Klodt's horses in the Moscow urban environment April 18th, 2018
Moscow also has its own Klodt horses! The sculptures “Dioscuri Taming Horses” at the beginning of Begovaya Alley are exact copies of the famous works of Pyotr Klodt on the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg. The Moscow “Horse Tamers” were made in 1899 by the grandson of the famous sculptor (K.A. Klodt, S.M. Volnukhin based on sketches by P.K. Klodt).
For the first time, Klodt’s sculptures “Dioscuri Taming Horses” appeared on the St. Petersburg Anichkov Bridge in 1841, and Moscow copies on Begovaya Alley copy the first two sculptures looking at the Admiralty.
The sculptures were installed at the beginning of Begovaya Alley and symbolized the central entrance to the Moscow Hippodrome from the St. Petersburg, and now Leningradskoye, highway.
Previously, this entrance looked more solemn thanks to the wrought-iron gates at the intersection with the highway. The forged gates themselves have long since disappeared into time, but the sculptures still stand.
Photo: oldmos.ru
The beautiful wrought-iron gates at the entrance to Begovaya Alley disappeared around the 1960s, and this is what the entrance looked like back in 1936.
Photo: oldmos.ru
But it is not the only change in the urban ensemble of this place. Public protests did not prevent the demolition of the Young Pioneers stadium and the construction of a multifunctional residential complex.
And now he creates his own rhythmic background for the right sculpture.
Two houses from which Begovaya Alley begins and built already in Soviet time, are quite interesting from an architectural point of view. On the right stands the House of Aviators (Begovaya Street, 34) - an experimental house on forty supports, hence its other name - “centipede house”.
Its most unusual detail is the absence of a ground floor, instead of which there are 40 reinforced concrete supports. Built by architect Andrei Meyerson in 1978 as a hotel for the future Olympics-80, however, it was inhabited by workers of the Znamya Truda aviation plant.
The construction of the house according to the original project was planned on the shore of the Khimki Reservoir, not far from the Vodny Stadion metro station. But for the Olympics, the futuristic house was ordered to be placed on Begovaya, the main entrance to Moscow. Along with its location, the house lost 3 floors from the original design, which were not completed for technological reasons.
The idea of a centipede house is largely associated with the work of the architect Le Corbusier. In 1930, Corbusier admired the Narkomfin house, and since the early 1950s, the whole world has taken as a model the house - the “Dwelling Unit”, which Corbusier himself built in Marseille. There are several “houses on legs” in Moscow, but the closest to the prototype is the house of Andrei Meyerson.
Photo: fondationlecorbusier.fr
The house is close to the Marseilles in proportions and is raised in the same way on sloping supports bearing traces of rough wooden formwork, which Le Corbusier was also very fond of.
On the other side of Begovaya Alley there is another famous house - the so-called “Azhurny”, built in 1940 from large blocks according to the design of architects A.K. Burova and B.N. Blokhin, engineers A.I. Kucherova and G.B. Karmanova. This house is one of the first residential buildings made from large prefabricated concrete blocks. WITH right side The dimensions of the house are limited by Begovaya Alley, with the left one being Skakovaya Alley, which also leads to the Moscow Hippodrome.
The facades of the building are made of standard blocks of two varieties: some, in the form of pilasters, are covered with a gray marble finish with round relief medallions in the upper part, others, enclosing the space of the loggias, are openwork decorative grilles. On the front facade, openwork blocks are grouped in twos, which enriches the composition of the building. Most of the window openings are designed as French balconies, closed at the bottom with thin, forward-curved wrought-iron railings
Decorative blocks were made according to sketches by artist V.A. Favorsky.
Another building with which the architects linked the openwork residential building in scale and style was the building of the former Yar restaurant, rebuilt in the late 1930s as the Pilots' Club.
The club building also had to face the designed square, in the center of which they planned to erect a large building - the architectural dominant of the ensemble. This didn't happen, but interesting architectural ensemble still worked out.
They say that in the cultural capital of Russia there are only about 800 bridges spanning many rivers and rivulets, streams, lakes, ponds and artificial reservoirs. Each of them has its own story. But according to the number of frank facts, beautiful stories, legends, myths, folk tales and anecdotes, from all this huge number of bridges, only a few dozen can be distinguished. Among them there is a small but very famous Anichkov Bridge.
