"A Feast in a Time of Plague" is part of his little tragedies, which were written in 1830, while staying in Boldin. The action takes place on a street in London (1665 claimed many lives due to the plague epidemic). This cycle consists of four pieces:

In contact with

1. "The Miserly Knight".
2. "The Stone Guest".
3. "Feast in Time of Plague".

Men and women are sitting at the set table, a feast is going on. One of the guests recalls his friend the cheerful Jackson. He amused the people with his jokes and witticisms. His fun could revive any feast, disperse the darkness in which the city found itself from for the raging plague.

After Jackson's death, no one took his place at the table. The young man offers to drink wine in memory of him. The banquet chairman Valsingham thinks that it would be more appropriate to drink in silence, and the guests drink wine in silence.

The chairman asks the young woman Mary to perform a sad song about her home country Scotland. And after this song, he intends to continue to have fun. The song of the Scottish Mary is played. In it, she sings about her native land, which flourished, its wealth increased until disaster struck him. A cheerful and hardworking land has become a place where death and sorrow live. Her song tells how a girl in love asks her lover not to touch her and leave her native village until the plague leaves them. From her lips sounds an oath never to leave her beloved, even after death.

Chairman thanks Mary for the performance of a plaintive song. He guesses that once upon a time a plague also visited its edge, which destroys all living things now on his land. Mary sinks into memories. She recalls her mother and father who loved her songs. Suddenly the words of the impudent and sarcastic Louise interrupt Mary's thoughts. Louise is convinced that the fashion for such songs has already passed, and they are liked only by simple-minded people who can be moved by women's tears. Louise screams that she hates the yellow covering that Scottish hair.

The chairman ends the argument, drawing the attention of the audience to the sound of approaching wheels. It turns out that this knock belongs to a cart loaded with corpses. This sight is bad for Louise. She faints and Mary wakes her up. According to the chairman, Louise's fainting is proof that tenderness is stronger than cruelty. Recovering herself, Louise explains the reason for the incident. She "saw" a black white-eyed demon calling her to a cart filled with dead bodies. Louise doesn't know if it was a dream or a reality.

Louise is reassured because the black cart is allowed to travel throughout the city. Now they ask the chairman to sing in order to end the arguments and disperse the melancholy. He is asked to sing a funny song. But the chairman is singing a hymn to the plague. He praises the plague for being filled with an unknown rapture. She gives this rapture to a person standing on the threshold of life and death. He believes that a person who is able to experience this feeling is lucky, and it can become a guarantee of immortality.

While singing Valsingam, a priest appears. To the audience, words of reproach are heard from him. He calls the arranged feast godless. The silence of the funeral is broken by their delight. His words are ridiculous to the feasting. He asks for an end to the monstrous feast if they want to meet the souls of their loved ones in heaven after death. The priest asks them to go home. He reminds Valsingham that it was only three weeks since his mother died, and how he grieved after her death. The priest is sure that she is looking from heaven at her son and crying.

The priest asks Valsingam to follow him, but he is adamant. He refuses to go home, fearing terrible memories and an empty home. He yearns for his dead wife, the woman present suggests that he is mad. Long persuasion of the priest does not work on Valsingam, and he remains to feast.

Analysis of the work

In the small tragedies, Feast in Time of Plague is the fourth and final work. Characters:

• chairman Walsingham;
• a priest;
• Mary;
• Louise.

This work differs from other tragedies in that the whole action consists of monologues of the heroes, their performance of songs and speeches uttered by the feasting. Nobody commits actions that can change the situation. The whole plot is based on what motives brought them to the feast. Each participant in the feast has his own: the young man comes to forget, Louise avoids loneliness. She needs the support of people, she is afraid of death. Only Mary and Walsingham have the courage to face the danger.

The song performed by Mary expresses people's feelings for this trouble. It glorifies self-sacrifice. To save a loved one from danger, you can sacrifice your life. This sacrifice is the strongest proof of love. Mary's song contains the idea that love is stronger than death and will conquer it. Mary, as a repentant sinner, wants to know the purity and beauty of self-denial.

Images of the chairman and the priest

Valsingam is not afraid to look death in the face, his assessment of reality is the most conscious. His hymn expresses the idea that a person's will is capable of conquering death, even if fate is unpredictable. The work does not glorify death disguised as a plague, but the willpower of a person who does not give up and resists it. The power of a person is placed on the same level with the blind elements. But the image of Valsingham is not only the image of the winner. He admits that this feast is inappropriate, but at the same time he cannot leave him.

