Gallery of Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. Military gallery. Emperor's Choice: George Doe

Military gallery Winter Palace, G.G. Chernetsov, 1827

Military gallery - 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. Portraits written George Doe and his assistants A. V. Polyakov and Golike (German Wilhelm August Golike).

Posthumous portrait of George Doe (sitting) by his student Wilhelm Golike (standing) surrounded by the Golike family

George Doe (born George Dawe; February 8, 1781, London - October 15, 1829, Kentish Town) - english artist... In 1819-1829 he worked in St. Petersburg, where he painted (with the help of Russian painters Wilhelm August Golike and Alexander Polyakov) 329 bust portraits of generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns 1813-1814, large portraits of Mikhail Kutuzov and Mikhail Barclay de Tolly (1829), 4 portraits of veteran soldiers (1828), which made up the Military Gallery in the Winter Palace.

George Doe enjoyed the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. In 1819, he went on a trip to Europe with the Duke of Kent, during which he attracted the attention of Alexander I. The Emperor commissioned the artist to portraits of Russian generals who had participated in the war with Napoleon I. In 1826, Nicholas I invited Doe to his coronation, and in 1828 George was officially appointed as the First Artist of the Imperial Court.

Portrait of George Doe. Detail of the painting by V.A.Golike. 1834 g.

George Doe was mentioned in historical novel Glinka V. M. "The Fate of the Palace Grenadier" is shown from an extremely negative side. He came out as an exploiter of a young Russian artist, a native of the countryside, whose talent was ruined by forcing the young man to copy other people's portraits; he presented his work as his own, from which it turned out that most of the master's works were performed by his subordinates.

Alexander Vasilievich Polyakov (1801 - January 7, 1835) - Russian artist. Serf General P. Ya. Kornilov was given in 1822 as an assistant to George Doe. Under the agreement, Polyakov entered “study and work” with Doe until his departure to England with the condition to release the serf painter to the evening classes at the Academy of Arts. His salary was 800 rubles a year. “But of this amount, Mr. Dow gives him only 350 rubles, the remaining 450 leaves in payment for the apartment and the table, although he has this last one with his lackeys,” wrote the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Dow painted portraits for the War Gallery of Heroes of the 1812 Patriotic War. Some of these portraits were painted by Polyakov, but Dow himself signed them. Many decades later, experts came to the conclusion that Polyakov also restored big number blackened portraits, casually done by Dow.

In 1833, after Polyakov was freed from serfdom, the president Russian Academy arts A. Olenin signed a decree on the elevation of Alexander Polyakov to the rank of a free artist. From own works known: "Peter I at a shipyard with a view of Amsterdam" (1819) and "Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I" (1829). There are also his works in the State history museum in Moscow and Kostroma art museum: "Portrait of the twins Arkady and Ivan Kornilov", "Portrait of M. F. Kornilova and M. L. Kulomzina", "Portrait of E. P. Kornilov".

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

Portrait of Alexander I (1838). Artist F. Kruger

King of Prussia Frederick William III. Artist F. Kruger

Austrian Emperor Franz I. Painter P. Kraft

In Soviet times, the gallery was supplemented with four portraits of palace grenadiers, special troops created in 1827 to guard the house of World War II veterans. These portraits were also done by George Doe. Later, the gallery was supplemented by two works by Peter von Hess - “ battle of Borodino"And" The retreat of the French across the Berezina river. "

E.P. Hau, 1862

The hall that housed the gallery was designed by the architect Carlo Rossi and was built from June to November 1826. He replaced several small rooms in the middle of the main block of the winter palace - between the White Throne Hall and the Great Throne Hall, a few steps from the palace church.

Karl Ivanovich Rossi(Italian. Carlo di Giovanni Rossi; 1775-1849) - Russian architect of Italian origin, author of many buildings and architectural ensembles in St. Petersburg and its environs.

The ceiling with three skylights was painted according to sketches by J. Scotti. The opening ceremony of the hall took place on December 25, 1826. Before the opening of the gallery, many portraits had not yet been painted and on the walls were placed frames, covered with green reps, with name plates. As they were painted, the paintings were placed in their places. Most of the portraits were painted from life, while portraits painted earlier were used for already deceased or deceased characters. However, no images of thirteen heroes of the war of 1812 were found; in this regard, the places reserved for them are covered with green silk.