It is located at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the Fontanka River. He is depicted in many paintings, postcards, and engravings. Its main feature is the famous sculptures “Horse Tamers”. This best work sculptor P.K. Klodt, who brought him world fame. There are about 30 “horses” in St. Petersburg in total, and 11 of them are the work of the sculptor Klodt.
The bridge was named in honor of engineer-lieutenant colonel Mikhail Anichkov. It was his battalions that had the honor of erecting this structure on the orders of Peter I himself. But the inventors of St. Petersburg fell in love with the name “Anichk in bridge” - naturally, no Anechka or Anya is mentioned in the pedigree of the structure, but it sounds no less beautiful and mysterious.
Anichkov Bridge in the 19th century Over time, the bridge was rebuilt several times. During the years of reconstruction of the Anichkov Bridge, sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt, who was already the head of the academic foundry, worked on one of the projects for the artistic design of the pier on the Neva embankment, opposite the Academy of Arts. Then they were going to decorate it with sculptural groups of horses led by young men, like those that decorate the entrance to the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
"Horses of Marly" at the Place de la Concorde, Paris But plans have changed. Sphinxes brought to St. Petersburg from ancient capital Egypt city of Thebes in the spring of 1832. The figures of the sphinxes were carved in the 13th century BC. e. Their faces are portrait images of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
Egyptian Bridge, 1896, Photo: F. Kratký Klodt's horses seemed to be out of work. And the sculptor proposes to install his horses on the rebuilt Anichkov Bridge.
In the fall of 1841 the first pair of horses was installed - on west side bridge, from the side of the Anichkov Palace, and plaster copies of them stood opposite.
Twice Klodt cast bronze compositions for east side, and twice soon after installation they were removed from their pedestals to be presented to European monarchs.
The first copies went to Berlin in 1843. It was an exchange of gifts between relatives: Frederick William IV ascended the Prussian throne, brother Princess Frederica-Louise-Charlotte, who became the wife of Nicholas I, Alexandra Feodorovna. Here they are - Klodt’s horses in their original place royal castle in Berlin. Later they were moved to Kleist Park.
1860 And in 1846, the horses were removed from the pedestal and presented to the King of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II of Bourbon. 30 years were celebrated since the restoration of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; however, they used to say that this was rather a sign of gratitude: shortly before this, the empress traveled to Italy to improve her health, and the Neapolitan tyrant gave her a luxurious reception. Here they are - Klodt’s well-known bronze horses and young men at the gates of the royal palace in Naples.
Photo: honestlil.livejournal.com As a result, Klodt refuses to install copies on the eastern abutments of the Anichkov Bridge and decides to create two new original compositions, in development of the planned plot of “The Taming of the Horse.” In 1850, this grandiose plan was completely completed.
The public was delighted, Nicholas I was pleased.
During the ceremony on the occasion of the grand opening of the bridge, the emperor, who, as is known, was not known for the sophistication of his expressions, loudly declared with soldierly spontaneity, slapping the sculptor on the shoulder:
“You, Klodt, make horses better than a stallion,” such a dubious compliment to the proud Frenchman cost the emperor very dearly, but he will never know about it. Baron Peter Klodt turned out to be extremely vindictive...
Years passed, and it was he, Klodt, who was tasked with creating a statue of the emperor, who had already died by that time. Of course, the monument had to be equestrian. The maestro did his job superbly: his rider even surpassed the “copper” one, because the horse under Nikolai rests on only two points of support! No one in the world could have created this before Klodt.
Photo: fiesta.city However, remembering previous grievances, the sculptor still took revenge on the monarch: on Nicholas’s neck he wrote Russian word of three letters, which everyone in Russia knows. This inscription is still alive. Take my word for it - you don’t need to climb the monument.
Probably, it was not only Klodt who was annoyed by the deceased Nicholas I. The day after the opening of the monument, a certain wit hung a board on the bend of the horse’s front right leg. On it was written in bright paint: “You won’t catch up.” All St. Petersburg residents understood the inscription: if it weren’t for the bulk of St. Isaac’s, Nicholas would have been looking at the back of Great Peter’s head. It is not for nothing that later St. Petersburg folklore was replenished with the saying “A fool catches up with a smart man, but Isaac gets in the way.”
By the way, dealing with enemies through his sculptures was not new for Pyotr Ivanovich Klodt. Walking across the Anichkov Bridge, pay attention once again to Klodt’s horses: an ardent anti-Bonapartist, the sculptor, in his spirit, “pricked” the “frantic Corsican” by minting a Napoleonic profile between the legs of one of the horses. According to another version, this is the face of his wife’s lover.
