Application for reservation |
|
|
|
|
THE COOPER HORSEMAN
One of the most famous objects of note in St. Petersburg, to the great extent due to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, is the monument to Peter the First called the Copper Horseman (or the Brazen Horseman) by Etienne Falconet (1766-1782). Every Russian remembers from childhood the famous Pushkin’s lines:
...And he, like under conjuration,
Like in jail irons’ limitation,
Cannot come down. Him around
Only black waters could be found!
And turned to him with his back, proudest,
On height that never might be tossed,
Over Neva’s unending wildness,
Stands, with his arm, stretched to skies, lightless,
The idol on his brazen horse.
And it is the first monument which tourists strive eagerly to see.
The monument to Peter the Great was created by Empress Catherine the Second’s order. The sculptor worked for twelve years on the creation of it. He scrutinized the movements of horses and horsemen. At the instance of Falconet, a skillful horseman rode at a full gallop to an eminence serving as a model of the future pedestal, while the sculpture drew sketches of the future monument.
About three years were spent on making a gypseous model. The foundry of the monument appeared to be also very difficult. During the foundry a misfortune happened: the molten metal burst open the upper part of the mould and gushed out outwards. Fire began in the workshop. The founder Yemeljan Hailov who directed the works managed to extinguish the fire and to end up the work.
It was a great labour to deliver to St. Petersburg the granite monolith for the pedestal of the monument. "Thunder Stone" (it was called so because there was a crack caused by a stroke of lightning) was found near the village Lahta. It weighted 1600 tons. They dragged it to the sea which was 500 meters away from the place on a special platform with runners. Then it was carried over to St. Petersburg on a barge with the help of two ships during nine months. All this time stonemasons were forming the stone according to the sculptor’s idea.
The inauguration of the monument to Peter the First took place on the 7th of August, 1782. Brazen Peter the First riding a reared horse and wearing a laurel wreath on his head appeared before the public. There were inscriptions in Russian and in Latin on both sides of the monument: "to Peter the First from Catherine the Second, the summer of 1782."
From that time the monument to Peter the First has become a symbol of glory and victory, and a unique masterpiece.
|
|