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 hurt. The new decoration of the gallery was made according to V.P. Stasov's drawings.

Vasily Petrovich Stasov(July 24, 1769, Moscow - August 24, 1848, St. Petersburg) - Russian architect.

The architect made some changes that gave the gallery a solemn and austere and more impressive appearance: the length of the gallery was increased by almost 6 m, and the choir was located above the cornice - a bypass gallery.

K. K. Piratesky, 1861

Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich

Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov

Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly

A. S. Pushkin in his poem "The Leader", dedicated to Barclay de Tolly, in the first lines describes the Military Gallery:

The Russian Tsar has a chamber in his palaces:
She is not rich in gold, not velvet;
It is not in her that the diamond of the crown is stored behind the glass:
But from top to bottom, full length, all around,
With my brush free and wide
It was painted by a fast-paced artist.
There are no rural nymphs, no virgin madon,
No fauns with cups, no full-breasted wives,
No dancing, no hunting, - but all cloaks, and swords,
Yes, faces full of belligerent courage.
In a crowded crowd, the artist placed


And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
Often I wander slowly between them
And I look at their familiar images,
And, I think, I hear their warlike cries ...

From the portraits of the famous commanders of the Patriotic War of 1812, masterfully painted by George Doe, beautiful courageous faces look at us, "full of militant courage," as Pushkin said about them. On the dark fabric of their uniforms, military awards are burning, the moire of order ribbons is shimmering, gold embroidery, aiguillettes and epaulettes glitter ...

Emperor Alexander I personally approved the lists of generals drawn up by the General Staff, whose portraits were supposed to adorn the Military Gallery. These were 349 participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, who were in the rank of general or were promoted to generals shortly after the end of the war.

For 10 years of work, George Doe and his Russian assistants V. A. Golike and A. V. Polyakov created 333 portraits, which are placed in five rows on the walls of the gallery. Thirteen portraits remained unfulfilled for various reasons. Instead, the gallery contains frames with the names of the generals.

All of Russia knew the names of the people whose portraits were placed in the Military Gallery. A heroic ode could be written about each of them.

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly and Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov

Field Marshal Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) - commander-in-chief of the Russian troops at the beginning of the war. He developed a plan for the retreat of the Russian army into the interior of the country and directed the retreat operations until August 17, 1812. After his resignation, Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745-1813) took command, who was forced to continue the retreat and made the difficult decision to leave Moscow. All the victories that followed - from Borodino to Berezina - are associated with the name of Kutuzov, who proved to be a brilliant strategist.

Nikolay Nikolaevich Raevsky

General Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829) - a talented and courageous military leader. During the Battle of Borodino, Raevsky's corps defended Kurgan Heights, located in the center of the position of the Russian troops. There were installed 18 guns of the battery, which received the name of Raevsky and repulsed all the attacks of the French.

Petr Ivanovich Bagration

General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812) - "God of rati he" - so his contemporaries pronounced his surname. For 30 years of service, Prince Bagration took part in 20 campaigns and 150 battles. In the Battle of Borodino, he led the left flank, which was hit by the first blow of the enemy. The French twice took possession of the earthen fortifications - the Bagration flushes and twice were driven out of there. During the next attack of the enemy, General Bagration raised his troops in a counterattack and at that moment was seriously wounded.

Alexey Petrovich Ermolov

General Alexei Petrovich Ermolov (1777-1861) - an outstanding military leader and one of the most popular people of his era. In the Patriotic War of 1812 Yermolov took part in all major battles. In the midst of the battle on the Borodino field, M.I.Kutuzov sent him to the left flank, to the 2nd army, to replace the seriously wounded Bagration, and Ermolov helped to overcome the confusion of the troops there. Seeing that the central battery of Raevsky was taken by the French, he organized a counterattack, repulsed the battery and directed its defense until he was shell-shocked.