The Valsingham grief does not leave you indifferent and a priest, but he is unable to accept what is happening. The priest's pleas to stop the feast are understandable and appropriate. Traditionally it is prescribed to be in mourning for the dead, and not to feast. And although the words of the priest remain unheard, Valsingam thinks about his behavior.

The chairman and other participants of the feast succeeded distract from the trouble happening around... Singing songs of praise for the heroism of loneliness and contempt for death, they do not think about the dead. And the priest, not thinking about himself, supports those who are close to death. However, Valsingham's personal heroism cannot be denied. He finds strength in himself without outside support, and this is his little feat.

"," Mozart and Salieri "," The Stone Guest "). Below is its summary.

London during the terrible plague epidemic of 1665. The city is filled with horror and sorrow from many deaths. But in the middle of one of the streets, several men and women are recklessly feasting at a set table. In the midst of a terrible misfortune, these libertines decided to forget themselves, parading everyone into blasphemous pleasures.

One of those seated at the table proclaims a toast to the recently deceased Jackson - their mutual friend, a merry fellow and a witty. The chairman of the company, gloomy Valsingam, gives everyone a sign to drink, and then asks one of the girls, Mary, to sing a song.

Pensive, yellow-haired Mary in a Scottish way, mournfully sings about the past happiness of the former days of her sweet homeland. (See Mary's Song.) He was violently cut short by a merciless plague that emptied the village church and school. Now in the cemetery, under the groaning of the living, the dead are constantly being carried. The singer asks: if she herself dies, let her beloved Edmond not approach the infected body, but rather flee from her native village. She in heaven will remember him forever.

The Appearance of the Virgin to the victims of the plague. Painting by A. Zanka, written a year after the London epidemic of 1665

Valsingam thanks Mary for the song. Dissatisfied with this, the beauty Louise begins to make fun of Mary's "loud voice" and "tearful eyes", saying that she is only fooling gullible men with them. At this time, a cart full of dead bodies is transported past the feasting. Looking at her, rude Louise faints. Mary calms this “sister of her sorrow and shame” on her chest. The chairman philosophically notes that "the tender is weaker than the cruel, and fear lives in the soul, tormented by passions!"

The feasts ask that Valsingam himself sing for them now - and not a plaintive song, but a Bacchus. The chairman says: just yesterday, for the first time in his life, "a strange one found a hunt for rhymes." He composed a hymn to the plague, which he will now sing.

Pushkin puts one of his most heartfelt poems into Valsingham's mouth. (See the Chairman's Song.) A formidable plague, like a harsh winter, attacks people, knocking on windows not with frost, but with a grave shovel. So let's not lose heart, but in spite of the plague, let's "brew" merry feasts and balls, for:

... There is rapture in battle,
And the dark abyss at the edge,
And in the angry ocean
Amid the formidable waves and stormy darkness,
And in the Arabian hurricane
And in the whiff of the Plague.

Everything, everything that threatens with death,
For a mortal heart conceals
Inexplicable pleasures -
Immortality, maybe a pledge!
And happy is he who is in the midst of excitement
I could acquire and know them ...

Pushkin. Feast in Time of Plague. Chairman's song. A. Trofimov as Valsingam

An old priest approaches the feasting. He hotly reproaches the depraved madmen who are having fun "in the midst of the horror of a deplorable funeral", embarrassing the silence of the coffins and shaking the earth above the dead bodies. The participants in the feast drive the priest away. But he recognizes Valsingam and begins to reproach him. Three weeks ago, he fought with a scream over the corpse of his deceased mother, then he lost his wife Matilda who loved him selflessly. The priest calls on the chairman to leave the revelry and remember the name of God.

Valsingam rises in passionate impulse. He admits that the priest is right, but says that despair, terrible memory and the horror of the dead emptiness in his own home will not allow him to return to his former life. He is lost forever, and let no one else care about him.

Having asked Valsingam for forgiveness, having called on the salvation of God to his soul, the priest leaves. The feast in the midst of the plague continues. The chairman sits deep in thought.

