines, including the cover of ‘Zdorovye’ (“Health”). Its author was the photojournalist Aleksandr Gerinas. The wide-eyed cover girl was his daughter, Elena.
For the chocolate bar to really become “national”, the girl’s eyes were redone in blue, her face lengthened and the upper lip enlarged.
The chocolate with her face on the cover would accompany Elena her entire childhood. But neither she nor her family would ever see a ruble for the photograph.
They had kept this to themselves until 2000.
Interrupted silence
As the Alenka marketing campaign kicked off, Krasny Oktyabr invited Elena Gerinas to the official presentation. She was given a ‘sweet’ prize as the little “model”, but that didn’t stop Elena wishing for something different: that, decades later, she would be given some sort of a contract, or at least a reward. This never happened, and Gerinas, then 36, decided to take the confectionary maker to court.
“Everyone in our family knows that my portrait is on that chocolate,” she said. “When dad died - he’d divorced mom earlier, they were living separately - they gave us his entire photographic archive. That’s where I found the tape.”
Gerinas lodged a claim against the brand with a request to acknowledge her legal rights to the photograph, as well as for financial compensation and a percentage for any future use of her image. Gerinas valued the damage at five million rubles (ca. $66,100).
The legal battle lasted two and a half years, and ended with Gerinas losing. The investigation concluded that the cover was, indeed, most likely redrawn from the photo in question - it even found 18 similarities to support its case. However, changes made to the original photograph legally rendered its use fair, putting it squarely in the original work category.
“I still have that tiny headscarf, it’s faded a bit though,” Gerinas said. “Look closely at Alenka, her knot is tied in a peculiar way, because my mom is a lefty. This detail didn’t escape the court, but was never officially acknowledged.”
The cover girl continues to carefully store all the evidence in the case, including the cover of “Health” with her face on it.
Today, the 56-year-old lives in Khimki, just outside Moscow, with her husband and two children. She works as a liberarian, but is also an expert in pharmacology. Elena can be found on Facebook, where she posts various things, including dacha photos with her family and the occasional petition.
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky was a Russian realist painter born in the city of Taganrog in the village Frankovka or Baronovka, named after former governor Otto Pfeilizer-Frank. Savitsky's father worked as a doctor. In Frankovka the family rented a summer house. Savitsky spent his childhood and youth in Taganrog. He showed an interest for painting in the early childhood. Being on the shore of Azov Sea with his parents, he loved to make sketches, and drawing lessons at Gymnasium were his favorite subject.
When Konstantin was fifth-grader at Taganrog Gymnasium, his teenager's life changed unexpectedly. Both of his parents died suddenly. Kostya was taken by his uncle who lived in present-day Latvia and became his guardian. There Savitsky entered a private boarding-school and in 1862 he graduated and left for Saint Petersburg, where entered The Imperial Academy of Arts. Personal contacts with outstanding representatives of Russian culture - Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Mark Antokolski, Stasov, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin - made a great influence on development of the young artist. Soon Savitsky became one of the best students of the Imperial Academy of Arts. His student paintings were awarded with silver medals and for his painting "Cain and Abel"1871 he received a gold medal.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts and two years abroad, the artist becomes co-partner of mobile art exhibitions (Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist artists who in protest to academic restrictions formed an artists' cooperative, which evolved into the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions in 1870. The artwork "Repairing Railway" was one of the first paintings of that time dedicated to life of the working class.
Konstantin Savitsky is a co-author of the famous painting Morning in the Pine Forest. On the original Peredvizhniki exhibition the painting was shown by two authors Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. It was assumed that Savitsky had painted the bears and Shishkin the forest but later the scholars found that preparational drawing of the pine forest were made by both Savitsky and Shishkin. Later Savitsky withdrew his signature from the painting and it is currently attributed solely to Shishkin.
The titles of his artworks as "Lost all their possessions in the fire", "To war", "Herdsmen", "Krutchnik", "Argument at the Bound" speak about the direction of his art.
After graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts the artist dedicated more than 20 years to teaching arts in the art schools of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Penza. In 1897 Konstantin Savitsky became member of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood.
This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. After assuming power in 1855 in the wake of Russia’s disastrous defeat in the Crimean war against Britain, France and Turkey, Alexander II initiated a number of reforms. In 1861 he freed the Russian serfs (peasants, who were almost enslaved to their owners) from their ties to their masters and undertook a rigorous program of military, judicial and urban reforms, never before attempted in Russia. However, during the second half of his reign Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. Alexander II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage. The decision was taken to build a church on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded. The church was built between 1883 and 1907 and was officially called the Resurrection of Christ Church (a.k.a. The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood ). The construction of the church was almost entirely funded by the Imperial family and thousands of private donators. Both the interior and exterior of the church is decorated with incredibly detailed mosaics, designed and created by the most prominent Russian artists of the day (V.M. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov and M.A. Vrubel). Interestingly, despite the church’s very obviously Russian aspect, its principle architect, A. Parland, was not even Russian by birth. The church was closed for services in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks went on an offensive against religion and destroyed churches all over the country. It remained closed and under restoration for over 30 years and was finally re-opened in 1997 in all its dazzling former glory. The view of the church from Nevsky Prospekt is absolutely breathtaking.
Oil on canvas.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
Watercolor, whitewash on paper.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) is one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Other names include the Church on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь на Крови, Tserkov’ na Krovi), the Temple of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Храм Спаса на Крови, Khram Spasa na Krovi), and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Russian: Собор Воскресения Христова, Sobor Voskreseniya Khristova.)
Erected on the site where political nihilists fatally wounded Emperor Alexander II in March 1881, the church was constructed between 1883 and 1907, funded by the imperial family.
Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, two years after the assassination of his father Alexander II. The church was dedicated to be a memorial to his father. Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles. The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal. On March 13, 1881 (Julian date: March 1), as Alexander II's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later.
A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken. In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided[citation needed] to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church. An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones,making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.
Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator under the central dome
The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.[citation needed] This record may be surpassed by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which houses 7700 square meters of mosaics. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day—including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in Saint Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million rubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
Oil on Canvas; 86 x 69 cm.
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, born at Omsk in Siberia, in 1856, was the son of an officer of the Russian army - Alexander Vrubel. The family had many different ethnic roots -- Russian, Polish, Tartar and Danish. Mikhail Vrubel had an older sister Anna with whom he kept a friendly relationship until his death. His younger sister Ekaterina and brother Alexander died in childhood. This caused a deep trauma for the artist. Despite his father's rank as a colonel, the family was never prosperous. Moreover, military attitudes were not emphasized in the family; on the contrary, the parents, especially Alexander, taught the children fundamental educational skills, providing them with literature in several languages (Latin, French, German), encouraging and stimulating the children's interest in history, art, theater, music, and literature.
Mikhail Vrubel was interested in drawing from childhood. Alexander Vrubel had a positive attitude towards his son's enthusiasm for painting. Vrubel received formal painting lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts at St. Petersburg in 1864, and 1868-1869. He studied as a law student at St. Petersburg University from 1874 to 1880, but simultaneously he began to take painting classes during 1878-1879. During his study at St. Petersburg University he learned German philosophy with great enthusiasm, especially the theories of Nietzche, along with the idealist philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer.
After graduation from the Law Department, Vrubel entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (one of the leading schools in Russia at that time) as a full-time student in 1880, where he studied under Pavel Chistyakov until 1884. This teacher, famous for his teaching abilities in painting and drawing, played a significant role in the development of Vrubel's style, developing in him a taste for detail. Such Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Vasilii Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasilii Surikov were also appreciative pupils of Chistyakov. The artist shared with his teacher the idea of the primary importance of drawing, modeling, form over color, and appreciation of the monumentality of classical art. Vrubel had great respect for the Art Academy and never dismissed its influence on his art as many advanced artists of the time did. In his autobiography, written in 1901, Vrubel referred to his Academy years as the happiest in his life as an artist.
