Military Gallery of 1812 in the Winter Palace. Military Gallery of the Winter Palace

E. P. Renne, Candidate of Art History, Art. n. With. State Hermitage

The Military Gallery of the Winter Palace is perhaps one of the outstanding and grandiose monuments created in honor of the victory of the Russian army in the war against Napoleon.

The walls of the gallery, located in the heart of the imperial palace next to the Throne Room, are covered with five rows of bust portraits. The monotony of long rows of images of the same size is interrupted by seven huge portraits framed by solemn Corinthian columns and a passage to neighboring rooms. Three of them show equestrian images of the heads of state – allies of the Russian Emperor Alexander I: the Prussian King Friedrich-Wilhelm III and the Austrian Emperor Franz I. Four others show full-length portraits of the commanders-in-chief: Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, M. I. Kutuzov, M. B. Barclay de Tolly, Duke of Wellington.

The idea of creating a memorial gallery with portraits of more than 329 participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Foreign Campaigns of 1812-1814 is attributed to Alexander I himself. In any case, it was he who invited the English artist George Doe to paint portraits. The emperor personally reviewed and approved the lists of those whose names were to decorate the gallery. The main condition was the direct participation in the hostilities against the French in the campaigns of 1812-1814 in the rank of general. The military men in bust portraits are depicted in the uniforms of their regiments with a full set of orders and insignia. Captured from different angles, the generals against the background of clouds or trees, against a neutral dark or light background, with a mountain landscape or red drapery, do not seem monotonous. Moreover, they surprise with a pronounced individuality. Numerous testimonies of contemporaries about the striking similarity of portraits with the originals have been preserved. “The similarity in his portraits (Doe. - E. R.) extraordinary, striking action, faces go out of bounds,” wrote Pavel Svinin, publisher of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine. He was echoed by the English physician Augustus Granville, who visited St. Petersburg in 1827: “... the portraits are executed in a bold, inspired manner, with the expectation of a certain room. In addition, they, as I understand it, convey a striking resemblance. I can confirm this in relation to those with whom I already knew or met later. Rightly credited for having succeeded in capturing so many outstanding personalities, Mr. Dow can be extra proud that he varied the pose and accessories of each one so much that no two compositions are the same in the gallery."

The military gallery in the Winter Palace is unique. It gives us a visual representation of a whole section of the Russian society of Pushkin's time. Unlike other monuments that commemorate glorious military victories, the gallery not only glorifies a few military leaders, but demonstrates an understanding of the role played by the army as a whole, an army that relied on the people who rallied to repel the enemy. Long rows of portraits give rise to associations with warriors lined up shoulder to shoulder, standing up for the defense of the Fatherland.

A lucky chance helped Alexander I find an artist for such a large-scale project. The talented portrait painter caught the eye of the Russian emperor during the First Congress of the Holy Alliance in the small German town of Aachen. In the autumn of 1818, not only crowned and high-ranking representatives of Russia, England, Austria and Prussia came here to discuss issues of European politics that had become urgent after the war with Napoleon, but also numerous artists who were looking for contacts and orders. One of them was the Englishman George Doe (1781–1829), who arrived in Aachen in the retinue of the Duke of Kent. According to the memoirs of the aide-de-camp of Emperor Alexander I A. I. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, the future military historian and writer, the artist asked “permission to bring me pictures of his work and leave them in my room for several days, so that our compatriots who came to me could to see and thereby to know him. He brought me three or four portraits, of which everyone was amazed by the similarity, and by the way, Prince Volkonsky ... who said that I should send Dow to him to take a portrait from him ... ". The sovereign, who saw the portrait, was amazed at the similarity and speed with which the artist worked, and ordered Dou to make an offer to come to Russia to create portraits of the generals, to which the latter, "as you can easily imagine, gladly agreed."

Already in the spring of 1819, Dow arrived in St. Petersburg, and in the fall of 1820 he showed at an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts several of his works brought from England, and paintings that he managed to create in Russia, including 5 of 80 portraits painted for the future galleries. Unusual for the Russian eye, the artist’s pictorial manner, which seemed too bold, sketchy, theatrical, caused an ambiguous reaction from critics, although everyone recognized the artist’s “extraordinary talent”, and he was awarded the title of “honorary free associate of the Academy of Arts”.

