On this day the monument to Alexander III was unveiled. Monument to Alexander III: attractions, photos, videos, reviews Equestrian monument to Alexander 3

During the sightseeing tour, the monument to Alexander III is shown only briefly. Meanwhile, this is one of the most controversial St. Petersburg monuments. What is this anyway? A mockery monument? An allegory monument? Or the real image of the “peacemaker king” conveyed by the sculptor? Let's take a closer look at it...

The monument was supposed to be erected on Znamenskaya Square (it has now moved to the courtyard of the beautiful Marble Palace, in which, by the way, several high-profile crimes were committed - read about them here), in front of the Nikolaevsky Station building, as a reminder of one of the most important merits of the reign of Alexander II - foundation of the Trans-Siberian Railway. S.Yu. Witte in his memoirs attributes to himself the initiative to create the monument (“After the death of Emperor Alexander III, in view of my feeling of worship of his memory, I immediately raised the question of building a monument to him, knowing that if this was not done while I was in power, then this will then not be done for many decades"). A project competition was announced, in which the imperial family played the role of the jury. The most august customers chose the project of Pavel Trubetskoy (the illegitimate son of Prince Peter Trubetskoy, in the Italian manner he was called Paolo, because he was born and raised in Italy). Moreover, Witte considered the model somewhat strange - but neither he nor the members of the commission for the construction of the monument (in which, among others, was A.N. Benois) had any influence; Trubetskoy was guided only by the opinion of the emperor, or rather, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, who was quite pleased with the project.

In 1909, the monument to Alexander 3 in St. Petersburg was inaugurated; and the first emotion that he evoked in most of his contemporaries was bewilderment. An overweight man of peasant appearance in baggy clothes sits awkwardly on a fat, struggling horse - there is strikingly little grandeur and solemnity in the monument to the Russian autocrat; The question immediately arises: isn’t this a caricature?

This is what I will do with your cases!

What did the emperor really look like? Alexander III was tall (193 cm) and strong built, and with age his heroic figure became bulky and obese. His appearance was completely devoid of aristocracy - this is evidenced by the memoirs of his contemporaries and photographs, which, in the absence of modern filters, present the emperor without embellishment.

Alexander's favorite residence in his youth was, later - Gatchina.

There were many stories about the emperor's incredible physical strength. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich describes the famous episode: “The Austro-Hungarian ambassador in St. Petersburg threatened us with war. At a large dinner in the Winter Palace, sitting at the table opposite the Tsar, the ambassador began to discuss the annoying Balkan question. The king pretended not to notice his irritated tone. The ambassador became heated and even hinted at the possibility that Austria would mobilize two or three corps. Without changing his half-mocking expression, Emperor Alexander III took the fork, bent it into a loop and threw it towards the Austrian diplomat’s device: “This is what I will do with your two or three mobilized corps,” the Tsar said calmly.” (Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. Book of Memories)

Alexander’s nephew, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, recalls: “Uncle Sasha had remarkable strength. When we played a game of our own invention on the Anichkov Palace playground, which consisted of hitting black rubber balls with sticks and then running after them, he often came out to our skating rink in his gray jacket and sent a thick stick with a knob at the end balls right through the roof of a high palace" (Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich. My life in the service of Russia)

From the memoirs of S.Yu. Witte about the crash of the imperial train near Kharkov: “At the time of the crash, the Emperor and his family were in the dining car; the entire roof of the dining car fell on the Emperor, and he, only thanks to his gigantic strength, kept this roof on his back and it did not crush anyone.” Even if this episode is Witte’s invention (the roof of the carriage weighs several tons, and even such a hero as Alexander is unlikely to be able to hold it on his back), it reflects the perception of the emperor by his contemporaries.