St. Petersburg residents used to have a riddle about the Anichkov Bridge: how many eggs are there on the bridge? Now they answer - 16, and before 1917 they answered - 18, because a policeman was on duty there around the clock. And during the anti-alcohol campaign, Gorby said that in the whole city there are only 4 men who don’t drink - they have their hands full, they hold their horses.
About the sculptor
Pyotr Karlovich Klodt Pyotr Karlovich Klodt is a Russian sculptor from the baronial family of Klodt von Jurgensburg.
Pyotr Klodt came from a poor background ancient family. He started his career at military service. But soon Klodt became interested in the art of sculpting, and, after graduating from artillery school, the young man entered the Academy of Arts. The sculptor was obsessed with creativity. His contemporaries recalled that Klodt constantly observed horses, their poses and movements, trying to convey in sculpture all the beauty of the animals to “flawless accuracy.”
Over time, Klodt's talent was highly appreciated in the world. The sculptor was elected to the Academies of Arts in Paris, Berlin and Rome. But success did not go to his head - until the end of his days, Klodt remained a modest and selfless man, distributing his income to needy people. There is still a legend about his death: supposedly unkind people told the sculptor that the two stallions in his compositions did not have tongues. This message saddened Klodt so much that he became seriously ill and soon died.
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IN early XVIII century, the St. Petersburg Fontanka River was called the Nameless Erik. And yours modern name she received it after laying pipes through it for the fountains of the Summer Garden. In those days, the widely flooded river was a serious obstacle for horse-drawn transport and pedestrians. St. Petersburg, which was under construction, urgently needed a bridge.
In 1715, Peter I issued a decree on the construction of a permanent crossing across the river, for which 50 rubles were allocated from the treasury. And soon a wooden flooring 150 meters long appeared in the place chosen by Peter. The supports were covered with simple boards and stylized as stone. Led construction work lieutenant colonel engineering troops Mikhail Anichkov, whose surname is forever entrenched in the name of the bridge. To allow ships to pass under the bridge, the crossing was equipped with removable wooden shields, which were lifted and returned to place manually.
There was an outpost in front of the Anichkov Bridge; today in its place there is a building at number 66 on Nevsky Prospekt. The bridge was blocked by a barrier, and money was charged for crossing it. Stones were also accepted as payment - they were necessary for paving city streets. After sunset, only nobles could enter the city via the bridge. The passage was closed to people of humble origin until dawn.
In 1718, the Persian padishah presented Catherine I with horses and nine elephants as a gift, and the Anichkov Bridge had to be significantly strengthened for the passage of animals.
In 1721, the crossing was rebuilt again - now it central part lifted with chains and lever mechanism. At night, the bridge remained open - this is how St. Petersburg defended itself from wolves, which often ran into the city outskirts in those days.
In the 80s years XVIII century, the old bridge was demolished, and an improved structure was erected in its place: the side spans of the new crossing were lined with stone, and the middle, wooden part was raised with a special device with the participation of only two people. The design of the structure was standard; 7 more bridges located on the Fontanka were similar.
In the 40s years XIX century, the load on the bridge increased significantly, it became too narrow for Nevsky Prospect, and its wooden structures rotted in the humid St. Petersburg climate. In 1841, the building was completely reconstructed. The crossing was built of brick, the lifting parts were dismantled - now ships could pass under high spans. To increase the roadway, bulky towers were removed from the bridge, which interfered with the ever-increasing traffic of horse-drawn carriages. The crossing was fenced with a decorative grille with figures of mermaids-horses and mermaids-women. Identical images can be seen on the railing of the Palace Bridge in Berlin.
It was planned to decorate the crossing with large flowerpots, for which pedestals were installed. But instead of vases, sculptures created by the St. Petersburg sculptor Pyotr Karlovich Klodt appeared on the bridge: “A Horse with a Walking Young Man” and “A Young Man Taking a Horse by the Bridle.” Bronze figures were installed on one side of the bridge, and their plaster twins, painted in bronze, were placed on the opposite edge. The plaster figures were supposed to be replaced with bronze ones, but when the sculptures were ready, Nicholas I donated them to the Prussian king. Several times Klodt created new statues, and each time Russian Emperor presented them to some European monarch. A few years later, the sculptor decided to put an end to copying and made new compositions, united by one storyline- taming the horse, the victory of man over wild power.
