The History of the Bronze Horseman is highlighted in unique documents from the Presidential Library collections

236 years ago, on August 18, 1782, at the Senate Square of St. Petersburg, Catherine II solemnly unveiled a monument to her idol Peter I. It is known that she treated the first Russian emperor with great piety and even said that she was only trying to finish the unfinished "chrome", in other words, the Russian Empire. Later, with the light hand of Alexander Pushkin, the majestic monument was named the Bronze Horseman and became one of the symbols of the city on the Neva. On the portal of the Presidential Library anyone can get familiar not only with numerous images of the monument on postcards and photographs of different years, but also with unique documents revealing the history of the sculpture, the author's intention, the degree of participation in the design and construction of the august customer and other interesting facts.

On the portal of the Presidential Library (which, by the way, is housed in a building on the Senate Square, literally opposite the famous monument), one can look through the full correspondence of Empress Catherine II with the author of the monument Etienne Maurice Falconet. Correspondence is contained in the 17th volume of the Collection of the Imperial Russian Historical Society, published in 1876. Here - "Copy from the definition of the Government Senate on the construction of the monument", "Note of Bilishtein on the selection and arrangement of areas for projected monuments to Peter I and Catherine II", a correspondence about the relocation of Falconet to Russia, etc.

From the documents mentioned above you can find out, for example, how the material for the monument was selected: "As for the matter, the marble is not durable because of the severity of the local climate, consequently there will be no other matter except the metal".

The Empress herself chose, on the recommendation of her friend by correspondence, the famous French educator Denis Diderot. "Diderot gave me a man who did not have one like this, he is Falconet, he will soon start the statue of Peter the Great; if there are artists equal to him in talent, then we can safely say that none of them can compare with him in feelings, in a word he is the friend of Diderot's soul", - wrote Catherine. Later, she strongly supported Falconet in his endeavor and noted in a letter to the sculptor: "Do not listen to bad reasonings of people who do not understand anything, go your way". At the same time, many influential grandees expressed themselves against his vision of the monument to Peter.

The Empress, apparently, was not only a generous "sponsor", but also a strict critic for Falconet. Here is what he wrote to her: "I would never have thought that your Majesty was so strict in sculpture. You do not leave my workshop and already more than 20 times you make me start again what many were happy with".  

The sculptor himself was satisfied with the result: "It is seen very well that my horse is nothing more than an animal, but of all the like, it must be the most intelligent".  

"My greeting to Peter the Great clothed", - answered Catherine II. - He has an expression and the head of his horse is studied; - that's what you write to me and, unfortunately, I cannot see. You do not say anything to me about his hand, which he extends over his state. Count Orlov finds that this hand represents one of the most difficult and delicate parts of the work, and that only you could find this hand the proper expression". And the empress remarks about the horse: "If your horse revived in your workshop, as once the statue of Pygmalion, then judging by his expression, he would make a terrible mess".  

It is curious that even the famous inscription on the monument Catherine discussed with the sculptor and listened to his opinion: "At the foot of the statue I would put this brief inscription: Peter the Great was erected by Catherine II. I would very much like to see nothing more on the stone itself ... "

Its name was given to the famous monument thanks to the equally famous poem by Alexander Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" (1833). The literary work was devoted to the most devastating flood in the history of the city, which occurred on November 7 (19), 1824.

The library's collections contain audio materials dedicated to the Bronze Horseman. So, from the program "Our Geography" on "Nashe Radio" you can learn that Catherine the Great thought much about perpetuating the memory of her predecessor in 1765, that is, at the dawn of her reign. Etienne Maurice Falconet first sculpted the layout of the monument, and then undertook to finish the remaining work for eight years.  

After casting the model, Catherine ordered to find a stone for the foot of the monument, and the Academy of Arts promulgated its "required size". In 1768, Semyon Veshnyakov, a peasant from the village of Lakhta, 12 versts from Petersburg, appeared in the Academy and said that they have such a boulder. According to the local legend, Peter himself allegedly repeatedly went up to him to survey the neighborhood…

To transport the stone giant, huge copper sledges were built. 400 people moved them about 200 meters every day.

Dragging the stone to the bank of the river, it was loaded onto a special vessel and safely delivered to the place. But then the case arose for a long time, since the price requested by Falconet for casting seemed to the Empress exorbitantly high. By agreement, Catherine the Great and the sculptor came only after a six-year hitch.

But the problems did not come to an end there. On August 25, 1775, 21 tons of molten copper flowed into the clay mold. The lower part of it was already full. Suddenly the clay burst, and the copper began to flow to the floor. Falconet, seeing that his eight-year labors were crumbling, ran out of desperation from the workshop, and all the workers followed him. Except one, who was not at a loss and, risking his life, began to pick up the leaked copper and again pour it into the form. By his efforts, the casting was completed with small errors. Only the hind legs of the horse failed. But they were corrected and polished in two years. The opening of the monument took place on August 7 (old style) in 1782. When the veil from the royal horseman was asleep, the inscription on the pedestal, invented by the empress herself, opened to the eyes of those present: "Peter the Great from Catherine II." The sculptor portrayed Peter in an emphatically dynamic state. The pedestal in the form of a huge rock symbolized the difficulties overcome, and the snake under the feet of the bulging horse is the defeated hostile forces. The role of Peter as the victorious leader was indicated by a wreath of laurel and a sword hanging from his belt.

The Presidential Library portal features not only the description of the monument and the history of its creation, but also materials about the poem that gave the name of the monument, in particular, the author's abstract of candidate of philological sciences Karim Bekhan Mohammad "The opposition of man and power in Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" and its archetypal features".

Additionally with the help of the Presidential Library you can learn a lot of interesting things and look at the images of other monuments to the first Russian emperor: the plan of the monument to Peter the Great on Bolshaya Okhta, which was opened in 1911, disappeared in the 30s of the XX century, but in 2003 year, to the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, once again cast and returned to the old place; obelisk to Peter the Great in the city of Kirovsk, Leningrad region; a monument to Peter the Great "The Carpenter" on the Admiralteiskaya Embankment and a monument to Peter I by sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin in the Peter and Paul Fortress; monument-bust to Peter the Great at the Moscow railway station and others.