Vereshchagin’s painting “The Apotheosis of War” and its sad unhistorical nature. “Apotheosis of War” - the central painting of the Turkestan series by artist Vereshchagin

“Some spread the idea of ​​peace with their fascinating words, others put forward various arguments in its defense - religious, political, economic, and I preach the same through colors,” said this stern, courageous and fearless man. He, the Knight of St. George, a participant in several wars of the second half of the 20th century, was disgusted by the “beautiful” description of battles with battalions of soldiers in brand new uniforms and with shiny bayonets at the ready, with dashing victorious generals prancing on thoroughbred horses.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin’s noble service to humanity lies precisely in the fact that he debunked this beautiful bravura by actually demonstrating the bloody essence of war. The power of his painting was such that one Prussian general advised Emperor Alexander II to “order all the artist’s war paintings to be burned, as having the most harmful influence.”

In the middle of the 19th century, Central Asia was the subject of the predatory desires of the British, who were preparing to seize Turkestan. Its annexation to Russia saved these peoples from the sad Fate of the colonial slaves of England, but at the same time, Russian parishism also waged war here. V.V. Vereshchagin went to Turkestan without any prejudice towards the war. He was interested in new countries, new peoples, but soon he himself had to participate in the war.

V.V. Vereshchagin was an ensign, “attached to the Turkestan governor-general, wore civilian clothes and enjoyed the freedom of action and movement necessary to sketch and write what he saw. Until the spring of 1862, he tirelessly sketched nature, folk types, and scenes of life in the Middle Ages. Asia". Subsequently, the artist combined all his Turkestan paintings (along with sketches) into a series in order to enhance the ideological impact on the viewer. Following one after another, these pictures unfolded the entire plot before the viewer ("Beggars in Samarkand", "Opium Eaters", "Sale of a Child Slave", etc.). In the canvas "Samarkand Zindan" V.V. Vereshchagin depicted an underground prison infested with bedbugs, in which prisoners who were eaten alive were buried. Every hour of their stay in this prison was cruel torture for them. And only the light falling from above, which dissolves in the evening darkness of the dungeon, connected the prisoners with life. The central place among the Turkestan paintings of V.V. Vereshchagin is occupied by battle paintings, which he combined into the “Barbarians” series. The final painting in this series is the world-famous painting “The Apotheosis of War”.

Among the hot steppe, under the burning rays of the sun, a pyramid of human skulls is depicted, around which crows hover. The picture reproduces one of the pyramids, which were repeatedly formed by order of Tamerlane from the heads of the peoples he conquered and exterminated. Such pyramids were also built in modern times - already on the orders of the Central Asian khans.

However, the painting by V.V. Vereshchagin is not so much of a concrete historical as of a symbolic nature. The canvas "Apotheosis of War" is an image of death, destruction, destruction. Its details: dead trees, a dilapidated deserted city, dried grass - all these are parts of one plot. Even the yellow color of the picture symbolizes dying, and the clear southern sky further emphasizes the deadness of everything around. Even such details as scars from saber strikes and bullet holes on the skulls of the “pyramid” express the idea of ​​the work even more clearly. To express it more fully, the artist explained this with the inscription on the frame: “Dedicated to all great conquerors: past, present and future.”

Continuing this idea of ​​the artist, the wonderful Russian critic V.V. Stasov wrote: “The point here is not only the skill with which Vereshchagin painted with his brushes the dry, burnt steppe and among it a pyramid of skulls, with crows fluttering around, looking for a piece of meat that had still survived, perhaps. No! Here something appeared in the picture more precious and higher than the extraordinary Vereshchagin virtuality of colors: this is the deep feeling of a historian and judge of humanity...

In Turkestan, Vereshchagin saw enough of death and corpses: but he did not become coarse and dull, the feeling did not extinguish in him, like most people who deal with war and murder. His compassion and love for humanity only grew and went deeper and wider. He did not begin to regret individual people, but looked at humanity and the history going back centuries - and his heart was filled with bile and indignation. That Tamerlane, whom everyone considers a monster and a disgrace to humanity, that the new Europe is all the same!”
See also: http://veresh.ru - biography, life and work of V. Vereshchagin. Gallery of paintings, memoirs of contemporaries and articles.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is one of the most famous Russian battle painters, which is not surprising, because he personally took part in many military campaigns and several major battles. In addition, Vasily Vasilyevich traveled quite a lot around Russia and Central Asia, where rather cruel morals have always reigned. And this was especially noticeable during times of uprisings, wars, riots and other bloody actions that required the obligatory death of many people. Vereshchagin was very impressed by the scale of bloodshed in Turkestan, where Russian troops, at that time, were “implanting democracy.”