No matter how quickly Dow worked, and in terms of productivity combined with quality, not a single Russian artist of that time could argue with him, but the gallery was not ready for the moment of the unexpected and still remaining mysterious death of Emperor Alexander I in the fall of 1825. Judging by the documents of the Court Office, the curator of the Hermitage, F.I. by this time, almost all members of the imperial family and the inner circle, government officials and secular ladies, representatives of science and the artistic elite, and many portraits were made life-size and repeated several times. It is clear that with such a volume of work, he needed assistants. In 1822, the Kostroma landowner, General P. Ya. Kornilov, sent his serf, self-taught artist Alexander Polyakov (1802–1835) to Dow's training. Simultaneously with Polyakov, another assistant worked in Bulant's house at 47 Palace Square - "a poor and timid man who did not know his own worth" Vasily (Wilhelm August) Alexandrovich Golike (1802–1848). Despite the fact that all the portraits were cataloged by the Hermitage as works by George Doe, the stylistic differences between them are obvious.

Under the new emperor Nicholas I, in June 1826, the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi began to build a gallery on the site of small rooms in the central part of the Winter Palace between the White (later Armorial) and the Great Throne (Georgievsky) halls. Construction was carried out in a hurry. The solemn illumination of the gallery took place on December 25, 1826, the day of the annual celebration of Napoleon's expulsion from Russia. As Pavel Svinin wrote in the journal: “... this great enterprise... has now been brought to an end... On December 25, the day of the birth of Christ and the deliverance of Russia in 1812 from the invasion of the Gauls with twenty languages, this gallery was consecrated in the presence of the imperial surnames and all generals, officers and soldiers who have medals of 1812 and for the capture of Paris. However, much more had to be done. At the time of the opening of the gallery, about 100 bust portraits were missing. The portrait of Alexander I riding a white horse was installed in the year. After the death of George Doe in October 1829, his relative and executor Thomas Wright transferred to the Hermitage the finished portraits that remained in the artist’s studio, among which were several bust and three large portraits of Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly and Wellington, dated 1829. The final form of the gallery was captured by the artist G. G. Chernetsov in 1829 (Hermitage Collection). In 1832–1833, the equestrian portraits of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III by Franz Krüger (1797–1857) and the Austrian Emperor Franz I by P. I. Krafft (1780–1856) were placed in the gallery. In 1837 Dow's equestrian portrait of Alexander I (Moscow, Kremlin Museums) was replaced by a more successful portrait by F. Kruger. In 1834-1836 A. S. Pushkin often visited the Winter Palace. In the poem “The Commander”, dedicated to Barclay de Tolly, he remarkably accurately described his feelings from visiting the gallery, where “all the cloaks, yes swords, and faces full of martial courage”, the faces of those whom he knew well, disliked someone, he was friends with many, treated many with deep respect, seeing in them heroes who rallied the nation, which he brilliantly expressed in the lines of the same poem: ".

The fire that raged in the Winter Palace in December 1837 destroyed the decorations of all the halls, while the portraits of the Military Gallery were saved by the guards. In a record short time (1838-1839), the entire Winter Palace was restored and decorated in a new way. The gallery was rebuilt according to the project of the architect V.P. Stasov, who somewhat changed its appearance. “The ceiling is raised, and more light is given from above; here you can see some parts of the cunning roof-lantern device (clearances) of the ceiling. A lovely gallery (choirs) with a bronze lattice decorated with girandoles was again made above the cornice, ”wrote the writer Alexander Bashutsky in the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine.

The gallery successfully survived the revolution of 1917 and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, when the portraits, along with other works of art, were evacuated beyond the Urals, to the city of Sverdlovsk. For the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, it was restored, the walls were returned to their original color, the ceiling paintings were restored, the old glass shades were replaced with new ones with modern lighting, all portraits were conserved. The grand opening took place on the city's birthday on May 27, 2003, and now, as before, the gallery preserves for us the appearance and names of those who wrote one of the best pages in Russian history.

- (now part of the Hermitage), a collection of portraits of Russian commanders and commanders of participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and Foreign campaigns of 1813 14 (painted in 1819 28 by the English portrait painter J. Dow with the participation of Russian artists V. A. ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

In St. Petersburg, an exposition of 322 portraits of Russian military leaders during the Patriotic War of 1812 and participants in the foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813 14. Opened on 12/25/1826 (06/01/1827). Artists: J. Dow, A. V. Polyakov, V. A. Golike ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

In St. Petersburg, an exposition of 322 portraits of Russian military leaders during the Patriotic War of 1812 and participants in the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813 1814. Opened on December 25, 1826 (January 6, 1827). Artists: J. Dow, A. V. Polyakov, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Military gallery of the Winter Palace ... Russian spelling dictionary