Capless cap and horse without a tail

The emperor's clothes are striking - he is dressed in some very conventionally depicted uniform, which from a distance looks more like a simple jacket, and trousers tucked into boots. Apparently, this is quite consistent with historical reality - according to the recollections of many contemporaries, Alexander III was extremely unpretentious in his clothes, in an informal setting he wore simple trousers and a shirt, even wearing them to holes. Perhaps this was partly a demonstration - while still a crown prince and then an emperor, Alexander in every possible way emphasized his “Russianness” (by the way, he was the first bearded Russian emperor and generally introduced the fashion for wearing beards). The monument even reflects such an oddity of the emperor as his passion for hats without a visor. “Tsar Alexander III did not like and did not recognize fashion, especially foreign ones.<…>At home he usually wore a general's "jacket" (the so-called "short coat"), he went hunting in a comfortable and very simple blouse made of English material, wore a Scottish cap on his head, and in winter - a uniform officer's lambskin cap, only without the eagle and galloons. This preference of the Sovereign for headdresses without a visor was his originality, which is why during his reign “peakless caps” and round lambskin hats were introduced into the army. For some reason he stubbornly denied the harm from the lack of eye protection with a visor and the difficulty of shooting in such a headdress, especially against the sun.” (Velyamov N.A. Memories of Emperor Alexander III)

You can pay attention to one more detail that catches your eye if you look at the monument from behind, or in profile.

Why is the horse without a tail? The fact is that the sculptor chose a horse to match the emperor - a French heavy draft Percheron, this breed is distinguished by its massiveness and incredible strength. These horses were used mainly for transporting carriages and cargo, and there was a tradition of docking the tails of Percherons so that they would not get tangled in the harness (by the way, this inhumane tradition existed until the end of the 20th century!!) In general, the practice of docking the tails of horses existed for a long time and was not exotic - just remember, for example, the tapestry of the early 18th century. "Peter I in the Battle of Poltava."

So, we can conclude that the sculptor took a very thorough approach to recreating the appearance of the late emperor. Perhaps it was not without reason that Empress Maria Feodorovna, when choosing a project, drew attention to the fact that the sculpture had many similarities with the original and did not see any ridicule in the monument?

Tsar-chest of drawers

Contemporaries, who perceived Alexander III as a conservative and a retrograde, seeking to reverse reforms and slow down the course of historical development, saw in the monument a bold metaphor (Vasily Rozanov: “The horse has rested... The head is stubborn and stupid... “Give reform, without it I won’t move” - “There will be reform for you!”... There is no tail - the tail has been eaten off this clever girl... A huge body with barrels, with an abdomen, which absolutely no horse has... The horse, obviously, does not understand the Rider... On the other hand, seeing that the horse is wheezing, the rider accepts him for a crazy, completely wild and dangerous horse, on which if you can’t ride, you should at least stand safely and motionless”). Someone (like Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich) saw an “evil caricature” of the emperor. Someone saw strength, power, solidity and a “steady hand.” Conclusion: it all depends on the point of view of the person looking at Alexander III)))

The monument to Alexander 3 in St. Petersburg was immediately reflected in folklore. One of the epigrams is still widely known:

There is a chest of drawers on the square,
There's a hippopotamus on the dresser,
There's a freak on the hippopotamus,
On the back is a hat.

An even more scathing epigram belongs to the poet Alexander Roslavlev:

Third wild toy
For the Russian slave:
There was a Tsar Bell, a Tsar Cannon,
And now the king is an ass.

Ironically, during the events of the February Revolution on Znamenskaya Square, the pedestal of the monument to the Tsar repeatedly served as a platform during rallies.

The monument turned out to be so symbolic that after the October Revolution it was not destroyed, as one might assume, but was used for propaganda purposes. In 1919, Demyan Bedny’s poem “The Scarecrow” was engraved on the pedestal:

My son and my father were executed during their lifetime,
And I reaped the fate of posthumous infamy:
I’m hanging here as a cast-iron scarecrow for the country,
Forever throwing off the yoke of autocracy.

Restless Monument

In 1927 The monument took part in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution: it was enclosed in a metal cage, and a tower, a wheel and two masts were attached next to it, on which a hammer and sickle and the inscription “USSR” were suspended.