The cruelty of the modern military and the legends about the cruelty of the military of the past, in particular - the legend about Tamerlane and his methods of suppressing uprisings. It was Tamerlane’s warriors who left behind pyramids of the severed heads of their enemies. In an effort to convey his own emotions, Vereshchagin created the painting “The Apotheosis of War,” the original title of which was dedicated precisely to the founder of the Timurid dynasty - “The Triumph of Tamerlane.” It is this work that, according to many experts, is Vereshchagin’s highest work, which in no way detracts from the merits of his other works. But Apotheosis of War is something special.

The painting was created by the artist as one work from the “Barbarians” series, but stands out from the rest of the paintings depicting warriors in peace and war, but alive. And “Apotheosis” is a real portrait of death, an illustration of war, its true essence. Many are surprised to learn that the painting was created in 1871. Vereshchagin was then only 29 years old, in fact, he was still quite a young man, but it was his youth and the experience he had accumulated by that time that apparently allowed him to write his opus magnum.

Hot steppe, clear blue sky covered in smoke or dust. The silence hanging there is almost palpable. Only the cawing of crows circling over a pyramid of human skulls, and the flapping of their wings. If not for the bullet marks, the painting could have been attributed to a completely different historical period. But no. “These are our contemporaries,” the author seems to want to say. In the distance is a destroyed city, charred trees. Yellowness, lifelessness and a certain surrealism of what is happening. And you look at all this, but not a single thought arises in your mind, you only remember all the wars that are going on right now, in different parts of the world. And the blue sky, usually pleasing to the eye, covered with an incomprehensible haze, begins to seem as cruel and indifferent as the desert spreading beneath it. And a terrible mountain of skulls, as a monument to human cruelty, ambition and stupidity.

It’s scary to watch, but it’s also impossible not to watch. Because this picture, being a work of art for us, sitting behind monitors in peaceful sleepy cities, is a reality for the inhabitants of Syria, Libya, Mexico, Iraq, Donbass, etc. And TV will never show you mountains of corpses the way Vasily Vereshchagin did, but the essence will not change. And the next time, turning on the news and listening about terrorists, separatists, rebels, militants and the “forces of peace and good” fighting them - remember this picture, because war always has the same result. And a bad peace is still better than a good war, no matter how you look at it.

"Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future", — Vasily Vereshchagin, caption for the painting “The Apotheosis of War.”

Oil/Canvas (1871)

Description

According to another version, the famous painting “The Apotheosis of War” was created by Vereshchagin under the impression...

The painting was painted in 1871. Initially, the painting was called “The Triumph of Tamerlane”, the idea was associated with Tamerlane, whose troops left such pyramids of skulls behind them, but the painting is not of a specific historical nature. According to history, one day the women of Baghdad and Damascus turned to Tamerlane, complaining about their husbands, mired in sins and debauchery. Then Tamerlane ordered each soldier from his 200,000-strong army to bring the severed head of their depraved husbands. After the order was carried out, 7 pyramids of heads were laid out.

According to another version, the famous painting “The Apotheosis of War” was created by Vereshchagin under the impression of a story about how the despot of Kashgar, Valikhan Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered his head to be placed on the top of a pyramid made from the skulls of other executed people. In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where he was an ensign under the Turkestan Governor-General Kaufman. Russia was then conquering Turkestan and Vereshchagin saw enough of death and corpses, which aroused compassion and philanthropy in him. The famous Turkestan series appeared in Turkestan, where Vereshchagin, a battle painter, depicted not only military operations, but also the nature and scenes of everyday life in Central Asia. And after a trip to Western China in 1869, where Bogdykhan’s troops mercilessly pacified the uprising of local Dungans and Uyghurs, the painting “The Apotheosis of War” appeared.