Look how many completely different people have spoken about it ... how many canvases have been written about this ... a separate conversation ...
In literature

Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron (1352-1354). The heroes of the work leave Florence, infected with the disease, establishing a primitive quarantine.
Daniel Defoe, Diary of the Plague Year. Fact-based narrative of the Great London Epidemic of 1665.
Romain Rolland, Cola Brunion.
Albert Camus, The Plague (1947).
Edgar Poe, The Mask of the Red Death, The Plague King.
Sigrid Uncet, Christine, Daughter of Lavrance.
Pushkin A.S. "Feast during the plague."
Loshits, Yuri Mikhailovich, "Dmitry Donskoy", during whose life the Black Death walked across Russia.
Jack London, The Scarlet Plague.
Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund.
Karen Maitland, "The Masquerade of Liars."
Rita Monaldi (English), Francesco Sorti (English), "Imprimatur" (2002), set in Rome in 1683.
Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of the Plague (another translation of Love in the Time of Cholera, the novel is about cholera).
Terry Goodkind, The Fourth Rule of the Wizard or The Temple of the Winds.
Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, 1827.
Alexey Ivanov, Community (2012).
Jacob Revius (English), "The Plague".
Anne Benson "Plague Tales"
Connie Willis "The Doomsday Book"
Salias de Tournemir, Evgeny Andreevich In Moscow (From the time of the plague in 1771)
Mordovtsev Daniil Lukich, "Nanosnaya trouble", 1879. The plague epidemic in Russia, XVIII century.
Vyacheslav Osinsky "The Plague on the Throne", 2012. A novel about the fight against the plague epidemic in the Flemish city of the early Renaissance.
Isaac Marion The Warmth of Our Bodies (another translation of Warm Bodies, 2011.
Geraldine Brooks, A Year of Trials.
Dan Brown, Inferno. The heroes of the work are trying to save Florence, as well as the whole world from the bacteriological weapon carrying the bacterium [to clarify] the plague.
Steve Alten, "The Epidemic. The Beginning of the End." In laboratories in New York, a complex form of plague called "Scythe" has been developed. A splash of an unknown incurable disease was discovered on the streets of the city. "12/21/2012 ... WHAT HAPPENS AFTER?"
Ken Follett, Endless World (2007)
V. Pikul "Letter from a student Mamontov"
Kathleen Winsor "Forever Yours Amber"
In cinema

Faust (directed by Friedrich Murnau, 1926). A plague epidemic broke out in Europe. Faust sacrifices his soul in exchange for Mephistopheles' gift to heal people from the plague.
Flesh and Blood (director Paul Verhoeven, 1985) The action takes place during the Italian Wars. A dog infected with a disease is used as a biological weapon.
The Seventh Seal (directed by Ingmar Bergman, 1957). The film is set in the XIV century. Knight Antonius Blok and his squire Jones return to their homeland from a crusade at the height of the plague in Europe.
A tale of wanderings directed by Alexander Mitta (1983). The heroes of Andrei Mironov and Tatyana Aksyuta wander the world in search of the boy May, overcoming all sorts of obstacles and temptations, until one day Orlando (Andrei Mironov) defeats the terrible witch Plague at the cost of his life.
The Tudors (TV series) (2007-2010). Plague in England during the reign of Henry VIII.
Borgia (TV series, 2011). With the help of a plague-sick rag taken from her clothes, Katarina Sforza makes an attempt on the life of Pope Alexander VI.
Black Death, 2010. Directed by Christopher Smith. The plot is based on the persecution of pagans and witches by the Inquisition during the epidemic of the bubonic plague in England in the middle of the XIV century.
Season of the Witch, 2011. Directed by Dominic Sena. XIV century. Plague is raging in Europe. A defenseless girl is recognized as the culprit of the deadly misfortune, suspecting her of witchcraft. The dying cardinal asks the Knight Beman (Nicolas Cage) to deliver the witch to a distant abbey, where her spell must be destroyed.
The Magnificent Century (TV series) (Muhtesem Yüzyil), 2011. Directors: Durul Taylan, Yagmur Taylan. Plague epidemic in the Ottoman Empire.
The Devils, UK, 1971. Directed by Ken Russell. France, the city of Louden, 1525 - 1530. The main character of the film, the governor of the city, father Urbain Grandier, in the midst of a raging plague, spends a lot of time among the suffering residents, is in direct contact with the dying, provides them with physical and spiritual assistance, performs ritual service before mass graves.
World Without End (2012) - the series takes place in the town of Kingsbridge in the 19th century, a country on the verge of the Hundred Years War, while a plague epidemic spreads across Europe.

