Of the three monuments of Peter the Great, one is the most grandiose by far. It stands in present-day Moscow not too far from the site where contemporary Russian leaders hold sway. This “Monument to Peter the Great,” erected in 1997, overpowers a small island in the middle of the Moskva River. Designed by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, the artwork is 315 feet high, one of the tallest statues in the world. It commands a bend in the river the way Peter himself lorded over his nation between 1682 and his death in 1725.
Moscow Monument to Peter the Great Symbolizes His Vision
The Tsereteli monument in the Moskva River is crafted to look like a 19-century frigate slicing through stylized waves. A gigantic statue of Peter the Great stands on the deck of the ship behind the ship’s wheel, a golden scroll in his outstretched right hand. Tsereteli’s grandiose statue was designed to commemorate both Tsar Peter and the 300th anniversary of the Russian navy which he founded.
The “Monument to Peter the Great” is controversial. Historian Lindsey Hughes in “Peter the Great – A Hero or our Time” (History Today, August 31, 1999) says, “The monument has been denounced on the grounds of excessive cost, inappropriateness (Peter hated Moscow and subordinated it to St Petersburg), lack of consultation and sheer ugliness.” In a photo essay in Foreign Policy (April 5, 2010) Joshua Keating calls the statue, “Peter the Terrible: Just because communism ended doesn't mean that Russia has stopped building grotesque, propagandistic statues.”
Regardless of the aesthetic critiques directed against it, Tsereteli's statue stands as a symbol of Peter's vision to link Old Russia with the modern world of Western Europe. It is a representation of the czar looking far beyond his own nation.
St. Petersburg Monument to Peter the Great Celebrates his Internal Triumphs
Another famous statue of Peter stands in the czar's capital, St. Petersburg. "Peter the Great" by the French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, popularly known as "The Bronze Horseman," celebrates the travails of the czar who expanded Russia’s territory and changed its national culture, at least among the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. Falconet's statue stands in Senatskaia Square in the capital that Peter ordered built from icy marshland. Peter sits astride a horse writhing in fury, a monarch seemingly in full command of the torrents of historical change which he unleashed inside Russia. The steed itself stands on the edge of a massive stone cliff.
The official tourist guide of St. Petersburg offers an explanation of the statue's symbolism. “From the top of this 'cliff' Peter gallantly leads Russia forward, while his horse steps on a snake, which represents the enemies of Peter and his reforms.” This is the Peter of whom Alexander M. Schenker says in The Bronze Horsemen: Falconet’s Monument to Peter the Great (New Haven: Yale University, 2003), “He broke with the introvert ways of old Muscovy and embraced the spirit and letter of the bustling world of eighteenth-centruy Europe.” In her book, (New York: Basic Books, 2002), Svetlana Boym notes, “Petersburg’s Peter is made on a human scale, while Moscow’s is grandiose."
Chemiakin's Modern Monument to Peter: An Ironic Counterpoint to Heroism
In stark contrast to the two stylized, dramatic statues of Peter the Great on the Moskva River and in St. Petersburg stands an eerily naturalistic statue of the czar. "The Monument to Peter the Great," by Mikhail Chemiakin was unveiled in 1991 in St. Petersburg just as the old royal capital was having its name restored from Leningrad during the dismantling of the Soviet Union. In The Future of Nostalgia this is how Svetlana Boym describes Chemiakin’s portrayal of the czar. He (Chemiakin) “portrays Peter sitting on his modest throne as it were a park chair, accessible to pigeons and children.”
Chemiakin's Peter is not wearing the traditional wig. His bald head, which was sculpted from an actual death mask of the czar, looks too small for his body. His long wiry fingers look almost skeletal. This is a portrait of the czar as a frail human being, shorn of all the pomp and fineries of imperial power. This czar is not noble or grandly heroic. Rather he is aged and withered. Servinghistory.com reports, “In 1961 he (Chemiakin) was subjected to forced psychiatric treatment to 'cure' him of views that did not conform to Soviet norms.” Was this the artist's way of portraying the banal but hideous reality behind all autocratic regimes?
Despised by some, worshipped by others, czar Peter the Great was a pivotal figure in Russian and European history. These three prominent works of art showcase his imperial vision, his heroic struggles to transform his ancient nation, and finally, offer insights into Peter the man.
Richard Methia - RICHARD A. METHIA Dick is an author, educator, trainer, and professional speaker with a career spanning more than forty years. In his ...
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