St. Petersburg residents enthusiastically accepted Klodt's creations. The press vied with each other to praise the talented sculptor. The sculptor received the praise and attention of the Tsar himself - in 1841, shortly after the ceremony in honor of the opening of the bridge, Nicholas I awarded Klodt the Order of St. Anne of the third degree.
At the same time, the well-known frivolous nickname for the crossing was born - “Bridge of Eighteen Eggs”. When counting the elements of the male reproductive organ The policeman, whose post was located on the bridge until 1917, was also taken into account.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge was deformed in many places and urgent reconstruction was required. In 1908, the crossing was rebuilt, completely preserving it. appearance. After repairs, a sign with the inscription “Anichkin Bridge” was attached to one of the supports. The descendants of Mikhail Anichkov pointed out to the city authorities the incorrect spelling of the surname of their famous ancestor and demanded that the mistake be corrected. Officials from the City Duma found necessary documents in the archives and soon restored historical justice.
During the Great Patriotic War it was necessary to protect the famous horses from shelling. The figures were dismantled, placed in wooden boxes and buried in the garden of the Anichkov Palace. Instead of statues, they placed boxes with soil in which residents of besieged Leningrad grew grass. The sculptures were saved - in November 1942, a huge bomb exploded on the bridge, and if the sculptures had been in their place, they would have been destroyed. The blast wave washed a cast-iron grate and pedestals supporting the railing into the Fontanka. The pedestals were seriously damaged by the shelling - large pieces of granite were torn out of them.
Even before the end of the war, a new lattice was cast and installed, and in May 1945, after lying in the ground for 3 years, the equestrian sculptures returned to their usual places. On one of the pedestals, a shell mark is preserved as a reminder of the war.
From the time of their creation until the end of the 20th century, the sculptures were never repaired. And the significantly increased number of cars has had a catastrophic effect on their condition. In the 70s of the last century, the bronze of the sculptures began to deteriorate, but the restoration methods used at that time did not bring any tangible results. The problem was returned to in 2000. For 10 months, the Anichkov Bridge was orphaned - the sculptures were transported to the workshop for restoration work. Thanks to new technique, which renews bronze and protects it from corrosion, restorers managed to return the sculptures to their original appearance. The horses again acquired an olive color - the color of cleared bronze - this is exactly how Klodt created them.
After restoration, the figures grew slightly due to the increase in supporting structures. To prevent the sculptures from touching the electrical wires, the route for delivering them to the bridge had to be changed. For safety, pink caps were placed on the horses' heads. The transportation of the sculptures took place late at night, but despite this, thousands of townspeople came to welcome the return of their beloved horses to their rightful place.
Repairs to the bridge railings had been completed a decade earlier. Exact copies of the fences were made at the Nuclear Center of Snezhinsk Chelyabinsk region, - if you look closely at the lattice, you can see the emblem of the enterprise on it - a composition of a snowflake and a nucleus with protons.
Sculptures
The first sculptural group of the Anichkov Bridge depicts a waterman thrown to the ground (that’s the name of the man in the composition), and a horse rearing over him. The enraged stallion threw off his blanket, his hooves hovering dangerously above the head of the young man, who could hardly hold the unruly animal.
The second composition depicts a waterman who managed to rise to one knee and throw a blanket on his horse. The man manages to rein in the stallion, which is eager to be released.
In the third group, the man rose from his knees; he no longer needed too much great effort in order to restrain a heated animal.
The fourth composition is the calmest - the stallion is tamed, he obeys the driver and allows himself to be covered with a blanket.
The sculptor emphasized the stages of conquering the horse with “talking” details: in the first two groups, depicting a still wild animal, there are no horseshoes on the stallion’s hooves yet, but in the following compositions they have already appeared.
On one of the pedestals there is a bronze plaque with the inscription: “Sculpted and cast by Baron Peter Klodt in 1841.”
Sculptural composition of Anichkov BridgeAbout the sculptor
Pyotr Karlovich Klodt - Russian sculptor from the baronial family Klodt von JurgensburgPyotr Klodt came from a poor ancient family. He began his career in military service. But soon Klodt became interested in the art of sculpting, and, after graduating from artillery school, the young man entered the Academy of Arts. The sculptor was obsessed with creativity. His contemporaries recalled that Klodt constantly observed horses, their poses and movements, trying to convey in sculpture all the beauty of the animals to “flawless accuracy.”