The next step in the development of Vrubel's artistic career began in Kiev in April 1884 when he accepted an invitation from professor Adrian Prakhov to take part in the restoration work of old Russian churches in Kiev. Not incidentally during the 1884-1889 period Vrubel painted not only the commissioned religious works, but also images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels for himself. Working in the twelfth century churches, trying to find unity with the style of the old frescoes, Vrubel remained a prominent artist of the late nineteenth century. In the figures of the saints and angels, in the plasticity of their forms and in the psychological importance of drawing, compositions, and color are evidence that Vrubel was closer to the modern ways of painting than to Byzantine and Old-Russian frescoes and mosaics. He was one of the first Russian artists who tried to develop a style that unified old traditions and modern sensibility, a style which became a basis for his future artistic experimentation.
The analysis of Vrubel's work done in Moscow, where he lived during the two decade period (1889-1910), shows the influence of old traditions and contemporary artistic movements -- Neo-Romanticism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau. Some of the artist's work have features similar to Neo-Primitivism, Rayonism, Futurism, Cubism which soon caught on with many painters in the Russian Avant-Garde.
Among the advanced Russian artists of the turn of the century, such as Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel stands out because of the originality of his art. Despite the absence of direct followers, the importance of Vrubel's art should not be underestimated. He pointed the way and made possible the experiments of the succeeding decades. This many-sided painter, sculptor, theater designer, draftsman, and illustrator can be considered as a transitional figure between traditional and modern art because of his influence on and inspiration for the artists of a new generation.
Masterpiece of the Tretyakov Art Gallery (Moscow, Russia).
The Tretyakov Gallery houses one of the most celebrated and extensive collections of Russian art and artifacts in the world. The gallery was named after the financier and entrepreneur Pavel Tretyakov (1832-98), who donated approximately 2,000 works of Russian art from his own private collection to the city of Moscow at the end of the 19th century. These works formed the basis from which today's impressive collection grew. Without Tretyakov's extensive and generous patronage of the arts many Russian artists would not have been able to achieve the artistic success that they did and the world of Russian art would be considerably diminished. Along with his paintings, Tretyakov also generously donated his own house and surrounding buildings, which became the original premises of the gallery. These buildings were united under one neo-Russian facade, designed by the famous Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov, and the gallery was opened to the public. The gallery is still housed on the same site, but in an extended and recently renovated complex of buildings, and its collection now comprises the entire spectrum of Russian art. Exhibition halls feature icons (most notably an impressive collection of icons by the artist Andrei Rublyov, 18th century portraits, 19th century Realist works, 20th century Romantic, Symbolist and avant-garde canvases and displays of graphic and applied arts. The Tretyakov's magnificent collection of Soviet art is now housed independently in the enormous Central House of Artists, opposite Gorky Park, and is well worth a visit for those admirers of 20th century art.
A visit to the Tretyakov Gallery is a definite must for anyone interested in Russian art and culture.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) is one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Other names include the Church on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь на Крови, Tserkov’ na Krovi), the Temple of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Храм Спаса на Крови, Khram Spasa na Krovi), and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Russian: Собор Воскресения Христова, Sobor Voskreseniya Khristova.)
Erected on the site where political nihilists fatally wounded Emperor Alexander II in March 1881, the church was constructed between 1883 and 1907, funded by the imperial family.
Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, two years after the assassination of his father Alexander II. The church was dedicated to be a memorial to his father. Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles. The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal. On March 13, 1881 (Julian date: March 1), as Alexander II's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later.
A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken. In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided[citation needed] to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church. An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones,making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.
Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator under the central dome
The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.[citation needed] This record may be surpassed by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which houses 7700 square meters of mosaics. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day—including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in Saint Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million rubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.
Copyright © 2009 - All rights reserved - Interior capture of the main dome and alter apse showing the overwhelming masterpiece artworks that adorn all the walls, vaulted ceilings, archways and columns within St. Vladimir's Cathedral.