Finally, in the 1930s. the mockery of the monument stopped: it was removed from the pedestal and hidden in the storerooms of the Russian Museum. But since then the monument has been moved several times. For several years he stood in the Mikhailovsky Garden, where he survived the blockade and a direct hit from an artillery shell; but survived due to the fact that museum workers surrounded it with sandbags. Then it was located in the courtyard of the Russian Museum, and in the 1990s. it was installed in front of the entrance to the city, in the place where the “Enemy of Capital” armored car had previously stood - the same one from which V.I. Lenin gave a speech in April 1917.

True, several years ago, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky proposed returning the monument to Alexander III to its historical place - to Vosstaniya Square. The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg rejected this idea. But perhaps this initiative regarding the monument is not the last. Nobody knows - will the restless emperor finally find his place?

That's all for today. Come to St. Petersburg!

The monument to Emperor Alexander III is located in St. Petersburg in front of the Marble Palace (branch of the Russian Museum). I specifically went to look at it because I had read comments (usually disapproving) about the monument from many famous people: Uspensky, Bryusov, Repin, Kustodiev, Rozanov, Demyan Bedny, etc.
Other people's opinions are interesting to me, but I always follow the principle of Evgeny Bazarov (“Fathers and Sons”), who said: “I don’t share anyone’s opinions; I have my own.”
So I went to the Marble Palace to look at the humiliated monument and form my own opinion.

I’ll say right away that I liked the monument. He is thorough, reliable and trustworthy. And it stands in the center of the small courtyard of the Marble Palace, so you can walk around and take a close look (not like on the widest Znamenskaya Square).
The figure on the horse made me remember the portrait of the Tsar by Valentin Serov - the same feeling of greatness, dignity and confidence that the main person of the state should have.

Apparently, the author of the monument, the Italian sculptor Paolo Trubetskoy, to whom Nicholas II commissioned a sculpture of his father, also understood this. Trubetskoy depicted not specifically a man on a horse, but the Ruler of a huge country, which during the years of his reign never fought. This is a huge achievement of the policy of Alexander III - it was for maintaining peace that the Russian monarch received the official name Tsar the Peacemaker.

Quote from Yeager's "World History": "Alexander III pursued his policy openly, without resorting to any tricks, maintaining impeccable straightforwardness and unwavering justice in his relations with other powers.."
As a result, “Russia was elevated by Emperor Alexander III to a high degree of European and Asian power.”

According to S.Yu. Witte, these changes in foreign policy were to a large extent connected with the personality of the tsar himself, and in particular, with his honest, noble, truthful, direct and peace-loving character.
The services of Alexander III in foreign policy were highly appreciated by the French and the main bridge across the Seine in Paris was named after him. And the Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II, after the death of Alexander, said: “This, indeed, was an autocratic Emperor.”
And in the internal politics of Russia during the reign of Alexander III, positive economic changes took place.

The equestrian statue of the emperor speaks of these qualities. Alexander sits calmly and confidently in the saddle, holding the reins with one hand and calmly lowering the other on his hip. The state of relaxation of the king and the horse is only apparent; the entire monument creates a feeling of strength and confidence that the rider will at any moment pull on the reins, and the horse-state, feeling the strength and power of the rider, will walk in the right direction.

Many did not like that the horse stood with his head down and that, in general, he was not a thin-legged, graceful horse worthy of an emperor, but some kind of draft horse. But, if we assume that the horse characterizes the developing Russia of the era of Alexander III, then an obvious explanation arises: the horse-state under the control of the wise tsar is ready to easily raise its head and just as easily step forward, this is evidenced by its elastic neck and strong legs!

These are the thoughts that came to my mind while I was looking at the monument.

When the monument was ready, many members of the royal family did not like it. Of course, they wanted to see a statue similar to the monuments to European sovereigns: a corresponding horse and Alexander himself, decorated with ceremonial attributes, but they saw a working man on a tired horse.