Over time, Klodt's talent was highly appreciated in the world. The sculptor was elected to the Academies of Arts in Paris, Berlin and Rome. But success did not go to his head - until the end of his days, Klodt remained a modest and selfless man, distributing his income to needy people. There is still a legend about his death: supposedly unkind people told the sculptor that the two stallions in his compositions did not have tongues. This message saddened Klodt so much that he became seriously ill and soon died.
In addition to the famous horses on the Anichkov Bridge, the sculptor’s authorship includes: a monument to Nicholas I St. Isaac's Cathedral, famous for that that it was the first equestrian monument in the world to rest on just two fulcrums; Apollo's quadriga decorating the building Bolshoi Theater in Moscow; monument to fabulist Ivan Krylov in the Summer Garden of St. Petersburg.
Anichkov Bridge in winter
Klodt sculpted horses from life - the purebred Arabian horse Amalatbek posed for him. The stallion was wild and unruly, but the sculptor was able to ride him. Klodt was helped in his work by his daughter, who forced the horse to take the necessary poses.
Face on horse genitalsThe outlines of the intimate organs of one of the stallions surprisingly resemble human face. According to one version of this coincidence, the sculptor thus took revenge on some of his ill-wisher. According to another opinion, the contours of the horse’s genitals reproduce the face of Napoleon, who not so long ago passed through Russian soil in a devastating war.
After each reconstruction, the city authorities tried to assign the name “Nevsky Prospekt” to the bridge, but it did not take root.
During the Great Patriotic War, fascist propaganda spread photomontage - German soldiers standing by Klodt's horses. With their provocative poster, the Nazis wanted to make the whole world believe that Leningrad had supposedly already been captured.
Fragment of sculptureInside the figures located near the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, the masters who carried out the restoration in 2000 placed a copper capsule. The capsule contains a list of all participants in the restoration work with the caption: “We did everything we could. Whoever can, do better.”
Horses Marley in ParisGuests of St. Petersburg, thinking that the bridge is connected with a certain Anichka, mispronounce the name of the bridge, placing emphasis on the first letter in the word “Anichkov”. It is correct to say - AnIchkov, making the second syllable stressed.
During Prohibition, introduced in the USSR in the 80s of the last century, the following saying was born: “Only four people in St. Petersburg do not drink, they have no time - they keep horses.”
Similar compositions decorate the entrance to the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Nowadays, the length of the Anichkov Bridge is 54.6 meters, the width is almost 40 meters.
How to get there
From metro stations " Gostiny Dvor"or "Nevsky Prospekt" you need to walk along the avenue in the direction of increasing the numbering of houses. From the Mayakovskaya or Ploshchad Vosstaniya stations you need to move in the direction of decreasing numbering.
Not far from the Anichkov Bridge you can see the following attractions: Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Anichkov Palace, Summer garden, Russian Museum, Chizhik-Pyzhik sculpture, Fountain Court, Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, Mikhailovsky Garden.
The Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka River is certainly a decoration of St. Petersburg. There are four sculptural compositions “Horse Tamers” on it, depicting the confrontation between a man and a horse, which is trying with all its might to break free. The author of these sculptures is Baron Pyotr Karlovich Klodt, who in the mid-19th century gained fame as the greatest “horse” master.
Peter Klodt came from a poor, but very aristocratic Baltic German family, consisting of valiant warriors. His great-great-grandfather was one of famous figures in history Northern War, who served Sweden honorably with the rank of major general. Peter's father was a general who distinguished himself on the battlefields in the Patriotic War of 1812. The portrait of the famous general takes its rightful place in the gallery Winter Palace. Early years The future sculptor was held in Omsk, where his father served. It is here in quiet town, far from the noisy and brilliant St. Petersburg with its temptations and vices, Klodt became interested in drawing and modeling, reviving in his works images of horses, which he achieved especially realistically.
Pyotr Karlovich Klodt
(1805-1867)
After training in the military Cossack school Klodt returned to St. Petersburg. At that moment he was 17 years old. He entered the artillery school without any problems, but he enthusiastically devoted his free hours to his favorite hobby. At the slightest possibility Klodt took up a pencil and drew the figures of horses, while at the same time studying in depth the habits of graceful animals.
After graduating from college, Klodt received the active rank of second lieutenant and even served for some time in a training artillery brigade, but already in 1828 he left military service, deciding from now on to engage only in sculpture. Two years later, without stopping to educate himself, he entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer. His teachers were the rector of the Academy I. P. Martos, as well as the masters of sculpture S. I. Galberg and B. I. Orlovsky. He was part of the workshop of the famous foundry Ekimov, who supervised the casting of the most significant monuments early XIX century. It was Ekimov who initiated the student into the secrets of his business.