G. Chernetsov, 1827 ... Wikipedia

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, E. P. Hau, 1862 The Military Gallery is one of the galleries of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The gallery consists of 332 portraits of Russian generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. The portraits were painted by George Doe ... ... Wikipedia

military gallery- The Winter Palace (now part of the Hermitage), a collection of portraits of Russian commanders and military leaders - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and Foreign campaigns of 181314 (written in 181928 by the English portrait painter J. Dow with the participation of ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

This term has other meanings, see Winter Palace (meanings). Palace Winter Palace ... Wikipedia

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly Fragment of a portrait of M. B. Barclay de Tolly by ... Wikipedia

Books

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, Rennes E.P.. The publication is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Russia's victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. In it, the reader will find images of all 336 portraits executed for the Military Gallery in the 1820s. J. Doe…
Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, V. M. Glinka, A. V. Pomarnatsky. 1981 edition. The safety is good. In the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace there are three hundred and thirty-two portraits of the military leaders of the Russian army - participants in the campaigns of 1812-1814, which began ...

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"I'll take you to the museum," my sister told me..."

Today I invite you to the museum. But, the museum is too big, so only a piece of it.
Hermitage Museum. How long have you been in it? Pitertsy come infrequently, on occasion. Once every few years. Sometimes - once ... in a lifetime.
This time I was amazed by the renovated Gallery. She became bright again! Let's talk about her...

Photo from the official website of the Hermitage.

Historical reference:

The Military Gallery of 1812 was created in 1826 according to the project of C. Rossi in the front part of the Winter Palace. It precedes the Great Throne (Georgievsky) Hall. The walls of the gallery are decorated with 12 stucco laurel wreaths with the names of the most important battles of 1812-814. More than 300 portraits represent the heroes of the war against Napoleon, who glorified Russia with their exploits.

The grand opening of the gallery took place in the reign of Nicholas I, on the anniversary of the expulsion of the French from Russia - December 25, 1826. The soldiers of the cavalry and infantry regiments marched through the gallery in a solemn march past portraits of military leaders, under whose command they fought valiantly in 1812-1814.

Therefore, we walk around the same hall, past the same paintings as Alexander Sergeevich!
It amazes me personally! Especially in this hall, I walk with special reverence ... And I read:

And this is what Grigory Grigorievich Chernetsov sketched in the year of its opening:

And then it was slightly reconstructed and the ceiling, for example, became different. Here is a picture of E.P. Gau, 1862.

The last reconstruction deprived us of seeing the gallery for some time.
Due to the significant deterioration of the roof of the Gallery of 1812 (the last repair was carried out in the 1960s), the Directorate of the State Hermitage decided to reconstruct the roof and skylights. After the repair of skylights in January 2001, the installation of a new roof began. And the ceiling shone again!

Up to the ceiling - portraits of Heroes.

Here, for example, Golenishchev-Kutuzov. But not the one, not Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich, he is in the next picture. And Pavel Vasilievich, then became the military governor-general of St. Petersburg, is also cool!

But, for example, a representative of a glorious familyPalen Pavel Petrovich von der (1775-1834), count, cavalry general (still lieutenant general). Interestingly, he is also the son of the military governor-general of St. Petersburg P.A. von der Pahlen, who was elevated to the dignity of a count on February 22, 1799.

And this is just cat. Representative of the famous family of Hermitage cats. Which are fed at the expense of the Hermitage. And they, occasionally, overcoming satiety, deign to work... :))

We saw only a hundredth part of the Hermitage. Come more often!

And I was pleased to see that my favorite impressionists are in place, in place and knights in Lilliputian armor.

On the third floor, he approached the Renoir girl. “Hello girl,” I said, “I haven’t seen you for a long time…”
“Oh, hello,” she answered and laughed merrily, “why didn’t you come for so long? We missed you…"
My eyes were moistened. And my heart felt warm and calm ... :)
I will come again ... After all, they are waiting for us here ... Very much.

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace State Hermitage Museum

Among the memorial structures created in memory of 1812, the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace is a kind of monument.

