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HISTORICAL MEMORY ABOUT ALEXANDER NEVSKY: SCULPTURAL VISUALIZATION // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2021. Issue 1 (27). P. 95-123

The origins of the later versions of Alexander Nevsky’s sculptural visualization were laid back in ancient times. It is important that, in the pre-Petrine era, the icon-painting canon mainly provided for the image of Nevsky as a schemamonk, but it was not the only possible one. It has been established with a high degree of certainty that the first image of Alexander that came to us is the previously non-attributed figure represented on the icon “Our Lady of Tikhvin with the Proto-Gospel Cycle and Saints” (first half of the 16th century). The change of the icon-painting canon to the “secular” version (1724) had objective prerequisites, since, before that, Alexander had been depicted in princely robes in monumental painting, miniatures, on hagiographic icons. The fresco from Saint Sophia Cathedral in Vologda has a “transitional” nature. The creation of the first sculpture of Alexander Nevsky (the “chest statue”, 1754) is associated with the name of Mikhail Lomonosov; two portraits of Nevsky also come from his mosaic workshop. This sculpture was preceded by a bas-relief portrait of Nevsky on his shrine (1747–1752, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg). In the 19th century, statues of Nevsky were erected on the southern gates of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg (I.P. Vitali, 1841–1846) and on the monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” in Veliky Novgorod (M.O. Mikeshin, I.N. Schroeder, 1862). In the post-revolutionary era, the government refused to use the old symbols in ideological settings, and the hero of the Neva battle was forgotten. The renaissance occurred after the release of the film Alexander Nevsky by Sergei Eisenstein. This led to the emergence of a new version of the visualization of the prince – in the image of Nikolay Cherkasov. In the postwar years, this version was also reflected in sculpture (a monument in Pereslavl-Zalessky). However, in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union, too few sculptural images of the prince were created. Using the installation of a stele in Ust-Izhora (Archive of the St. Petersburg House of Scientists) as an example, it is shown that the reconciling of even small commemorative plaques was extremely difficult. Since the early 1990s, the situation has changed. Monuments to the prince and sculptural compositions associated with his name appeared in many cities of the country, which makes the task of typologizing them urgent. The earliest type is a “chapel”. It is a vertical architectural plastic composition completed with a “dome” and a cross. The prince himself is represented in the image of a warrior (Pushkin, Ust-Izhora, Kobyl’ye Gorodishche, partly the Leninskoye village). One more type adjoins these monuments – a “monk” (Gorodets). The sculptural images of this type can be correlated with samples of the icon-painting tradition, both of the pre-Petrine (“monk”, the scenes of life of hagiographic icons) and Petrine (“holy warrior”) eras, and with miniatures of illustrated chronicles. The remaining types of monuments represent Nevsky in the image of a warrior, in which the attributes of his holiness, with rare exceptions, play a secondary role. First of all, this refers to equestrian monuments (Pskov (Sokolikha Mountain), St. Petersburg (Alexander Nevsky Square), etc.). The article shows the relationship of these works with domestic and foreign artistic traditions. A widespread type of monuments to Alexander Nevsky is a sculpture in the form of a single figure (Gorodets, Kursk, Volgograd, Vladimir, etc.). Despite the fact that in most cases the connection with visualization trends that come from the depths of centuries is minimized in this type, it can still be traced, first of all, through elements of Orthodox symbolism. Only two monuments of this type – in Petrozavodsk and Alexandrov – represent Alexander Nevsky in the image of both a warrior and a saint.

Keywords: Alexander Nevsky, history of Russia, historical memory, Russian culture, history of sculpture, history of Russian art