Artist: Александр Николаевич Бенуа [Alexander Benois] (Russian, 1870–1960)
Place/Date: Kapsel [КАПСЕЛЬ], early 20th century (c. 1920)
Medium: Lithograph in black on wove paper (copy)
Dimensions: stone 285 × 364 mm; sheet 338 × 478 mm
Dedicatee: Дмитрий Сергеевич Мережковский [Dmitry Merezhkovsky] (Russian, 1865–1941)
Note: "The Bronze Horseman" – a poem by Alexander Pushkin, written in 1833 about the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg and the flood of 1824.
Inscriptions:
– Left: Александр Бенуа (artist’s signature).
– Centre: тов. Д. С. Мережковскому.
– Right: КАПСЕЛЬ [РМ] (Русский Музей, L.2100); number 6847 or 6547. Note: Kapsel (Капсель) — a village near Sudak (Судак), Crimea, Ukraine.
Description: View of the Bronze Horseman monument within its railings on Senate Square; dramatic sky; in the foreground, Eugene threatens the statue with his fist; bold border framing the scene. In the 1923 edition, the following stanza accompanies the image:
Вскипела кровь. Он мрачен стал
Пред горделивым истуканом
И, зубы стиснув, пальцы сжав,
Как обуянный силой черной,
«Добро, строитель чудотворный!
English translation (literal):
His blood boiled. He grew grim
Before the proud idol,
And, teeth clenched, fingers tight,
As if possessed by a dark power,
“Very well, miraculous builder!”
Additional Information
| Collection | European prints and drawings |
|---|---|
| Type / Purpose | Print , Works on paper |
| Period | 20 AD , Early 20th century |
| Country | Russia , Russian Empire |
| Media/Technique | Lithography , Paper , Photomechanical , Wove paper |
| Genre | Literary Prints |
| Subject | Book illustration , Bronze Horseman (Saint Petersburg, Russia) , Lithography , Russia , Russian art , Russian poetry , Saint Petersburg [Санкт-Петербург] , St. Petersburg (Russia) , The Bronze Horseman (poem) , Works on paper , Медный всадник (поэма) , Пушкин, Александр Сергеевич [Pushkin, Alexander] (Russian, 1799–1837) |
| Creation / Publishing year | Unknown |
| Acquisition year | 2019 |