Soon Klodt was tasked with completing a large government order together with such experienced sculptors as S. Pimenov and V. Demut-Malinovsky. This is how it appeared on the attic of the Narva Arch triumphal gate six horses carrying the chariot of the goddess of glory, made of forged copper according to Klodt’s model in 1833. Unlike classical depictions of this subject, Klodt’s horses rear up, but at the same time the entire sculptural composition gives the impression of rapid movement. After completing this work, the author received worldwide fame and the patronage of Tsar Nicholas I. There is a well-known legend that Nicholas I said the phrase: “Well, Klodt, you make horses better than a stallion.”
Old postcard beginning of the twentieth century
The next and, perhaps, the most famous creation of Klodt, on which he worked for about 20 years, is, of course, the sculptures of horse tamers on the Anichkov Bridge. The order was received in 1832. The famous “Horse Tamers” were initially supposed to be located completely different from where they can be seen today. It was planned to decorate the piers of Admiralteysky Boulevard with sculptures, at the entrance to Palace Square. The place and the project itself were personally approved by Nicholas I. When everything was ready for casting, Klodt decided that it was inappropriate to tame horses near water and ships. He began to look for a place and quite quickly his choice fell on the Anichkov Bridge, which was already in need of reconstruction and was quite unattractive. The sculptor hinted at his idea, and the emperor supported him.
The reconstruction of the Anichkov Bridge on Nevsky is in full swing. Architects, railway workers, builders - all of St. Petersburg worked for Klodt's horses. Soon two groups of “Tamers” were cast. For both the first and second bronze groups, Klodt made copies of them in plaster, tinted to resemble bronze. The Tsar was impatient to open the new Anichkov as soon as possible, placing sculptures on all four corners of the bridge.
Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg in the middle 19th century
The grand opening of the Anichkov Bridge took place on November 20, 1841. What St. Petersburg saw delighted everyone. “People are gathering in crowds at the new Anichkov Bridge,” the newspapers wrote. — The life of a horse and a man on Anichkov presents new world in art. Like a charioteer besieging his horse, the sculptor Peter Klodt took part of this art into his own hands and turned off the wrong road onto the real one.” After the installation of the first two equestrian groups on the Anichkov Bridge, their repeated bronze casts were sent to Berlin as a gift to the Prussian king Frederick William IV, who was crazy about the sculptures. Nicholas I presented them straight from the bridge, and they went to Berlin to decorate the main gate of the Royal Palace. They were installed on the terrace in front of the portal of the Royal Palace from the Lustgarten side. They have now been restored and are located in Kleist Park in front of the courthouse. Will they be returned to old place It is unknown when the royal palace will be restored.
Terrace of the Royal Palace in Berlin in the mid-19th century
The King of Prussia, as a return gift, ordered the prominent German sculptor H.D. Rauch to make copies of two Victory statues created by this sculptor and installed in the park of the Archducal Palace in Charlottenburg in 1839 and in Berlin at Belle-Alliance Place in 1843. Two paired statues of allegorical winged figures were cast by November 1844 in Lauhammer and sent to St. Petersburg to be installed on the Columns of Glory, designed by the architect Carl Rossi in gray granite. The height of each column is 12 meters, of which 2.5 meters are occupied by two winged figures of the Goddess of Glory, crowning these columns. This composition is located at the beginning of Konnogvardeisky Boulevard, which arose on the site of the Admiralty Canal, which once connected the Admiralty with New Holland.
Meanwhile, Klodt had to go to Berlin with the gift. Upon delivery to Berlin of two horse groups donated by the Sovereign Emperor to His Majesty the King of Prussia, Klodt was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle by His Royal Majesty III degree August 14, 1842. It is known that while in Germany, Klodt was terribly homesick. However, Klodt’s “suffering” was rewarded: Friedrich Wilhelm IV, in addition to the order, also granted him a diamond snuffbox.
Old postcard beginning of the twentieth century
In 1844, the newly cast horses were installed on the bridge, and 2 years later Nicholas I again presented them to the monarch of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II, as a token of gratitude for the hospitality shown to the Russian Empress during her trip to Italy. King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, seeing Klodt’s horses, was completely delighted. Peter Klodt was awarded the Order of Naples, and local newspapers published the headlines: “There are now three miracles in Naples: the body of the Savior, taken from the cross, covered with a transparent marble veil, “The Descent of the Savior from the Cross” - a painting by Espanoletta, and bronze horses of the Russian Baron Klodt " To this day, the sculptures are located at the entrance gate to the Royal Palace of Naples - Palazzo Reale, where the National Library is now located.