Volodymyrsky Cathedral, (Vladimirsky Cathedral, or St. Vladimir's Cathedral) is a remarkable old Byzantine style cathedral in the center of Kyiv. It is one of the city's major landmarks and the mother cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchy, one of two major Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.
In 1852, metropolitan Philaret of Moscow suggested a large cathedral should be built in Kyiv to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Kyivan Rus by prince Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great of Kiev (St. Vladimir). It was completed in total in 1889.
It is the interior artwork in this capture that truly is the splendor of this ancient cathedral. Mosaics were executed by masters from Venice. Frescoes were created under the guidance of Professor A. Prakhov by a group of famous painters: S. Kostenko, V. Kotarbinsky, M. Nesterov, M. Pymonenko, P. Swedomsky, V. Vasnetsov, M. Vrubel, V. Zamyraylo, and others. The painting of the Holy Mother of God by Vasnetsov in the altar apse of the cathedral impresses by its austere beauty, being one of the world masterpieces of fine art. (Historical data courtesy of Wikipedia) Kyiv, Ukraine 2009
Du point de vue architectural, la cathédrale est différente des autres structures de Saint-Pétersbourg. L’architecture de la ville est dominée par les styles baroque et néoclassique mais Saint-Sauveur-sur-le-Sang-Versé renvoie plutôt à l’architecture russe médiévale. En effet, elle fut bâtie à l’époque du nationalisme romantique. Elle ressemble à dessein aux églises de Iaroslavl du XVIIe siècle ainsi qu’à la célèbre cathédrale Saint-Basile de Moscou. L’église contient plus de 7 500 m2 de mosaïques, plus que toutes les autres églises du monde, à en croire les restaurateurs. Ce record pourrait être surpassé par la basilique-cathédrale de Saint-Louis qui abrite 7 700 m2 de mosaïques.
L’intérieur fut conçu par les artistes russes les plus reconnus de l’époque, parmi lesuqels Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov et Mikhail Vroubel. Cependant, l’architecte en chef Alfred Alexandrovitch Parland était relativement peu connu, d'origine allemande de la Baltique et sujet russe, natif de la capitale. Il n’est pas surprenant que la construction ait coûté bien plus que le budget initialement prévu. En effet, celle-ci fut estimée à 3,6 millions de roubles tandis que le coût final s’éleva à pas moins de 4,6 millions de roubles. Les murs et plafonds à l’intérieur de la cathédrale sont intégralement recouverts de mosaïques enchevêtrées avec des bordures minutieusement dessinées. La majorité des représentations figurent des scènes bibliques.
Masterpiece of the Tretyakov Art Gallery (Moscow, Russia).
The Tretyakov Gallery houses one of the most celebrated and extensive collections of Russian art and artifacts in the world. The gallery was named after the financier and entrepreneur Pavel Tretyakov (1832-98), who donated approximately 2,000 works of Russian art from his own private collection to the city of Moscow at the end of the 19th century. These works formed the basis from which today's impressive collection grew. Without Tretyakov's extensive and generous patronage of the arts many Russian artists would not have been able to achieve the artistic success that they did and the world of Russian art would be considerably diminished. Along with his paintings, Tretyakov also generously donated his own house and surrounding buildings, which became the original premises of the gallery. These buildings were united under one neo-Russian facade, designed by the famous Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov, and the gallery was opened to the public. The gallery is still housed on the same site, but in an extended and recently renovated complex of buildings, and its collection now comprises the entire spectrum of Russian art. Exhibition halls feature icons (most notably an impressive collection of icons by the artist Andrei Rublyov, 18th century portraits, 19th century Realist works, 20th century Romantic, Symbolist and avant-garde canvases and displays of graphic and applied arts. The Tretyakov's magnificent collection of Soviet art is now housed independently in the enormous Central House of Artists, opposite Gorky Park, and is well worth a visit for those admirers of 20th century art.
