History of Russia: The painting sketch “The first battle of the Russian naval fleet under the command of Senyavin near the Saaremaa Island with the Swedish fleet” presented in Saratov

The A. N. Radishchev Saratov State Art Museum in the framework of the project “Exhibition of one painting” features the sketch “The first battle of the Russian naval fleet under the command of Senyavin near the Saaremaa Island with the Swedish fleet”, which entered the Museum in 1885 by the author.

The exhibition is timed to the 189^th anniversary of the birth of A. P. Bogolyubov, the founder of the Radishchev Museum.

The creation of the painting “The first battle of the Russian naval fleet under the command of Senyavin near the Saaremaa Island” (the Central Naval Museum) was preceded by several preparatory works, which are stored in the collection of the Radishchev Museum. These are a few drawings in which the artist sets out the composition of the work, and the aforementioned sketch of oil. All these works have been produced around the years 1866-1872. Their story is one of the sea battles of the Great Northern War, which took place near the Saaremaa Island on May 24, 1719.

The sketch of Bogolyubov depicts the decisive moment of the battle, when the Russian flagship “Portsmouth”, despite the damage of the ship, provides a powerful broadside on the Swedish frigate. As an artist-realist, Bogolyubov strives to accurately reproduce the details of the battle and in detail to recreate the sailing warships of the XVIII century.