“The Apotheosis of War” is one of Vereshchagin’s most striking programmatic works. The painting depicts a pyramid of human skulls against the background of a destroyed city and charred trees, among the hot steppe; Crows hover around the pyramid. All the details of the picture, including the yellow color of the canvas, symbolize death and devastation. The clear blue sky emphasizes the deadness of the picture. The idea of ​​the “Apotheosis of War” is also clearly expressed by the scars from sabers and bullet holes on the skulls.

“Whatever war anyone starts, in any case it is a stupid desire to own the world and its resources” - V. Vereshchagin

From the time of Peter I to our times, a conventional list of “100 greatest Russian artists” has been formed in Russian painting. Of course, these figures are significantly underestimated, and it seems to me that the real list of great Russian artists is not so small, and certainly exceeds this magically verified hundred. But, apparently, it just so happened among real connoisseurs and pseudo-lovers of art that there must certainly be some kind of list in which some, taking into account their popularity, fall into, while others remain beyond the line of this immensely huge “greatness” (forgive the tautology).

To be fair, you need to understand that almost always only the most “popular” became great. That is, not those who are content with the sighs of an enthusiastic audience - “I’m in admiration!”, “Beautiful!”, “lovely, lovely!”, and not those who are recognized on the street, and not even those who gather crowds of onlookers at the first -second-rate exhibitions, and only those artists for whose work ardent collectors are ready to tear each other to pieces. It is here, at this stage, that the artist’s popularity begins. Only then does the transformation of a nameless and talented artist into “great” take place.

Speaking about great Russian artists, the brightest come to mind - Aivazovsky, Repin, Serov, Shishkin, Malevich, Vasnetsov, Vereshchagin and others no less influential and great... The creativity of each of them is invaluable and great.

But if we measure “greatness”, breaking it down into many components, then “among the worlds, in the twinkling luminaries of one Star, I repeat the name...” - Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin - “at one time the most popular person in all Russian art - not only in Russia, but throughout all over the world, which made not only St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also Berlin, Paris, London and America worry and get excited to the point of stupor" (A. Benoit)

“Vereshchagin is not just an artist, but something more,” wrote Kramskoy after the first acquaintance with his paintings, and a few years later he remarked: “Despite the interest of his painting collections, the author himself is a hundred times more interesting and instructive.”

In literature, this battle painter was Tolstoy (in War and Peace), and in painting - Vereshchagin. No, there were other famous and great ones - Roubaud, Grekov, Villevalde, Karazin, but it was with the advent of the pacifist Vasily Vereshchagin in painting that the world of war on canvas ceased to be a bright pink game, a war game in which polished and glossy soldiers frolicked at full speed.

From the memoirs of the Russian artist and art critic Alexander Benois:

“Before Vereshchagin, all the battle paintings that could be seen in our palaces, at exhibitions, in essence, depicted luxurious parades and maneuvers, among which a field marshal and his retinue raced on a magnificent horse. Here and there in these paintings, in very moderate numbers and certainly in beautiful poses, were scattered pro forma several clean dead. The very nature that surrounded these scenes was combed and smoothed in a way that in reality this could not be even on the quietest and calmest days, and at the same time, all such pictures and paintings were always executed in that sweet manner that was brought to us in the times of Nicholas the First Ladurner, Sauerweid and Raffe, who lived with us for some time. This rosy style was successfully adopted by all our home-grown battle painters (Timm, Kotzebue, Filippov, Gruzinsky, Villevalde, etc.), who wrote countless, very polished, very tasty and deadly monotonous battles.

Everyone was so accustomed to images of war exclusively in the form of an amusing, sleek and rosy holiday, some kind of fun with adventures, that it never occurred to anyone that in reality this was not how things looked. Tolstoy in his “Sevastopol” and in “War and Peace” destroyed these illusions, and Vereshchagin then repeated in painting what Tolstoy had done in literature.

Naturally, when, instead of the clean pictures of Villevalde, the Russian public saw the pictures of Vereshchagin, who suddenly so simply, cynically exposed the war and showed it as a dirty, disgusting, gloomy and colossal villainy, they screamed at the top of their lungs and began to hate and love such a daredevil with all their might..."