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich said (according to S. Witte) that “he will never allow a monument modeled after Prince Trubetskoy to be erected, since it is a caricature of his brother.” And Nicholas II, offended by his filial feelings, even wanted to send the monument into exile in Irkutsk, but Maria Fedorovna, the widow of Alexander III, was struck by the extraordinary portrait resemblance, and it was decided to leave and install the monument.

On May 23, 1909, an equestrian statue of Alexander III was solemnly installed in the center of Znamenskaya Square (now Vosstaniya Square) near the Nikolaevsky (now Moskovsky) station, where the pointed obelisk “To the Hero City of Leningrad” now stands.

Thanks to the Bolsheviks, who after the October Revolution did not destroy the monument, as, for example, they did with the monument to Alexander III in Moscow, but the statue on a horse survived considerable ordeals.

In 1919, a historical inscription was knocked off a granite pedestal and the poem “Scarecrow”, offensive to the tsar, was carved out by the popular propaganda poet Demyan Bedny:
My son and my father were executed during their lifetime,
And I reaped the fate of posthumous infamy.
I’m hanging here as a cast-iron scarecrow for the country,
Forever throwing off the yoke of autocracy.

In October 1937, the monument was dismantled and humiliatingly laid on its side in the storerooms of the Russian Museum.
In 1953, the monument was raised and moved to the courtyard of the Russian Museum.
In the 1980s, during the renovation of the Benois building, the equestrian statue was “sewn up” with boards and was freed from this cap only in 1990.
In 1994, the monument was released from “imprisonment” and installed in front of the entrance to the Marble Palace,
In 2013, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky felt that the monument to Alexander III was cramped in the courtyard of the Marble Palace, and he suggested that St. Petersburg deputies consider moving the monument to another location. Three such places were proposed: on Konyushennaya Square, on Trinity Square or on Vosstaniya Square, where the monument was originally installed.

The proposals were not approved: the transfer of the monument to Vosstaniya Square was categorically rejected (the place was already occupied by the obelisk), and the transfer to other squares was considered untimely.

In my opinion, it is good for the monument in front of the Marble Palace, but the bad thing is that it is seen only by art lovers who come to the Marble Palace and participants in various congresses, but the main thing is that the monument has finally been left alone (for how long?).

Until the end of the 1980s, an armored car stood on a pedestal in front of the Marble Palace (a copy of the armored car from which Lenin spoke at the Finlyandsky Station) - in memory of Lenin’s speech. Then the armored car was transferred to the Artillery Museum, and a monument to Alexander III was erected on the vacated pedestal.

Interesting ones here

The heavy figure on a horse was installed in 1909 near the Nikolaevsky (now Moskovsky) station, and immediately caused a storm of indignation.

The scandal broke out as soon as the cover was removed from the monument during the grand opening.

There were a few who expressed delight and admiration, but for the most part the appearance aroused unmerciful criticism.

Emperors in Russia have never been presented like this.

The heavy bronze figure, practically fused together with the same fundamental parody of a horse, more closely resembled not God’s anointed one, but a Cossack captain after a difficult campaign.

All “this” stood on a granite pedestal, more reminiscent of a coffin in its shape.

The king's gaze from under his furrowed eyebrows seemed expressionless, arrogant and stupid.

Sculptor Paolo Trubetskoy created this miracle for eight whole years, and only his third project was approved by a special commission.

According to one contemporary, among his loved ones he once said about his work: “I depicted one animal on another.”

What was it? True attitude towards Alexander, or a veiled self-justification for an obvious creative failure?..

The monument, or rather, the people’s dislike for it, haunted the authorities. It stood for only three years when the City Duma seriously thought about demolishing it.

A legend has long circulated around the city that it was created in order to be installed in the Ural mountains. There, on the border of Europe and Asia, it could be seen from passing trains. The king’s gaze in this case does not matter, since it is not visible from such a distance. And the massiveness of the figure is just right - it won’t be blown away by the wind.