The hall that houses the gallery was designed by the architect Carlo Rossii and was built from June to November 1826. The ceiling with three skylights was painted according to sketches by Giovanni Scotti. Portrait of Karl Ivanovich Rossi. Artist B.Sh. Mitoire 1820s

The solemn opening ceremony of the hall took place on December 25, 1826, on the anniversary of the expulsion of Napoleon's army from Russia. By the opening of the gallery, many portraits had not yet been painted, and frames covered with green rep with name plates were placed on the walls. As the paintings were painted, they were placed in their places. Most of the portraits were painted from life, and for those already dead or dead, portraits painted earlier were used. Company of Palace Grenadiers. Artist K. K. Piratsky

The painting by G. G. Chernetsov captured the view of the gallery in 1827. The ceiling has three skylights, along the walls there are five horizontal rows of chest portraits in gilded frames, separated by columns, full-length portraits and doors to adjacent rooms. On the sides of these doors at the top were twelve stucco laurel wreaths surrounding the names of the places where the most significant battles of 1812-1814 took place, from Klyastitsy, Borodin and Tarutino to Brienne, Laon and Paris. Military gallery of the Winter Palace. G. Chernetsov. 1827.

332 portraits of the generals of the Russian army, participants in the war of 1812 and the foreign campaign of 1813-1814 were placed here.

Emperor Alexander I personally approved the lists of generals compiled by the General Staff, whose portraits were to decorate the Military Gallery. These were participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, who were in the rank of general or were promoted to general shortly after the end of the war. Portrait of Alexander I. Artist F. Kruger, at the end of the gallery.

Portraits for the Military Gallery were painted by George Dow and his assistants Alexander Vasilyevich Polyakov and Vasily Alexandrovich Golike. Portrait of George Doe (sitting) painted by his student Vasily Golike (standing) surrounded by the Golike family. 1834.

In the 1830s, large equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his allies, King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Emperor Franz I of Austria, were placed in the gallery. The first two were painted by the Berlin court painter F. Kruger, the third by the Viennese painter P. Kraft. Portrait of Franz I by P. Kraft Portrait of Friedrich-Wilhelm III by F. Kruger

Even later, two works by the artist Peter von Hess, a contemporary of George Doe, were placed in the gallery - “The Battle of Borodino” and “The Retreat of the French across the Berezina River”. Battle of Borodino. Artist Peter von Hess. 1843

The retreat of the French across the Berezina River. Artist Peter von Hess. 1844

The fire that started in the Winter Palace on December 17, 1837, destroyed the decoration of all the halls, including the Military Gallery. But not a single portrait was harmed. The new decoration of the gallery was made according to the drawings of V.P. Stasov. The architect made some changes that gave the gallery a solemnly strict and more impressive appearance: the length of the gallery was increased by almost 6 meters, and a choir gallery was placed above the cornice - a bypass gallery. Military gallery of the Winter Palace. Artist P. Gau. 1862

In 1949, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin, a marble plaque with lines from the poem of the great Russian poet "The Commander" was installed in the Military Gallery. In 1834-1836 A.S. Pushkin often visited the Military Gallery. Her inspired and accurate description begins the poem "The Commander", created in 1835, dedicated to Barclay de Tolly. “The artist has placed a close crowd. Here are the chiefs of our people's forces, Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign And the eternal memory of the twelfth year. A.S. Pushkin

among the 15 commanders of the guards, field and reserve artillery brigades who took part in the battle of Borodino, 10 people (66.6 percent) were pupils of the cadet corps out of 47 commanders of the artillery companies of the guards, field, reserve and reserve artillery, who fought on the Borodino field, 34 people , or 72.3 percent, graduated from the cadet corps in horse artillery, pupils of the cadet corps - commanders of cavalry companies - amounted to 72.7 percent

The Military Gallery presents 56 portraits of pupils of the cadet corps

The Military Gallery of the Winter Palace is perhaps one of the outstanding and grandiose monuments created in honor of the victory of the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon.

Fig.1 View of the military gallery of the Winter Palace.

The military men in bust portraits are depicted in the uniforms of their regiments with a full set of orders and insignia. Captured from different angles, the generals against the background of clouds or trees, against a neutral dark or light background, with a mountain landscape or red drapery, do not seem monotonous. Moreover, they surprise with a pronounced individuality. Numerous testimonies of contemporaries about the striking similarity of portraits with the originals have been preserved.

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls: It is not rich in gold, not in velvet; It is not in it that the diamond of the crown is stored behind glass: But from top to bottom, in full length, all around, With His free and wide brush, The quick-eyed artist painted It. There are no country nymphs, no virgin madonnas, No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives, No dances, no hunts, but all cloaks and swords, Yes, faces full of warlike courage. In a tight crowd, the artist placed Here the chiefs of our people's forces, Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign And the eternal memory of the Twelfth year. Often I wander slowly between them, And I look at their familiar images, And, it seems, I hear their militant cliques.

(A.S. Pushkin)