Peter the Great’s Naval Campaigns Series (1860–1877) of Alexey Bogolyubov: The Evolution of Artistic Language

Abstract

This article focuses on the history of a series of paintings by Alexey Bogolyubov which was devoted to Peter the Great’s naval campaigns and created between 1860 and 1877 at the commission of Alexander II. Bogolyubov’s series of naval battle scenes has not been studied individually before. Dispersed across various public and private collections, the paintings have lost their role as a pictorial ensemble. Besides, the fate of three of the eight paintings remains unknown, and they can only be judged by indirect sources: archival and literary sources, copies, studies, and preparatory graphic works. Collected and systematised in this article, these materials make it possible to present the development of the series and Bogolyubov’s pictorial language over a decade and a half at the peak of his artistic career. An analysis of the pictorial features of this cycle of paintings and some other works reveals a change in the artistic techniques during the creation of the series. Also, the author identifies works of Bogolyubov’s predecessors on similar subjects and reveals features of their stylistic similarities and differences from those of Bogolyubov’s. The author traces the connection between Bogolyubov’s choice of subjects in the paintings and the state of naval history, more particularly, their connection with the works of Feodosy Veselago. In addition, the author reveals a case of change in the original idea of the composition of The Battle of Gangut and its division into three paintings consistently reflecting the course of the battle. Additionally, the article compares the routes of hydrographic expeditions and travels as part of the entourages of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich and Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and places related to events of Peter the Great’s reign. Thus, the research demonstrates Bogolyubov’s search for a maximum accumulation of historical material and documentary depiction of events.

Keywords

• а. п. боголюбов
• морской пейзаж
• батальный жанр
• морская батальная сцена
• петр i
• серия «петровские морские походы»