"Apotheosis of War", 1871

Vereshchagin is known to his contemporaries for “The Apotheosis of War” (1871). The artist's most famous masterpiece rests within the walls of the Tretyakov Gallery. There is also a note on the painting left by the artist on the frame: "Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future."

The power of this painting was such that one Prussian general advised Emperor Alexander II to “order all the artist’s war paintings to be burned, as having the most harmful influence.” And for more than thirty years, Russian state museums have not acquired a single painting by this “scandalous” artist.

The horror of war, depicted in detail, symbolizing death and devastation, contrary to the master’s wills, will forever remain only the brilliant canvas of a great pacifist artist. The idea itself is transparent, but not heard. And how many wars could be prevented through art, through the paintings of Vereshchagin alone. But you won’t meet the powers that be, modern conquerors stringing together their vision of a world without war in the Tretyakov Gallery.

“Some spread the idea of ​​peace with their fascinating words, others put forward various arguments in its defense - religious, political, economic, and I preach the same through colors,” said this stern, courageous and fearless man.

History of "Apotheosis"

Initially, the painting was called “The Triumph of Tamerlane”. The idea was connected with Tamerlane, whose troops left behind such pyramids of skulls, but the picture is not of a specific historical nature.

According to history, one day the women of Baghdad and Damascus turned to Tamerlane, complaining about their husbands, mired in sins and debauchery. Then he ordered each warrior from his 200,000-strong army to bring the severed head of their depraved husbands. After the order was carried out, seven pyramids of heads were laid out.

According to another version, the painting was created by Vereshchagin under the influence of a story about how the ruler of Kashgar, Valikhan Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered his head to be placed on the top of a pyramid made from the skulls of other executed people.

In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where he was an ensign under Governor General K. P. Kaufman. Russia was then conquering these lands, and Vereshchagin saw enough of death and corpses, which aroused compassion and philanthropy in him. This is where the famous “Turkestan Series” appeared, where the battle painter depicted not only military operations, but also the nature and scenes of everyday life in Central Asia. And after a trip to Western China in 1869, where Bogdykhan’s troops ruthlessly pacified the uprising of local Dungans and Uyghurs, the painting “The Apotheosis of War” appeared.

Inspired by the horror of war

The artist did not admire his paintings at all. His works are tragic in that O they tell the story, but not the way it is told. With the thirst of a scientist, researcher, historian, war reporter and only then an artist, he penetrated into the very heart of military operations. He was not just an observer, but a participant in the battles, being a courageous example of what a real war reporter - a battle painter - should be:

“To fulfill the goal that I set myself, namely: to give society pictures of a real, genuine war cannot be done by looking at the battle through binoculars from a beautiful distance, but you need to feel and do everything yourself, participate in attacks, assaults, victories, defeats, experience hunger, cold, illness, wounds... We must not be afraid to sacrifice our blood, our meat - otherwise my paintings will be “wrong.”

Vereshchagin received his baptism of fire at the age of 25, in Samarkand.

In 1867, he gladly accepted the invitation of the Turkestan Governor-General, General K. P. Kaufman, to be an artist with him. Arriving in Samarkand after its capture by Russian troops on May 2, 1868, Vereshchagin withstood a heavy siege of this city by rebel local residents with a handful of Russian soldiers. Vereshchagin's outstanding role in this defense earned him the Order of St. George, 4th class (August 14, 1868), which he wore with pride, although he generally denied any awards:

“During the eight-day siege of the Samarkand citadel by crowds of Bukharts, ensign Vereshchagin encouraged the garrison with a courageous example. When on June 3 the enemy in huge masses approached the gates and, rushing at the guns, had already occupied all the huts, Ensign Vereshchagin, despite the hail of stones and murderous rifle fire, rushed with a gun in his hands and captivated the brave defenders of the citadel with his heroic example.”

The artist returned from Samarkand in a depressed mood. The waning valor and demonstrated heroism gave way to disappointment and emptiness. From then on, from the siege of the Samarkand citadel, ideas about life and death, war and peace became the all-consuming meaning of most of the artist’s works, imbued with “the deep feeling of a historian and judge of humanity.” From now on, he has something to say, if only they would hear it.