A visit to the Tretyakov Gallery is a definite must for anyone interested in Russian art and culture.
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) is one of the main sights of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Other names include the Church on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь на Крови, Tserkov’ na Krovi), the Temple of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Храм Спаса на Крови, Khram Spasa na Krovi), and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Russian: Собор Воскресения Христова, Sobor Voskreseniya Khristova.)
Erected on the site where political nihilists fatally wounded Emperor Alexander II in March 1881, the church was constructed between 1883 and 1907, funded by the imperial family.
Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, two years after the assassination of his father Alexander II. The church was dedicated to be a memorial to his father. Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles. The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal. On March 13, 1881 (Julian date: March 1), as Alexander II's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later.
A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken. In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided[citation needed] to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church. An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. It is embellished with topaz, lazurite and other semi-precious stones,making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.
Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator under the central dome
The church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world.[citation needed] This record may be surpassed by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which houses 7700 square meters of mosaics. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day—including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in Saint Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million rubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.
"After graduating from the Slobodsk Real School in 1912, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where his teachers were N.Kasatkin, A.Vasnetsov, A.Arkhipov and K.Korovin and graduated from it in 1917 as a first category artist. In 1923 he moved to Moscow and worked as a teacher of graphic arts at the Military Academy. From then on, Luppov was a participant of all exhibitions of AKHRR (Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia) and later of all exhibitions organized by the Union of Artists he joined in 1932."
Masterpiece of the Tretyakov Art Gallery (Moscow, Russia).
The Tretyakov Gallery houses one of the most celebrated and extensive collections of Russian art and artifacts in the world. The gallery was named after the financier and entrepreneur Pavel Tretyakov (1832-98), who donated approximately 2,000 works of Russian art from his own private collection to the city of Moscow at the end of the 19th century. These works formed the basis from which today's impressive collection grew. Without Tretyakov's extensive and generous patronage of the arts many Russian artists would not have been able to achieve the artistic success that they did and the world of Russian art would be considerably diminished. Along with his paintings, Tretyakov also generously donated his own house and surrounding buildings, which became the original premises of the gallery. These buildings were united under one neo-Russian facade, designed by the famous Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov, and the gallery was opened to the public. The gallery is still housed on the same site, but in an extended and recently renovated complex of buildings, and its collection now comprises the entire spectrum of Russian art. Exhibition halls feature icons (most notably an impressive collection of icons by the artist Andrei Rublyov, 18th century portraits, 19th century Realist works, 20th century Romantic, Symbolist and avant-garde canvases and displays of graphic and applied arts. The Tretyakov's magnificent collection of Soviet art is now housed independently in the enormous Central House of Artists, opposite Gorky Park, and is well worth a visit for those admirers of 20th century art.
A visit to the Tretyakov Gallery is a definite must for anyone interested in Russian art and culture.
The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood.
This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. After assuming power in 1855 in the wake of Russia’s disastrous defeat in the Crimean war against Britain, France and Turkey, Alexander II initiated a number of reforms. In 1861 he freed the Russian serfs (peasants, who were almost enslaved to their owners) from their ties to their masters and undertook a rigorous program of military, judicial and urban reforms, never before attempted in Russia. However, during the second half of his reign Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. Alexander II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage. The decision was taken to build a church on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded. The church was built between 1883 and 1907 and was officially called the Resurrection of Christ Church (a.k.a. The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood ). The construction of the church was almost entirely funded by the Imperial family and thousands of private donators. Both the interior and exterior of the church is decorated with incredibly detailed mosaics, designed and created by the most prominent Russian artists of the day (V.M. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov and M.A. Vrubel). Interestingly, despite the church’s very obviously Russian aspect, its principle architect, A. Parland, was not even Russian by birth. The church was closed for services in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks went on an offensive against religion and destroyed churches all over the country. It remained closed and under restoration for over 30 years and was finally re-opened in 1997 in all its dazzling former glory. The view of the church from Nevsky Prospekt is absolutely breathtaking.