"Feast in Time of Plague". A.S. Pushkin.

It makes you think about the meaning of life and the short-term stay of people on a sinful earth.

Godless feast, godless madmen! You feast and songs of debauchery Scold over the gloomy silence, Death spread everywhere! Amid the horror of a deplorable funeral, Among pale faces I pray in the cemetery, And your hateful raptures Confuse the silence of the coffins - and shake the earth Above the dead bodies! Whenever the old men and wives of prayer were not consecrated to the common, mortal pit, - I could have thought that now the demons torment the lost spirit of the atheist And drag them into the pitch darkness with laughter.

The work is part of the "Little Tragedies" cycle. They were created in 1830. It was then that there was an epidemic of cholera in Moscow. This is reflected in the work. "A Feast in Time of Plague" is a creative adaptation of the work of J. Wilson (English playwright) "Plague City" Pushkin not only translated, but also significantly reduced the action, and also introduced two songs into the performance. The title was also changed. On the street, men and women are feasting at a laid table. Chairman Walsingham says that Jackson, a cheerful and cheerful person, died recently. His jokes made everyone laugh. They loved him, they willingly talked to him. It is impossible to forget Jackson, but many are still alive. And, therefore, there is no need to be sad. Valsingham offered to drink in Jackson's honor.

Everyone agreed with him and drank in silence. Valsingam asks one of the girls present to sing. Her voice is amazing, perfect sounds. He invites Mary to sing a sad song, after which it will be possible to indulge in fun again. Mary agrees.

The girl sings about the times before there was a plague. The country flourished, everyone was happy. The song is out of tune with its surroundings. Contrast. And this makes it even harder for those present. But at least with a song, Mary reminds her friends that life can be beautiful.

There was a time that flourished

In the world our side:

I've been on Sunday

The Church of God is full;

Our kids in a noisy school

Sparkled in the bright field

Sickle and quick scythe.

Hieronymus Bosch "A Feast in Time of Plague"

These memories are, in general, everyday and simple. But now, when there is mortal danger around people, they are perceived as a symbol of another, happy life, in which there was no plague, everyone was healthy and happy. In the present, people have nothing, no hope, no faith in tomorrow.

The fun they indulge in is just an attempt to drown out the fear.

There is rapture in battle, And the dark abyss at the edge, And in the enraged ocean, Among the formidable waves and stormy darkness, And in the Arabian hurricane, And in the whiff of the Plague. Everything, everything that threatens with death, For the heart of a mortal conceals Inexplicable pleasures - Immortality, perhaps a pledge! And happy is he who, amid the excitement of Them, could acquire and know.

And yet, Mary's song says that everything has changed. Life scares the living, because at any moment death can come.

"Quiet everything - one cemetery

Not empty, not silent -

Every minute they carry the dead

And the groans of the living

Fearfully asking God

Rest their souls.

Mary's song contains words about love. The girl says that love will triumph over death. Let the mortal body die. But the soul will always be alive, it will be in heaven. Mary's song is sad. Each of the feasts saw something of their own in the song. Let not everyone liked the song, but it was impossible to remain indifferent to it.

The sound of wheels is heard. A cart is passing by, carrying those who have died from the plague. One of those present, Louise, becomes ill. She is brought to life. She says that in a swoon she had an ominous vision:

"Terrible demon

I dreamed: all black, white-eyed ...

He called me into his cart. In it

The dead lay - and babbled

A terrible, unknown speech ...

Tell me: was it in a dream?

Has the cart gone? They try to calm Louise. This black cart travels around in various places, everyone must let it pass. Valsingam is asked to sing a "free live song". The chairman says that he will sing a hymn in honor of the plague that he wrote last night. All those present willingly agree to listen to the hymn in honor of the plague. The terrible queen, the plague

Now she comes at us

Flattering with the rich harvest;

And to our window day and night

Knocks with a grave shovel ...

What should we do? and how to help? In the song, Valsingam urges people to lock themselves in, hide from the Plague in unrestrained fun. Let the minds drown in wine, then the "darkness of the grave" will not be terrible.

Glasses frothing, together we are,

And the rose maidens we drink our breath

Perhaps full of the Plague! People decide not to think about the possibility that the next day will be their last. They want to enjoy life as long as possible. Their aspiration cannot but admire. Let there be devastation and death around, but as long as a person lives, he must try to find joy in what surrounds him.