But they didn’t want to hear. They saw, they saw, but they didn’t want to hear. Despite worldwide recognition and popularity, the artist was treated coolly in Russia, and after one of the exhibitions in St. Petersburg he was accused of anti-patriotism and sympathy for the enemy. Many of the paintings caused displeasure at the top. Thus, the President of the Academy of Arts, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, ordered the defiant signatures on the paintings to be replaced. And Emperor Alexander II, having surveyed the exhibition, said sadly: “All this is true, it all happened like that,” but did not want to see the author. Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the future peacemaker Emperor Alexander III, expressed his opinion about the artist:

“His constant tendentiousness is disgusting to national pride and one can conclude from them: either Vereshchagin is a brute or a completely crazy person.”

However, this did not prevent a month later the Imperial Academy of Arts from awarding Vereshchagin the title of professor, which Vereshchagin refused.

Vereshchagin was not afraid of the court's hostility. He wrote to his friend Stasov: “All this... shows that I am on a sound, unhypocritical path, which will be understood and appreciated in Russia.”

In 1871, Vereshchagin moved to Munich. In his desires to tell the world about the real horrors of war, he encountered no obstacles. He is greeted with standing ovations in Berlin, in the Crystal Palace of London, in Paris and other European cities. The exhibited paintings, emphasizing the absurdity and criminality of the war, caused a real storm of discussion, stirring up public opinion.

His popularity can be judged from the figures: his exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1880 was visited by 240 thousand people (in 40 days), in Berlin - 140 thousand people (in 65 days), in Vienna - 110 thousand (in 28 days ). Many modern pop stars have never dreamed of such fame.

Then Vereshchagin lived in India for almost two years, also traveling to Tibet. In the spring of 1876, the artist returned to Paris.

Having learned in the spring of 1877 about the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war, he immediately went into the active army and took part in some battles.

In June of the same year, he was seriously wounded: Vereshchagin asked to serve as an observer on board the destroyer Shutka, which was laying mines on the Danube. During an attack on a Turkish ship, they were fired upon by the Turks and a stray bullet pierced through the thigh.

“In anticipation that we were about to sink, I stood with one foot on the side; I hear a strong crash under me and a blow to my thigh, and what a blow! - like a butt.

The wound turned out to be serious; due to improper treatment, inflammation began and the first signs of gangrene appeared. He had to undergo surgery to open the wound, after which he quickly recovered.

The last war and the death of V.V. Vereshchagin

From 1882 to 1903 Vereshchagin travels a lot: India, Syria, Palestine, Pinega, Northern Dvina, Solovki, Crimea, Philippines, USA, Cuba, Japan, continuing to create, create, surprise.

And again humanity does not hear him. Another bloodshed is on the way. The Russo-Japanese War was the third and last in his life. Fit, slender, but already completely gray, the grandfather goes to the front again. The artist has only a few days left to live...

The memories of the journalist and part-time artist N.I. Kravchenko have reached us about the last day of Vasily Vereshchagin. :

“For Easter, I went from Mukden to Arthur. I drove for quite a long time, about forty hours, and when I arrived there, the train of Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was already there, which, when leaving, I saw in Mukden. We were obviously moved at night. Vasily Vasilyevich came from Russia on this train, and lived in it when the train was in Mukden.

In Arthur they told me that “Vereshchagin has arrived.” Then, they say, he often visited Admiral Makarov on the Petropavlovsk as an old good friend, as a comrade in arms.

The last time I saw Vasily Vasilyevich was on March 30. Sitting in the Saratov restaurant, I had breakfast and looked through the glass onto the street...

- Gentlemen, Vereshchagin is coming! - someone shouted.

And almost instantly all eyes turned to the slender, light figure of V.V., in a blue suit jacket, walking past with quick steps. His beautiful white beard shone silver in the rays of the hot sun. On his head was a lambskin cap.

He walked straight to the mailbox; you could see how he put a large package there, looked into the hole and then, with the same measured, calm step, walked back to the station.”