Denis Vasilievich Davydov

The name of Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (1784-1839) is inseparable from the Patriotic War of 1812 as the name of the initiator and one of the leaders of the partisan movement. The fighting talents of Denis Davydov were highly valued by M.I.Kutuzov and P.I. Bagration, and the poet N.M. Yazykov wrote about his poetic gift:

"Your mighty verse will not die,
Memorially alive,
Delightful, ebullient,
And belligerently flying,
And recklessly daring. "

In 1949, on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin, a marble plaque was installed in the Military Gallery with lines from the poem of the great Russian poet "The General":

"... In a crowded crowd, the artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered in the glory of a wonderful march
And the eternal glory of the Twelfth Year ... ".

There are no rural nymphs, no virgin madonnas,

No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives

No dancing, no hunting, - but all cloaks, and swords,

Yes, faces full of belligerent courage.

A.S. Pushkin

332 portraits of generals who showed courage during the Patriotic War of 1812 adorn the Military Gallery stretching from the Coat of Arms to the Great Throne Hall of the Winter Palace. According to the project of Karl Rossi, by 1826 several small rooms for various purposes were combined to create a portrait hall. Since the opening of the gallery was bound to take place on December 25 - the day of the expulsion of Napoleon's army from the Russian land, the work on creating the interior of the hall and painting portraits was carried out in a rather haste manner. And yet, on the opening day, many places on the walls of the gallery were empty, draped with cloth. Nameplates on them designated the heroes, whose portraits were soon to take their places.

After the festive service in the Palace Church, followed by the consecration of the gallery, soldiers of the infantry and cavalry marched through it with a solemn parade, saluting the portraits of their heroic commanders.

It is worth noting that all these portraits were created by one artist - the Englishman George Doe, who was assisted by Alexander Polyakov and Wilhelm Golike. The list of generals was compiled by the Inspection Department of the General Staff, but some names were deleted from there personally by Alexander I without explaining the reasons. Historians suggest that the emperor removed from the gallery of honor soldiers who showed sympathy for the Decembrist uprising.

The fire of 1837 completely destroyed the interior of the Military Gallery. But, amazingly, every one of the portraits of the heroes was saved from the fire. During the restoration, the architect Vladimir Stasov enlarged the gallery by almost 6 meters, making it even more significant and solemn.

The list of generals who were honored to decorate the gallery of the Winter Palace with their portraits was formed in 1820. Given the huge scope of work, George Doe immediately began writing them. Alas, it turned out that by that time many of the generals from the list had already died, or were so old that they did not want to travel the difficult path along Russian roads from their provinces to the capital, with the sole purpose of posing for the artist a couple of times. Therefore, many of them were painted from existing portraits sent to St. Petersburg from all over the country by the generals themselves, or their relatives. There are several curious cases when a wife sent a portrait of her husband during his youth, with a cover letter: "Despite the fact that my husband died in venerable years, I can testify that over the years he has not changed at all."

The Gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812 in the St. Petersburg Museum Hermitage is an amazing place. This gallery in the fullest manner represents the art and his assistants A.V. Polyakov and Golike, who wrote all 332 portraits of Russian generals that are presented in this room. The entire collection, as you probably could already understand from the name, refers to the Patriotic War of 1812 and its participants. This is not only a gallery of beautiful works of art by great artists, but also a tribute to the memory of the heroes of that war.

except a large number portraits of the above artists here are two large equestrian portraits of Alexander I and the Prussian king Friedrich-Wilhelm III by F. Kruger, as well as a large equestrian portrait of the Austrian emperor Franz I by artist P. Kraft. Two more works were written by Peter von Hess, these are: "Battle of Borodino" and "The retreat of the French across the Berezina river."

It should be said that the gallery itself is very beautiful and unusual. It was designed by the famous architect Carlo Rossi. The fire in the Winter Palace, which took place on December 17, 1837, destroyed many rooms, including this one, but, fortunately, every single painting was saved and did not suffer. We can confidently say that this is one of the most unusual halls in the entire Hermitage Museum. A huge collection of portraits is located in one place. Eyes scatter from their abundance. If you consider each of them, then it will probably take several hours.