Old postcard beginning of the twentieth century
The following sculptural groups of horses, cast in Once again Klodt, were installed at the Belvedere Pavilion in the Meadow Park of Peterhof, built by Nicholas I for his wife Empress Alexandra. But during the Great Patriotic War they disappeared forever.
Belvedere Pavilion in Peterhof. Beforewar photography
Horses designed by Klodt also became a decoration of the palace and park ensemble of Prince Alexei Fedorovich Orlov in Strelna, installed on high pedestals in front of the façade of the palace facing the pond. The territory was donated to the count, and later to Prince Alexei Fedorovich Orlov, by Emperor Nicholas I in 1834 for his services in suppression of the December riot of 1825. During the war and occupation German troops sculptures from Orlovsky Park were also stolen by the Germans. And the estate itself was badly damaged during the fighting of the Great Patriotic War; only the tower with the well survived.
At the Golitsyn estate in Kuzminsky Park, the horses cast by Klodt were once again installed at the Horse Yard in front of the Music Pavilion and have been preserved to this day.
Horse yard in the Kuzminki estate. Beforewar photography
The Kuzminki estate has been known since the 18th century. Its owners were the Stroganov barons and the Golitsyn princes. In the 19th century, Kuzminki was considered one of most beautiful places in the vicinity of Moscow. Kuzminki reached its greatest prosperity in the first quarter of the 19th century under Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn. Under him, the estate was called Moscow Pavlovsk. Exemplary farming, thoughtful planning, beautiful architectural structures, picturesque parks with ponds, islands, and bridges attracted many guests to the estate.
Old postcard beginning of the twentieth century
In 1846, Pyotr Klodt decided not to make any more copies of horses and continued the theme “The Conquest of the Horse by Man.” In 1850, two new groups were installed in the eastern part of the bridge, and the sculptor's plan was fully embodied in four sculptural groups.
The Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg is world famous and its image can be seen not only in photographs, but also in many works of painting. Baron P. Klodt’s composition “The Taming of the Horse” has become one of the symbols of St. Petersburg.
The Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka River is certainly a decoration of St. Petersburg. There are four sculptural compositions “Horse Tamers” on it, depicting the confrontation between a man and a horse, which is trying with all its might to break free. The author of these sculptures is Baron Pyotr Karlovich Klodt, who in the mid-19th century gained fame as the greatest “horse” master.
Born in 1805 in St. Petersburg, Pe spent part of his childhood and youth tr Clodt spent time in Omsk, where his father was transferred from the capital to command the headquarters of the Separate Siberian Corps. Naturally, Major General and participant in the Battle of Borodino, Baron Karl Fedorovich Klodt von Jurgensburg saw in his son exclusively the successor of the family’s glorious military traditions. The boy was sent to study at Omsk cadet corps, from where, however, he often ran away. One day no one saw him for four days. They found him in one of the Kazakh villages, looking at horses. In the description he was given after graduation educational institution, it was emphasized that the cadet showed special abilities to the image of horses. This is what love for animals is like. And all because Baron von Jurgensburg little Peter cut out horses from paper.
In 1822, after the death of the head of the family, the Klodts returned to St. Petersburg. Pe tr Kl odt entered the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, and in free time, according to the description of his comrades, “took a pencil or a penknife and drew or cut horses in small sizes.” After graduating from the educational institution, the future creator of sculptures for the Anichkov Bridge received the rank of second lieutenant, served in a training artillery brigade, but in 1827 he retired from military service and decided to take up his passion - sculpture. He became a volunteer student at the Academy of Arts. But before that, he spent two years educating himself, copying modern and ancient works of art and drawing from life. According to eyewitnesses, Klodt brought real horses into his semi-basement room, where he then huddled, and, sitting next to him, spent hours drawing models, risking getting a hoof on the head. The inside of his “apartment” was dirty, there were lumps of clay, drawings, and sketches lying around. People were perplexed: how could the baron live in such squalor? Understanding geniuses is not the destiny of every person, the scandalous radio host Howard Stern once noted.
