Chebakova, Polina A.; Skvortcova, Ekaterina A. Personification of Russia in the 18th-Century Art: The Idea and Its Visualization

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2212-04-22
Title Personification of Russia in the 18th-Century Art: The Idea and Its Visualization
Author email e.skvortsova@spbu.ru
About author Chebakova, Polina A. — Ph. D. student. Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. st050356@student.spbu.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4614-6964 Skvortcova, Ekaterina A. — Ph. D., associate professor. Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. e.skvortsova@spbu.ru ORCID: 0000-0003-4867-5915
In the section Russian Art in the 18th–19th Centuries DOI10.18688/aa2212-04-22
Year 2022 Volume 12 Pages 304–317
Type of article RAR Index UDK 75.03 Index BBK 85.103
Abstract

The paper reveals and systematizes the key features of personification of Russia in the 18th-century fine art in the context of her textual descriptions and European iconography. Alongside with conventional female figure representing the country, it examines cases when, in compositions celebrating peace treaties, Russia is embodied in male guise as well as the cases of depiction of Russia as a baby, which is rooted in European tradition of glorifying newly-born heir for the throne as infant Hercules strangling serpents. The most stable features of personification of Russia (her most usual attributes, namely crown and coat-of-arms) point to monarchial rule of the state and distinguish it among others. The main means of characterization are gestures, the meaning of which in all variations is to demonstrate Russia’s obedience to the ruler. Other ideas are visualized either by situational attributes or other allegorical figures represented in the composition. The age, physical and facial features of the personification of Russia in both fine arts and poetry almost always gravitate to vague ideal, the costume is a variation of an ancient one. The more significant are the rare exceptions which are examined in the article.

The reported study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project number 21-78-00067 URL: https://rscf.ru/project/21-78-00067/.
Keywords
Reference Chebakova, Polina A.; Skvortcova, Ekaterina A. Personification of Russia in the 18th-Century Art: The Idea and Its Visualization. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 12. Eds A. V. Zakharova, S. V. Maltseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova. — St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Press, 2022, pp. 304–317. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa2212-04-22
Publication Article language russian
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