The Military Gallery of 1812 is located in a row of ceremonial interiors of the Winter Palace, between the Heraldic and the Georgievsky halls.

It is exceptional in its historical and artistic value a monument to the great feat of the Russian people, who defended their national independence in the terrible Twelfth Year and liberated the peoples of Europe from the yoke of Napoleon.

Three hundred thirty-two portraits of Russian generals, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, placed in the gallery, reflect in their totality one of the most striking events in the military history of our Motherland.

The gallery makes an indelible impression on everyone who has visited it. The images of the distant heroic past, so familiar and close to us from War and Peace, found here their pictorial embodiment, complementing Tolstoy's immortal pages.

Standing in the gallery, one involuntarily recalls another great Russian name- the name of Pushkin, whose creative flourishing undoubtedly due to the rise of national consciousness caused by the glorious epic of the Twelfth Year.

Pushkin often visited the gallery and in the poem "The General" gave its poetic description:

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his palaces: It is not rich in gold, not velvet; It is not in her that the diamond of the crown is kept behind the glass; But from top to bottom, in full length, around, His brush, free and wide, It was painted by the artist fast. There are no rural nymphs, no virgin Madonnas, No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives, No dancing, no hunting, but all cloaks, but swords, Yes, faces full of warlike courage. In a crowded crowd, the artist placed Here the leaders of our people's forces, Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign And the eternal memory of the Twelfth Year. Often, slowly between them, I wander And I look at their familiar images, And, it seems, I hear their warlike cries. Many of them are gone; others, whose faces are still so young on a bright canvas, have already grown old and nodded in silence by the head of the laurel ... 1835

These lines by Pushkin are carved on a marble plaque installed in the gallery on June 5, 1949, to mark the 150th anniversary of the poet's birth.

The merit of creating a grandiose portrait gallery belongs to a group of artists led by the English painter George Doe (1781-1829). A talented portrait painter, Dow was invited to Russia in 1819 to work on the memorial portrait gallery of the Winter Palace, which was supposed to perpetuate the victories of Russia in 1812-1814. For the last ten years of his life, the artist worked to fulfill the ambitious task assigned to him, and the portrait gallery created under his leadership was his highest creative achievement. Working with a speed that astounded his contemporaries, with a confident technique and an extraordinary ability to capture striking similarities with nature in his portraits, Dow managed to avoid the seemingly tiresome monotony in the gallery. Having created a unified artistic complex, he at the same time showed a lot of freedom and variety in the depiction of individuals. Dow himself painted about one hundred and fifty portraits. The rest of the portraits that came out of his workshop, located in the Hermitage building, were made by his assistants, young Russian artists A.V. Polyakov (1801-1835) and V.A. , a rare greed, brutally exploited.

It should be noted that the fact that Alexander I invited a foreign artist to work on the monument to the Patriotic War of 1812 already aroused bitter feelings in people who loved the national Russian art and pointed out that among the Russian portrait painters of that time there were such remarkable masters as A.G. Venetsianov, V.A. history of our Motherland. However, of the three named major Russian portrait painters of that time, only one Tropinin was involved in indirect participation in the creation of the gallery: he painted in Moscow a number of portraits of participants in the Patriotic War who lived there. His portraits were then copied at Doe's workshop, where they were adjusted to fit the gallery's format.

The grand opening of the grandiose portrait gallery in the Winter Palace took place on December 25, 1826, on the day of the annual celebration of the expulsion of the French from Russia. Created on the site of six small rooms that used to be here before, the gallery was decorated by one of the largest Russian architects early XIX century K. I. Rossi. This interior did not last long in its original form: it died during the great fire of 1837, which destroyed almost the entire Winter Palace. All the portraits, however, were selflessly saved from the flames by soldiers of the guards regiments, and after a year and a half the architect V.P. Stasov restored the premises with some changes in its decoration. These changes can be found when comparing the gallery with the painting by the artist G.G. Chernetsov hanging between the columns, depicting it before the fire.

