What did Moscow look like before the fire of 1812? Alekseev’s paintings
Artist Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev (1753-1824)
At the beginning of the 19th century, on the personal instructions of the Russian Emperor Paul I, the famous Russian artist, “an excellent perspectivist”, as they said then, and the founder of the Russian school of urban landscape Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev, “in order to write off” the Mother See as a keepsake for future generations, arrived in Moscow.
This was due, in particular, to the fact that the territory of the Kremlin at that time was cleared of old structures, in the place of which new squares arose or new buildings were erected, for example, the building of the Armory .
Alekseev F.Ya. the Red Square
Alekseev stayed in Moscow for about a year and a half, having made many sketches during this time, on the basis of which, already in St. Petersburg, he wrote canvases.
It should be noted that the works of the Russian painter were in great, if not huge, demand. He painted some of the most popular canvases for clients not once (“The Red Porch”, “The Savior Behind the Golden Bars” and especially “View of the Kremlin” from the side of the Stone Bridge).
View of the Kremlin and Bolshoi Kamenny Bridge
We were surprised by the prices for his paintings!
So, if the cost of a landscape painting was quite decent at that time was about 200 rubles, then Alekseev took several times more for his canvases. So, “View of the Kremlin” was sold to the British for 2800, and for the “Kremlin” the Russian Emperor Alexander I paid … 3000!
Vladimirsky (Nikolsky) gates of Kitay-gorod
Before viewing the paintings – the landscapes of Moscow at the beginning of the 19th century – we note that Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev did not paint pictures with strict accuracy, and therefore the objects displayed in the paintings may be deprived of their actual proportions.
And yet, looking at his work – the views of old Moscow – is a pleasure!https:
Resurrection Gate , Neglinny Bridge and Nikolsky Gate of the Kremlin from Tverskaya Street
Panorama with the Church of the Grebnevskaya Mother of God and the Vladimir Gate of Kitay-Gorod from the Lubyanka
Boyarskaya ground with Bed porch and the Church of the Savior behind the Golden bars in the Kremlin
View of the Senate , Arsenal and Nikolsky Gate
Troitskaya and Kutafya towers of the Moscow Kremlin. On the right side – the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapozhka
Military hospital in Lefortovo
Tsaritsyno . Panoramic view
Kolomenskoye . Panoramic view
Cathedral Square. Cathedral of the Assumption and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great
Church of Nikola Big Cross on Ilyinka
Ivan the Great belltower
View of St. Basil’s Cathedral from Moskvoretskaya Street
Square in front of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin
View of the Orphanage and the Kremlin
View from the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin
The old Triumphal Arch on Strastnaya Square (on the right is the building where the Eliseevsky store will be located in the future )
Terem Palace and the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor
View of the Iberian Gate
Spassky Gate and Ascension Monastery
Thanks to these works of the artist Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev, we can imagine Moscow as it was before the fire of 1812 .