As it turned out, this was one of the artist’s letters to Emperor Nicholas II. But this became known much later. In his letters, Vereshchagin fears most of all that the tsar might decide to “have mercy” on Japan and make peace with her, “without punishing her completely.” To bring Japan to “humility”, to wash away the “insult” it had caused to the Tsar - this, in his opinion, is required by Russian prestige in Asia. He bombards the Tsar with advice on the immediate construction of cruisers, bridges, sending long-range cannons to Port Arthur, sending troops to the borders of India, etc. and so on. How the tsar reacted to the military advice of his civilian correspondent is unknown: there are no marks on the surviving original letters. According to historians, these letters clearly revealed not the pacifist sentiments of the aged patriotic artist, but rather the tsar’s call for toughness and steadfastness.

Memoirs of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich:

“Cloudy morning March 31st. At night, our destroyer “Strashny” was lost in an unequal struggle. This sad news was conveyed to us by the returning “Bayan”, who, under heavy fire, managed to save only five from the “Terrible” crew. Makarov could not come to terms with the idea that there, at the site of the death of the "Terrible", there could still be a few people left from the destroyer's crew, helplessly struggling with death. He wanted to make sure for himself, hoping to save his own, even with a fight... and “Bayan” was ordered to go forward to indicate the place of death of “Terrible”. Our squadron began to leave the harbor, and the Petropavlovsk, to which I moved with the headquarters of Admiral Makarov from the Diana, was already about 7 o’clock. went out to the outer roadstead in the morning; the remaining battleships were somewhat delayed in the internal roadstead.

The admiral's entire headquarters was on the bridge.

Soon the Bayan signaled that it had noticed the enemy, who, a little later, opened fire on the Bayan.

Admiral Makarov decided to go forward, and our detachment began to respond to enemy fire. As we approached, the Japanese turned and began to quickly move away. A little later, another enemy squadron appeared on the horizon. Seeing significantly superior enemy forces in front of him, Admiral Makarov decided to turn back to be closer to the coastal batteries. We turned and walked at a fast pace towards Arthur. The enemy stopped in some kind of indecision. Already under the protection of coastal batteries, Petropavlovsk slowed down, and the crew was released to have lunch; The officers began to disperse little by little. Those who remained on the bridge were: Admiral Makarov, the commander of the Petropavlovsk, Captain 1st Rank Yakovlev, Rear Admiral Mollas, Lieutenant Wulf, the artist Vereshchagin and me.

I stood with Vereshchagin on the right side of the bridge. Vereshchagin made sketches from the Japanese squadron and, talking about his participation in many campaigns, said with great confidence that he was deeply convinced that where he was, nothing could happen there.

Suddenly there was an incredible explosion... The battleship shuddered, and a terrible jet of hot, suffocating gas burned my face. The air was filled with a heavy, acrid smell, as it seemed to me - the smell of our gunpowder. Seeing that the battleship was quickly listing to starboard, I instantly ran to the left side... On the way, I had to jump over the corpse of Admiral Mollas, who lay with a bloody head next to the corpses of two signalmen. Jumping over the railing, I jumped onto the bow 12″ tower. I clearly saw and realized that there had been an explosion in our cellars, that the battleship was dying... The entire starboard side was already in breakers, water was noisily flooding the battleship in a huge wave... and the Petropavlovsk, moving forward, quickly plunged its nose into the depths of the sea.

At the first moment I had the desire to jump from the tower onto the deck, but, realizing that I could break my legs, I quickly lowered myself on my hands, holding onto the upper edge of the tower, and threw myself into the water ... "

That day, Nicholas II’s cousin, Prince Kirill, and about 80 other people were rescued. The rest - more than 650 people - are still considered missing.

The death of Petropavlovsk had an extremely negative impact on the combat activities of the Pacific squadron. This tragedy shocked not only Russia, but the whole world. Indeed, along with the death of the talented leader and organizer of the defense of Port Arthur, Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, one of the greatest artists of the Russian Empire, who adamantly praised life outside of war and world peace, also died.

Facts about Vasily Vereshchagin

In America, he was offered honorary citizenship and dreamed that he would become the founder of the American school of painting.

With his first wife, Vereshchagin undertook an ascent to the Himalayas. They then climbed very high without any equipment, the accompanying ones fell behind, and the young couple had to spend a cold night, they almost died. The British, by the way, were very frightened by this Vereshchagin journey. They believed that he, as a scout, sketched military paths. The newspapers then wrote that Vereshchagin was paving the way for Russian bayonets with a brush.