The portraits recreate vivid images of participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 in all their diversity. individual characters... The decorativeness of painting and its romantic uplifting, which naturally flowed from the purpose of the gallery - a ceremonial palace hall and a monument to the struggle and victory of the Russian army - are uniquely combined in the best portraits with keen observation and convincing realism.

In a brief sketch, it is impossible even to touch upon all the portraits in passing. Therefore, let us dwell on the images of only the most significant participants in the epic of the Twelfth Year.

In the center of the gallery, on the sides of the door leading to the St. George Hall, there are large, tall, portraits of field marshals Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly.

The great Russian commander Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745-1813) is depicted standing by a spruce covered with snow with his bare head, in an overcoat draped over his shoulders. The figure of a commander, full of calm and self-confidence, dominates the snowy plain with masses of troops fighting. The imperative gesture of Kutuzov's hand, symbolizing the expulsion of the enemy from the borders of the Russian land, is full of natural expressiveness, internally justified and far from theatricality. The portrait was painted by Doe in 1829; Kutuzov's features were taken from a portrait painted by R. Volkov from life in the summer of 1812 before Kutuzov's departure from St. Petersburg to the army.

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) is depicted against the background of Paris, on the day of the capture of which by the allied forces he was promoted to field marshal. The image of the commander is imbued with restrained lyricism. The tall figure, drawn in a narrow uniform, of Barclay, immersed in thoughtfulness, is drawn lonely against the background of the sky with a heavy cloud - the last echo of a noisy thunderstorm.

This portrait, like the portrait of Kutuzov, was painted by George Doe in 1829 - Last year life of the artist - and is one of his best works.

Around the large portraits of Kutuzov and Barclay are smaller bust portraits of their closest associates.

The portraits around Kutuzov show:

Peter Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812). Favorite student of Suvorov, hero of all wars and campaigns late XVIII- the beginning of the 19th century. At Borodino Bagration, at the head of the 2nd Army, heroically repelled the furious but futile efforts of the French troops to break the resistance of our left flank and was mortally wounded in the midst of the battle. The portrait conveys the expression of the stately calmness characteristic of Bagration, according to contemporaries, in an ordinary setting. Only in moments of extreme tension of the battle, Bagration's face took on an expression of frantic inspiration.

Denis Vasilievich Davydov (1784-1839). A talented poet of the Pushkin era, he was Bagration's adjutant for several years. A brilliant cavalry leader, he was the first to form a partisan detachment of regular cavalry in the twelfth year to act against the "great army" that had invaded Russia.

Fedor Petrovich Uvarov (1769-1824). He led a massive cavalry attack at Borodino, undertaken, at the command of Kutuzov, at the height of the battle. The actions of the Russian cavalry, causing confusion on the enemy's left flank, forced Napoleon to postpone a decisive attack by his troops on the center of our positions, which made it possible for Kutuzov to prepare to repel it.

Yakov Petrovich Kulnev (1764-1812). He became famous for his bold avant-garde actions in the war with Sweden in 1808-1809 and at the beginning of the 1812 campaign. He died on July 20 in the battle near Klyastitsy, which stopped the French attempt to advance to St. Petersburg. After the death of Kulnev, his name, and previously popular, became the name folk hero... Engraved portraits of "the brave Kulnev", brought into the village by peddlers, appeared even in poor peasant huts.

Alexander Alekseevich Tuchkov (1777-1812). He died at Borodino at the moment when, with a banner in his hands, he was leading his sponsored Revel regiment into a bayonet attack. His body, despite all the searches for the young widow, was not found. Tuchkov's face is covered with poetic sadness, characteristic of romantic portraits of that time and so appropriate and justified in this portrait.

Alexander Nikitich Seslavin (1785-1858). The partisan who was the first to detect the movement towards Maloyaroslavets of Napoleon leaving Moscow and reported this to the Main Apartment of the Russian troops. Seslavin's impetuous posture is characteristic, as if ready for a swift movement, for a dashing raid on the enemy.

Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov (1756-1816). He enjoyed the constant trust and love of Kutuzov, was distinguished by unusually calm courage and great modesty. At Borodino, Dokhturov, after Bagration was wounded, led our left flank; near Maloyaroslavets, commanding a corps, he took on the blow of Napoleon's entire army and held it back until Kutuzov's approach with the main forces of the Russian army.