While still in military service, Klodt carved and painted small figurines of horses from wood, performed all the details with impeccable precision, imitating eyes with glass inserts, and making a tail and mane out of hair. His crafts become popular in St. Petersburg, and soon one of the wooden figurines falls into the hands of Emperor Nicholas I. “Lovely. Who is this gifted carver?” asked the monarch, who adored such toys. “Baron Klodt, Your Majesty. Retired lieutenant,” they answered him. After this conversation, a young sculptor without a professional art education received an order from the emperor: to carve a detachment of horse guards from wood. Further more. The “horse” master was involved in the design of the Narva Gate, which was already being worked on at that moment famous sculptors Pimenov and Demut-Malinovsky. On the attic of the arch, six horses were installed carrying the chariot of the goddess of glory, made of forged copper according to the model of Peter Klodt. The opening of the triumphal Narva Gate took place in September 1834. There is a legend that after this work, Nicholas I said to the baron: “Well, Klodt, you make horses better than a stallion.”
The next and, perhaps, the most famous work of the sculptor, on which he worked for about 20 years, was “Horse Tamers” - four bronze compositions on the Anichkov Bridge. Interestingly, the tamers and horses were supposed to be located on the palace pier Admiralteyskaya embankment, but later they decided to install them on the supports of the restored Anichkov Bridge. This idea belonged to Peter Klodt. On this score, there is another legend about how the project received imperial support. Once upon a time Palace Embankment Klodt's coachman decided, in violation of all the rules of etiquette, to compete in driving speed with the sovereign's coachman himself and even overtook him. The enraged Nikolai only managed to shake his fist at Klodt’s quickly retreating carriage. A few days later, the emperor unexpectedly visited the sculptor’s workshop to inspect the “Tamers” models. He stood for a long time in front of the sculptural group in silence, and then he said: “For these, I forgive!”
The grand opening of the Anichkov Bridge took place on November 20, 1841. On the side pedestals there were two pairs of sculptural compositions: bronze groups were on the right bank of the Fontanka, and painted plaster copies were installed on the pedestals on the left bank. Klodt, who headed the Foundry in 1838 Imperial Academy arts, soon cast two more pairs of sculptures from bronze, but they did not make it onto the bridge. They were sent to Berlin as a gift to the Prussian king Frederick William. Klodt himself had to accompany the generous gift of Nicholas I to the capital of Prussia, where his horses were installed in the most honorable place - near the royal palace. However, the descendant of the Westphalian knights and the Russified German baron I didn't like Berlin at all. “I would exchange the local food and wine for black bread and kvass - just to return to Russia as soon as possible!” - he wrote in a letter to his friend, architect Alexander Bryullov. However, King Friedrich Wilhelm generously compensated for the lack of Russian kvass by awarding the sculptor the Order of the Red Eagle of the third degree and a diamond snuffbox.
The newly cast bronze “Tamers” replaced the plaster compositions on the Anichkov Bridge in 1844, but they stood there for only two years. Nicholas I ordered them to be removed and sent to Naples to the King of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II. Klodt's horses also appeared in other places - in Strelna, Peterhof and in the estate of Prince Golitsyn in Kuzminki near Moscow. Only in the early 50s of the 19th century were the plaster sculptures on the bridge replaced with bronze ones. At the same time, they differed from the first two compositions: the tamer and the horse were the same, but a new plot appeared. In four sculptures Klodt reflected different moments taming an animal. In the first group, the naked athlete is still holding back the horse, in the next group the drama increases, with a powerful movement the man reins in the rearing horse. In the third group - in a fierce fight that reached the limit, the tamer was thrown to the ground, but in the last composition, with incredible efforts, falling on one knee and grabbing the cord with both hands, the athlete still managed to subdue the animal.
Legends still circulate around one of the compositions. Under the horse's tail, Klodt sculpted someone's face. There are several versions. Either this is a portrait of Pyotr Karlovich himself, or of his ill-wisher, against whom the sculptor thus decided to take revenge, or of Napoleon. Unanimous opinion still no. For “The Tamers,” Klodt received various government awards, and in the process of working on the sculptures he was appointed a professor at the Academy of Arts, and was given an apartment and a workshop. In addition, he became a member of the Berlin, Paris and Rome academies of art. In general, the career of the retired lieutenant took off. It is unknown whether he would have achieved such success in military service.
In June 2005, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter Klodt, a silver coin of 2 rubles was issued with a circulation of 10 thousand pieces. Along with a portrait of the master, it depicts one of the sculptural groups of “Horse Tamers” on the Anichkov Bridge, which made him famous throughout the world.