After the revolution, monuments to the kings began to be removed from the streets of the city, but this one was left on purpose.

For another 20 years he was ridiculed in every way. They didn’t come up with all sorts of nicknames for him - “chest of drawers”, “stupid”, “beast”.

And one nickname was even immortalized on a pedestal. In 1927, a quatrain by Demyan Bedny called “Scarecrow” was carved into granite.

For twenty years, twice a year, during revolutionary holidays, the figure was disguised with ridiculous stands on which speakers held rallies.

And finally, in 1937, he was finally exiled to the courtyard of the Russian Museum.

Now the monument was visible through a cast-iron grate, thanks to which it was aptly nicknamed “prisoner” by the people. The move of the monument was justified by the fact that it allegedly interfered with tram traffic, although by that time trams had been running in that place for thirty years and did not touch the sculpture.

In 1994, it was installed in front of the entrance to the Marble Palace.

It is very symbolic that the new pedestal (the old one was dismantled into blocks during the first dismantling) was the pedestal on which the “Lenin armored car” had recently stood.

By the way, now the monument does not cause such a storm of emotions.

Despite everything, it is an example of Russian monumental sculpture. As for the emperor’s gaze, upon closer examination one can see something completely different.

And for some, the monument became not a caricature of an emperor unloved by the people, but a symbol of monumentality and inviolability, which are now sorely lacking.

How to get there:

1. From Palace Square, go past the right wing of the Hermitage (where the Atlanteans are). Along Millionnaya Street, cross the Winter Canal and walk without turning anywhere until a green lawn (filled with cars) appears on the right side.
2. On the left side of Millionnaya Street there will be a marble palace, in front of which there is a monument to Alexander the Third.

From the Savior on Spilled Blood, turn to the right, along the fence of the Mikhailovsky Garden, cross the 2nd Garden Bridge. You will find yourself at the southwest corner of the Campus Martius. On the left side there will be a grandiose multi-column facade of the barracks of the Pavlovsky Regiment (now Lenenergo).

5 Walking along the entire building (about 400 meters) you will come to the Marble Palace.
There is a chest of drawers, on the chest of drawers there is a hippopotamus...

On June 1909, the grand opening of the monument to Alexander III took place on Znamenskaya Square.

The entire royal court gathered on the square, and the troops of the St. Petersburg garrison lined up. The ceremony was attended by the imperial family and Emperor Nicholas II personally.

The monument was dedicated not exactly to the emperor, but to the “Sovereign founder of the Great Siberian Road,” that is, the Trans-Siberian Railway, starting from the Nikolaevsky Station - construction of the highway began under Alexander III.

The customers of the monument were Emperor Nicholas II and members of the royal family, who preferred the project of the Italian sculptor P. P. Trubetskoy, who worked in Russia in 1897-1906.

The author worked on the monument for 8 years, made 14 models, two of which were life-size, and only the third received the approval of a special commission and the royal family. The model of the sculpture was made in St. Petersburg, and the monument was translated into bronze in parts: the figure of the emperor - in Italy, the horse - at the Obukhov Steel Plant.

Before installation on Znamenskaya Square, serious preparatory work was carried out there and a complex foundation was created.

Preparations for the installation of the monument on Znamenskaya Square, and below the opening of the monument.

A model of the sculpture was placed to determine the best location for the monument... the original avant-garde is like that)))

The bronze statue was cast by the Italian foundry maker E. Sperati in parts: the figure of Alexander III - in the workshop of the foundry maker K. A. Robecchi, the horse - at the Obukhov steel plant. The pedestal made of Valaam red granite, more than three meters high, was made according to the design of the architect F. O. Shekhtel.

The opening ceremony of the monument caused a lot of emotions. Some were indignant that he was discrediting the honor of the reigning house. Others admired it as if it was a bold satire.

Sentry at the monument to Alexander III (Company of Palace Grenadiers). Photo 1909.