The old priest comes. From his point of view, the feasts are insane. He tells them about this directly. Their philosophy is incomprehensible to the priest.

Godless feast, godless madmen!

You feast and songs of debauchery

Cursing the gloomy silence

Death is widespread everywhere!

The priest says that he is praying in the cemetery, around - the horrors of death and illness. The feasts insult the "silence of the coffins", insult the memory of those who have died, and the feelings of those who mourn their loved ones. That it is demons who make the feasting fun in such a mournful time. They are trying to drive the priest away, but he calls on them to end the feast, conjures "the holy blood of the Savior," says that if they want to meet the souls of the dead in heaven, they must give up fun and observe mourning. The chairman objects to the priest. He says that "youth loves joy." And therefore, they do not want to come to terms with the tragedy that is about to take their lives. Valsingam believes that they are doing absolutely right, trying to oppose the inevitable death with joy and pleasure. The priest rebukes Valsingam, reminding him that his mother had recently died. And he sobbed bitterly over her corpse. Is it you, Valsingham? Are you the one

Who is three weeks old, on his knees,

Mother's corpse, sobbing, hugged

Fought with a scream over her grave?

The priest tries to explain to Valsingam that his mother looks at her son from heaven and regrets that understanding of the truth is not available to him at such a painful moment, the priest is sure that Valsingam's mother cries bitterly in heaven when she looks at her son, who indulges in debauchery, instead of to spend time in mortal prayer. And the Chairman doesn't want to think about something sad. He wants to forget himself in the fun of the feast. And the painful reality then will not bother him. He answers the priest that it is hard for him from the "dead emptiness" that has settled in his house. Valsingam does not want and cannot follow him. Only in the crowd of feasting friends does he forget his despair, terrible memories release him. He says: “... old man! go in peace; / But cursed be who will follow you! " The feasts support the chairman. The priest reminds him of his dead wife. The chairman recalls her:

She considered pure, proud, free -

And she knew heaven in my arms ...

Where I am? holy child of light! see

I am you where my fallen spirit goes

Will not reach already ...

Some of the women call the chairman crazy: “He is crazy. He raves about his buried wife! " The priest leaves and prays for Valsingam: “God bless! I'm sorry, my son. " The priest leaves. The feast continues. The chairman is lost in thought.

The main pathos of the work is a reflection on the essence of moral laws. People find themselves in a critical situation. The plague may overtake them at any moment. What do they choose at their, perhaps, the last hour? They indulge in unbridled gaiety. On the one hand, their behavior is reprehensible. They violate the unwritten moral laws that govern behavior in such a situation. But on the other hand, you can look at the behavior of the feasting in another way. Everything in this world is perishable and fragile. They understand that their feast may be their last. They don't want to think that death is behind them. It is much easier to forget yourself in a merry feast. Although fun can be called a stretch. The two songs in the work show that the feasting is actually not as frivolous as it might seem. From the priest's point of view, they are committing a crime. But the priest finally realizes that these people, who have endured so many trials, who have lost loved ones, deserve at least a short moment that will allow them to forget about all their troubles. "A Feast in Time of Plague" is a philosophical work that makes you think about the meaning of life and the short duration of people's stay on a sinful earth.

I cannot but draw a parallel between this work and Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita.

Judge for yourself.

Igor Kornelyuk - music from the film by Vladimir Bortko based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita"

"However, after all, all theories stand one another. There is one among them, according to which everyone will be given according to his faith. May it come true! You go into oblivion, and I will be happy to drink from the cup into which you are turning to being ! " (c) Woland

1830 was a triumphant year for Franz Kruger. And what was Biedermeier for Pushkin? Indeed, today, when we say “Biedermeier came to Russia under Pushkin,” we combine these two concepts.