In France, Vereshchagin met the battle painter Meissonnier. He talked about working on the painting “Napoleon in 1814.” To paint a war-damaged road from life, the artist covered a special platform with a layer of clay, drove a fake cannon on wheels along it several times, made horse footprints with a horseshoe, and sprinkled everything with flour and salt to create the impression of shiny snow. “How do you solve such problems, Monsieur Vereshchagin?” - he asked. “I don’t have such problems,” Vereshchagin replied. “In Russia, in peacetime, it’s enough to take any road, and it will turn out to be rutted and impassable, just like after a battle.”

In everyday life, Vereshchagin was a difficult person. Everything in the house was subject to his schedule. At 5-6 o'clock in the morning the artist was already in the studio. No one was allowed to go there - a tray with breakfast was pushed through the slightly open door. If the plates clinked, he immediately lost his temper. He had a fantastic performance. They gossiped that Vereshchagin had slaves sitting in his basements and drawing for him.

He was an idealist both in life and in work. I didn’t lie myself and criticized others for it. About Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” Vereshchagin writes: “How can you paint Palestine, sitting in Italy, without seeing this sun, the reflection of this haze from the earth? We all know that John the Baptist did not wash, did not cut his hair, did not scratch his beard for 30 years. And we see a handsome man with washed curls, with aristocratic fingers...”

For excessive realism, for the fact that Vereshchagin portrayed Jesus Christ as a historical character, our Church banned the import of a series of his gospel works into Russia. And the Archbishop of Vienna cursed the artist and forbade the residents of Vienna to attend his exhibition. But this only sparked interest. When Vereshchagin showed these paintings in America, the impresario compiled the documents in such a way that the entire series began to belong to him. In 2007, one of the paintings, “The Western Wall,” was sold at auction for $3 million 624 thousand.

A document drawn up in bad faith, according to which all rights to the rarest paintings by Vereshchagin were transferred to the rogue impresario who organized his exhibition in America, has not yet been challenged by his historical homeland!

The artist Metelitsa was supposed to sail on that battleship. He is ill. And Makarov, an old friend from the cadet corps, invited Vereshchagin to go on a campaign. The exploded ship sank to the bottom in 2 minutes.

There are no remains of the artist, nor is there a monument at the site of his death. By an evil irony of fate, the graves of all of Vereshchagin’s relatives also disappeared under the water of the Rybinsk Reservoir when the land flooding program was adopted.

The hero of the film “White Sun of the Desert” Pavel Vereshchagin at the end of the film leads a longboat that explodes. However, there is no information about whether the customs officer received such a surname from the directors and screenwriters of the film on purpose, or whether it was just a coincidence.

For a long time, the artist harbored the idea of ​​painting a large series of paintings dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812, for which he studied archival materials and visited battle sites. “I had one goal,” he wrote, “to show in the paintings of the twelfth year the great national spirit of the Russian people, their dedication and heroism...” So, in memory of this event, some of Vereshchagin’s most famous paintings were born: “Napoleon and Marshal Lauriston”, “Before Moscow awaiting the deputation of the boyars”, “Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights”, etc.

The hero of Dreiser's novel "Genius", the artist Eugene, was strongly influenced by Vereshchagin. “Throughout his entire subsequent life, the name of Vereshchagin continued to serve as a huge stimulus for his imagination. If it’s worth being an artist, then only this one.”

V.V. Vereshchagin wrote about twenty books: “Essays on a trip to the Himalayas”, “On the Northern Dvina. On wooden churches”, “Dukhobors and Molokans in Transcaucasia”, “At war in Asia and Europe”, “Writer”, articles “Realism” and “On progress in art”.

Upon learning of Vereshchagin’s death, St. Petersburg Vedomosti was one of the first to publish a short appeal:

“The whole world shuddered at the news of the tragic death of V. Vereshchagin, and friends of the world say with heartache: “one of the most ardent champions of the idea of ​​peace has gone to his grave.” All of Russia mourns Makarov; Vereshchagina is mourned by the whole world".