The people composed the famous riddle ditty about the monument:

"There's a chest of drawers,
There's a hippopotamus on the chest of drawers,
The hippopotamus is wearing a hat,
What kind of fool is this daddy?"

But there were also tougher ones:

"The third wild toy
For the Russian slave:
There was a Tsar Bell, a Tsar Cannon,
And now the king is an ass." Epigram by A. Roslavlev

The horse especially suffered: “There is no tail, the tail has been eaten off from this clever girl... A huge body with barrels, with an abdomen, which absolutely no horse has... God knows what... A cross between a donkey, a horse and with a dash of cow. .. The horse, obviously, does not understand the Rider... assuming there is “evil intent” in him to put him in a hole, to drop him into the abyss... On the other hand, seeing that the horse is wheezing, the rider takes him for a madman, completely wild and dangerous a horse on which, if you can’t ride, you should at least stand safely and motionless. And so it all stopped, rested..."

Even before the opening of the monument, the sculptor felt an unfriendly attitude from many members of the royal family and senior officials. Nicholas II wanted to move the monument to Irkutsk, “send it into exile in Siberia, away from his offended son’s eyes.”

They say that the offended Paolo Trubetskoy said this about his creation: “ Oh, I'm not interested in politics, I just painted one animal on another "He was a subject of Italy, but the statement is scandalous...

The monument evoked a feeling of dull pressing force. A. Benois noted that this feature of the monument “is due not simply to the luck of the master, but to the artist’s deep penetration into the task.”

During Soviet times, the monument was damaged. Above, people are looking at a monument to Emperor Alexander III, enclosed in a cage.

Not everyone knows, but after the October Revolution, in 1919, Demyan Bedny’s poem “The Scarecrow” was engraved on the pedestal.

"My son and my father were executed during their lifetime,
And I reaped the fate of posthumous infamy.
I’m hanging here as a cast-iron scarecrow for the country,
Forever throwing off the yoke of autocracy. "

The monument to Alexander III in front of the Moscow railway station did not stand for long. When tram tracks were laid along Nevsky Prospekt, it was removed from the square.

Then, due to its undoubted artistic value, the monument was transferred to the Russian Museum. During the blockade, museum workers tried to hide the monument from the war by burying it in the ground.

But the chest of drawers, together with the hippopotamus and the frill, were so heavy that this idea had to be abandoned. Alexander and his horse were covered with sand, covered with boards, and laid on top with logs. And what? The ill-fated monument turned out to be the most unlucky in the city. He was the only one in Leningrad who received a direct hit from an artillery shell. And... it’s okay... both the chest of drawers and the hippopotamus survived. This is the great power of art!

After the Great Patriotic War in 1950, three stones were removed from the pedestal, which were used to create busts of heroes of the Soviet Union and a monument to Rimsky-Korsakov.

In the 1980s, during the renovation of the Benois building, the statue was removed under a wooden cover and only in 1990 was released from this hiding place. Then the monument was transported to the courtyard of the Marble Palace. So he still stands there. Proud, but undeservedly forgotten...

Professor of the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University N.A. Meshchersky (1906-1987) told one of the authors that in the late 1910s - early 1920s, townspeople who wanted to ride a cab to the Moscow station shouted: “Carrier! To the scarecrow! When a monument to V.I. was erected at the Finlyandsky Station. Lenin, the cab drivers began asking their riders: “Which one, yours?” To Moscow or to Finnish? In response to the author’s perplexed question, what is the Finnish Scarecrow, the professor, who came from a princely family, smiled, looked kindly through his glasses at his slow-witted student, and asked: “Don’t you know? It still stands there!” (C) Akhapkin D.N.

There is a project to return the monument to, and build another shopping complex under it... Perhaps everything will work out and the monument will again stand in its historical place, but personally I think that the bayonet looks better there, at least there is something standing in the one lying around...

I would put Alexander in some modern park or, for example, in Why not?!... there would be a place for him there.

Basic information and old photos (C) Internet