Franz Krueger (1797−1857) was a Prussian artist of the Biedermeier era who became an "absolutely fashionable painter" at the Russian court. In 1812 (in the year of Borodin), a young man who painted birds with talent, entered the drawing school at the Berlin Academy of Arts. Here Kruger finds his "hobbyhorse": he draws soldiers, hunting scenes, horses ... For which he receives the humorous nickname "Pferde Krüger". But the artist did not lose heart, and in 1820 exhibited large equestrian portraits of the Prussian prince Augustus and Count Gneisenau at the academic exhibition. Who knows how long fate would have remained favorable to the artist ... If in 1824 Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich had not visited Berlin as the chief of the 6th Prussian cuirassier regiment, and had not conducted this regiment in a ceremonial march in front of his father-in-law, King Friedrich Wilhelm III ... The fact is that the Grand Duke commissioned Franz Kruger to paint a painting. What was Berlin for the Grand Duke? In 1814, the 20-year-old met in Berlin the 16-year-old beauty and daughter of the Prussian king Friedrich-Wilhelm III Charlotte-Frederica-Louise-Wilgemina. In 1824, the Grand Duke and father of three children learns that he will become emperor after the death of his brother Alexander. Six years passed, and in 1830 the painting "Parade in Berlin" was successfully demonstrated at an academic exhibition in the Prussian capital, and then was sent to St. Petersburg.

Franz Krueger - Parade at the Opernplatz in Berlin (detail), 1824−31 Old National Gallery (Berlin)

As a man of the Biedermeier era, Franz kept a strict account, and of course had his own "business book". Forwarding the painting he ordered to Petersburg, Kruger issued a huge bill. “Its size, complexity of composition, difficulties in the execution of almost 120 portraits and especially a lot of details required a lot of work and time,” the artist wrote to the Minister of the Imperial Court, Prince Volkonsky. “When I work, I do not use anyone's help, and I painted this picture for one two and a half years, refusing other orders. Therefore, I have determined the price for it according to my annual income of 4,000 thalers, hence 10,000 Prussian thalers. If you take into account the significant costs of painting, the price of the frame and the cost of packaging, finally, that until now I have not received or asked for anything, then I believe that His Majesty will find this price commensurate with my work. "

The emperor liked the canvas, and the announced amount was promptly paid. Probably, today the artist's fee can be compared with the fee of the coach of the national football team ... At the then rate of 10,000 Prussian thalers equaled 34,482 rubles 76 kopecks in bank notes. When the Minister of Justice Dmitriev was dismissed at the end of August 1814, Emperor Alexander I granted him a pension of 10,000 rubles in bank notes a year. Kruger bought a house in Berlin, in which he lived until the end of his days. On February 22, 1831, the highest decree was issued to the Chapter of the Russian Imperial and Tsarist Orders: “Royal Prussian professor and court painter Franz Kruger, as a sign of Our special favor and respect for his talent, the most merciful We bestowed upon him the Knight of the Order of St. Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles, 4th degree. I command the Chapter to deliver him the medal insignia and give him a certificate. " In Pushkin's time, the order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree gave the rights of hereditary nobility and could be granted to an official for 35 years of impeccable service.

This story had an unexpected continuation. The emperor commissioned the artist Grigory Chernetsov to paint a view depicting the 1831 parade on Tsaritsyno Meadow "to the extent that Kruger's painting" Parade in Berlin "was painted." Grigory Grigorievich Chernetsov (1801−1865) was born into a bourgeois family of an icon painter in the town of Luha, Kostroma province. The boy studied with his father and older brother, and would have become an icon painter if he had not met the journalist and publisher Pavel Svinin. Who once drove through Luha. At the request of Svinin, Chernetsov became a pensioner of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and from 1820 he began to attend the Academy as an outside student. Among the characters in the picture are the imperial family, military and civilian officials, writers, artists, scientists, MOSCOW and peasants. In the course of the work, the artist was twice awarded rings with diamonds, but in the end Chernetsov was paid 1142 rubles in silver (almost 10 times less than Kruger's fee). Pushkin posed for Chernetsov on April 15, 1832 in the house of Count Pavel Kutaisov on Bolshaya Millionnaya.

"Krylov, Pushkin, Zhukovsky and Gnedich in the Summer Garden", G. Chernetsov, 1832.

1830 became a difficult year for the Russian Empire. The international situation in Europe has become more complicated. Nicholas I described the situation in Russia as follows: “... this puts us in a new and isolated, but dare I say, a respectable and worthy position. Who dares to attack us? And if he dares, then I will find a reliable support among the people ... ”. In a word, in Europe Russia found itself in isolation, and then there was an uprising in the Kingdom of Poland. And from the southeast of the country to the northwest, a cholera epidemic was moving. P. A. Vyazemsky about the constitution in Poland: “The constitutional canopy in the despotic barracks is an ugliness in the art of architecture, and the Poles feel it. We are not warm from their entrance, but they are very cold from our barracks. "