One of Vereshchagin’s last works:

“I have loved the sun all my life and wanted to paint the sun. And after I had to experience the war and say my word about it, I was glad that I could again devote myself to the sun. But the fury of war haunts me again and again.”

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APOTHEOSIS OF WAR

Vasily Vereshchagin

“Some spread the idea of ​​peace with their fascinating words, others put forward various arguments in its defense - religious, political, economic, and I preach the same through colors,” said this stern, courageous and fearless man. He, the Knight of St. George, a participant in several wars of the second half of the 20th century, was disgusted by the “beautiful” description of battles with battalions of soldiers in brand new uniforms and with shiny bayonets at the ready, with dashing victorious generals prancing on thoroughbred horses.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin’s noble service to humanity lies precisely in the fact that he debunked this beautiful bravura by actually demonstrating the bloody essence of war. The power of his painting was such that one Prussian general advised Emperor Alexander II to “order all the artist’s war paintings to be burned, as having the most harmful influence.”

In the middle of the 19th century, Central Asia was the subject of the predatory desires of the British, who were preparing to seize Turkestan. Its annexation to Russia saved these peoples from the sad fate of the colonial slaves of England, but at the same time, Russian tsarism also waged war here. V.V. Vereshchagin went to Turkestan without any prejudice towards the war. He was interested in new countries, new peoples, but soon he himself had to participate in the war.

V.V. Vereshchagin was an ensign “attached to the Turkestan governor-general, wore civilian clothes and enjoyed the freedom of action and movement necessary to sketch and write what he saw. Until the spring of 1862, he tirelessly sketched nature, folk types, and scenes of everyday life in Central Asia.” Subsequently, the artist combined all his Turkestan paintings (along with sketches) into a series in order to enhance their ideological impact on the viewer. Following one after another, these paintings unfolded the entire plot before the viewer (“Beggars in Samarkand”, “Opium Eaters”, “Sale of a Slave Child”, etc.). In the canvas “Samarkand Zindan” by V.V. Vereshchagin depicted an underground prison infested with bedbugs, in which prisoners who were eaten alive were buried. Every hour of their stay in this prison was cruel torture for them. And only the light falling from above, which dissolves in the evening darkness of the dungeon, connected the prisoners with life.

The central place among the Turkestan paintings of V.V. Vereshchagin is occupied by battle paintings, which he combined into the “Barbarians” series. The final painting in this series is the world-famous painting “The Apotheosis of War”.

Among the hot steppe, under the burning rays of the sun, a pyramid of human skulls is depicted, around which crows hover. The picture reproduces one of the pyramids, which were repeatedly formed by order of Tamerlane from the heads of the peoples he conquered and exterminated. Such pyramids were also built in modern times - already on the orders of the Central Asian khans.

However, the painting by V.V. Vereshchagin is not so much of a concrete historical nature as of a symbolic one. The canvas “Apotheosis of War” is an image of death, destruction, destruction. Its details: dead trees, a dilapidated deserted city, dried grass - all these are parts of one plot. Even the yellow color of the picture symbolizes dying, and the clear southern sky further emphasizes the deadness of everything around. Even details such as scars from saber strikes and bullet holes on the skulls of the “pyramid” express the idea of ​​the work even more clearly. To express it more fully, the artist explained this with the inscription on the frame: “Dedicated to all great conquerors: past, present and future.”

Continuing this idea of ​​the artist, the wonderful Russian critic V.V. Stasov wrote: “The point here is not only the skill with which Vereshchagin painted with his brushes the dry, burnt steppe and among it a pyramid of skulls, with crows fluttering around, looking for a still surviving, maybe maybe a piece of meat. No! Here something more precious and higher appeared in the picture than Vereshchagin’s extraordinary virtuosity of colors: this deep feeling of a historian and judge of humanity... In Turkestan, Vereshchagin saw enough of death and corpses, but he did not become coarse or dull, the feeling did not extinguish in him, like most people dealing with war and murder. His compassion and love for humanity only grew and went deeper and wider. He did not begin to regret individual people, but looked at humanity and the history going back centuries - and his heart was filled with bile and indignation. That Tamerlane, whom everyone considers a monster and a disgrace to humanity, that the new Europe is all the same!”