Alexey Petrovich Ermolov (1777-1861). One of the most gifted and popular Russian generals of the time Napoleonic Wars... In Dow's portrait, his sharp, strong-willed profile stands out effectively against the background of the dark sky and snowy mountains of the Caucasus, where Ermolov had commanded the Separate Georgian Corps since 1816. Pushkin in 1829, on the way to the Caucasus, visited the disgraced Ermolov, who lived in Orel. Describing the general's appearance in his "Journey to Arzrum", the poet drew attention to his "tiger's head on a Herculean torso." "When he ponders and frowns," wrote Pushkin, "he becomes beautiful and strikingly resembles his poetic portrait painted by Dov."

The portraits placed on the sides of the portrait of Barclay de Tolly show:

Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829). He commanded a corps in the army of Bagration. Under the name of "Rayevsky's battery", the redoubt, which was in the Battle of Borodino, along with the "Bagration Flushes", went down in history as the target of especially fierce attacks by the French. During his visits to the gallery, Pushkin, who knew Raevsky closely, more than once, of course, stopped his gaze on this portrait. According to the poet's opinion, Raevsky was "a man with a clear mind, with a simple, beautiful soul," who "will involuntarily bind to himself anyone who is only worthy to understand and appreciate his high qualities."

Dmitry Petrovich Neverovsky (1771-1813). In 1812 he commanded the 27th Infantry Division, which he had formed out of recruits just before the war. In the battle on August 2, near Red, Neverovsky's division took on the blow of Murat, who was trying to break through from the south to the undefended Smolensk. The heroic resistance of the "young" division prevented the French from entering the rear of our troops. The enemies themselves called the retreat of Neverovsky from Krasnoye "the retreat of the lions." On October 16, 1813, near Leipzig, Neverovsky was mortally wounded.

Dmitry Efremovich Kuteinikov (1766-1844). Combat Cossack general, former associate of Suvorov, whose life he saved on the Kinburn Spit. In 1812 he commanded a brigade of the Don Cossacks. The portrait successfully combines realism in rendering a face with a spectacular warlike pose.

Petr Petrovich Konovnitsyn (1764-1822). He commanded the rearguard during the withdrawal of the Russian army from Smolensk to Borodino. Thanks to the steadfastness and skillful actions of Konovnitsyn, who held back the enemy's offensive, the Russian army moved calmly, in perfect order, leaving no carts for the French, and turned around without hindrance on the Borodino positions chosen by Kutuzov. After leaving Moscow, Konovnitsyn was the general on duty at Kutuzov and was one of his most active assistants.

The portrait was painted from life and well conveys the firm, open look of Konovnitsyn, who was distinguished by his direct character and enjoyed great love and respect from his subordinates.

Alexander Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy (1770-1857). One of the bravest participants in the epic of the Twelfth Year, who, in the words of a contemporary, "even among his famous peers knew how to show himself." On July 13, near the village of Ostrovnaya, he gave the French the first serious battle; here the enemy fully felt what the resistance of the Russians who were fighting for native land... In the battle of Kulm on August 17-18, 1813, Tolstoy, commanding the guards infantry, defeated Vandam's corps, who was trying to break through to the rear of the allied Russian-Austrian troops. His portrait is one of the best in the gallery. A casually thrown overcoat disguises the absence of a left hand, lost by Tolstoy in the battle at Kulm. Sharp eyes and slightly "disappointed" fold of the mouth reflect the peculiar and independent character of the hero Kulm, who "did not get along" with Nicholas I and retired with him.

Valerian G. Madatov (1780-1829). A participant in many wars at the beginning of the 19th century, he enjoyed a reputation as one of the most dashing cavalry of that time. The portrait of Madatov vividly conveys his characteristic appearance and stormy temperament.

Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (1788-1865). In 1812 he commanded a partisan detachment. For participation in the revolutionary conspiracy of the Decembrists, he was sentenced to hard labor in 1826. Volkonsky is depicted in a modest uniform without gold embroidery; the artist paid all his attention to the transfer of his characteristic face, painted widely and freely. After the trial of Volkonsky, this portrait, dated 1823, was removed, by order of Nicholas I, from the number of works intended for placement in the gallery, and only many years later took its rightful place in it.

In addition to the portraits of Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly, the gallery contains two more large, tall, portraits by Dow - the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon in 1815 at Waterloo, and led. book Konstantin Pavlovich (the latter is an old copy of a portrait painted by Dow for one of the Warsaw palaces, placed in the gallery around 1830). Equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his ally in the 1813-1814 campaigns of the Prussian king Frederick William III, located at the end of the gallery, were painted German painter F. Kruger (1797-1859) around 1837 and then placed in the gallery. One of the favorite artists of Nicholas I, Kruger, adapting to the tastes of the customer, painted spectacular, cold portraits, flaunting in them a virtuoso transmission of "circumlocutions" - cloth of military uniforms, buttons, orders, cuffs, etc., depicting "not so many people in clothes, how many clothes are in public. " It is characteristic that the large portrait of Alexander I by Dow, which was originally in the gallery, was rejected for "inappropriate" realism in the depiction of the monarch and gave way to Kruger's portrait - very elegant, deftly painted, but internally empty and expressionless.

Equestrian portrait of another ally of Alexander I, the Austrian emperor Franz I, executed by the Viennese artist P. Krafft (1780-1856) in 1832.

Thirteen empty frames, covered with green silk, have been in the gallery in this form since its opening; on them are carved the names of those generals, participants in the war of 1812, whose portraits were not painted due to their death or for other reasons.

The gallery has remained unchanged since its restoration after the fire of 1837, therefore, along with portraits of the heroes of the Twelfth Year revered by the people's memory, we see portraits of such reactionaries as Arakcheev, Benckendorff, Chernyshev and others, who played the darkest role in the subsequent history of Russia.

Only in Soviet times, on the end wall of the gallery, as well as between the columns at the opposite end, there are four portraits painted by Dow of the palace grenadiers - veterans of the Twelfth Year. These portraits are of particular interest and significance to us as extremely rare portraits of Russian soldiers - heroes of the Patriotic War, who defended the independence of our Motherland under the leadership of Kutuzov and his associates.

At the entrance to the gallery from the pre-church gallery, there are two large paintings by the artist P. Hess (1792-1871), who executed twelve paintings for the Winter Palace, depicting the battles of 1812 in the 40s of the last century. Before proceeding with the execution of the order received, Hess carefully studied the materials on the history of the Patriotic War, traveled in 1839 all the battlefields that he had to depict, and created a kind of battle panorama pictures, distinguished by the clarity of the story and the abundance of conscientiously conveyed details. From the series written by him, the gallery contains paintings "The Battle of Borodino" and "The retreat of the French through the Berezina".

Everything has the same key that spills New World to the already known - picture gallery The war of 1812 seems to be a common thing, but I felt involved in it only after reading what I had hidden in the last picture for the sake of intrigue:

War gallery 1812

The gallery is dedicated to the victory of Russian arms over Napoleon. It was built according to the project of Karl Ivanovich Rossi and solemnly opened on the anniversary of Bonaparte's exile from Russia, December 25, 1826, in the presence of the Imperial Court, generals, officers and soldiers awarded for participation in the Patriotic War of 1812 and in the foreign campaign of the Russian army in 1813 - 14 years On its walls are portraits painted by D. Doe of 332 generals who participated in the war of 1812 and the overseas campaigns of 1813-1814. In addition, the gallery contains portraits of Emperor Alexander I and King of Prussia Friedrich-Wilgem III by F. Kruger, a portrait of Emperor Franz I of Austria by P. Kraft. The prototype of the gallery was one of the halls of the Windsor Palace, dedicated to the memory of the Battle of Waterloo, in which portraits of the participants in the Battle of the Nations were concentrated.











Portrait of Alexander I (1838). Artist F. Kruger.










Austrian Emperor Franz I. Painter P. Kraft.




King of Prussia Frederick William III. Artist F. Kruger.




Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov.



Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly.



Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.



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Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, G.G. Chernetsov, 1827



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