The mid-century style also affects the arts and crafts. For items made of porcelain, for example, Elizaveta Petrovna's "Own" service, and other materials, curvilinear shapes are characteristic, as well as a luscious stucco ornament, ascending in the pattern to the shell and flexible plant shoots. The whimsical silhouette of objects is organically combined with bright colors, an abundance of gilding, and the glitter of mirrored surfaces that complement the festive picture of the interior.
Painting of the first half of the 18th century
Painting has undergone tremendous changes since the Petrine era. The art of easel painting with its semantic and compositional features is taking shape. Reverse perspective is replaced by a direct and associated transfer of the depth of space. The most important feature is the image of the figure in accordance with the principles of anatomical correctness. New means of transferring volume appear. Chiaroscuro plays the most important role, displacing the conventional symbolic contour line. The very technique of oil painting, with its characteristic specific techniques and the system of relationships between colors, is firmly, although not immediately, entering artistic use. The sense of texture is sharpened. The artist acquires the ability to convey the specific properties of soft velvet, harsh ermine fur, heavy gold brocade and delicate lace. In the plot picture, new principles of the interconnection of figures can be traced. The depiction of the naked body is a new and most difficult task. The very structure of painting becomes more ramified. Since the beginning of the 18th century, secular art has cultivated different types easel works, monumental painting in the form of panels and plafonds, miniature writing. The portrait includes all known varieties - ceremonial, intimate, in the usual and costume versions, double and double. Artists master allegorical and mythological plots... The presence of these features, although at first revealed in a compromise form, allows us to speak about the emergence of a new type of painting.
The first steps towards the formation of a portrait are associated with the activities of the painting workshop of the Armory. The works made by Russian and foreign masters, by their nature, gravitate towards the Parsuna. Of all the typological variants, the Parsuna prefers a ceremonial portrait and is found in this capacity in several varieties. Among them, the "portrait-thesis" is the most archaic. He combines portrait images and numerous explanatory inscriptions within the conventional iconic space. You can also talk about the "portrait-apotheosis". Such are the portraits-paintings symbolizing the feats of arms of Peter I. Widespread and ordinary portraits Peter, Menshikov, Sheremetev in height and on horseback.
Space is interpreted everywhere in a very stereotypical way, and the general arrangement of objects rather serves as a symbolic designation of real spatial relations. The problem of internal and external space is solved just as conditionally in semantic and large-scale relations. Parsuna deviates somewhat from the richness of color characteristic of 17th century icon painting. However, the scrupulous rendering of the ornamentation of the garments and various details gives the canvases a heightened decorative sound.
The master has not yet fully mastered the new principles of conveying volume, combining emphasized convexly painted faces and flat patterned robes. The large size of the canvases, their imposing spirit, the richness of the furnishings and the displayed jewels are intended to illustrate the social significance of the depicted. The image is autonomous, it is self-centered and indifferent to others. Painting, which has not yet matured to the transmission of the individual, in its own way tries to notice the features inherent in this character. However, the general and the individual have not yet merged into an organic unity, and the concrete properties barely show through under the summary typifying mask.
The Parsuna line, which existed for a relatively short time, mainly in the 80s and especially in the 90s of the 17th century, subsequently encounters a very strong stream of works by foreigners and retired artists that practically supplanted it. At the same time, one should not think that it turned out to be an accidental episode in the general process of the development of the Russian portrait. Having been pushed aside from the main positions, the parsuna continued to exist. In addition, its features manifested itself in the work of a number of leading artists as evidence of the unfinished transition from medieval writing to a new style. As such, it can be found in the works of I. Nikitin, I. Vishnyakov and A. Antropov.
Traces of parsunism are also found in the second half of the 18th century, especially in the works of serfs or provincial artists who independently came to the new art, as a rule, proceeding from icon painting. Note that parsunism as an artistic phenomenon exists not only in the Russian school, but also in Ukraine and Poland. It is also found in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and even in the countries of the Middle East, that is, where painting in a similar historical situation is experiencing a fundamentally similar introduction to the art of modern times and secular art.
Already in the art of the 17th century, especially in the second half of it, there are tendencies that paved the way for the rapid development of secular realistic art of the 18th century. Iconographic convention gives way to life-like reproduction of people, landscapes and historical events. The traditional floral ornament, interpreted rather conditionally, is replaced by the reproduction of realistically rendered flowers, fruits, leaves, garlands and shells. On works of applied art, painting on religious subjects takes on an almost secular character, sometimes emphatically decorative and theatrical. The forms of objects become lush, solemn, with a wide variety of decorations. Many ancient types of household items are disappearing, such as cups with flat shelves-handles, silver brothers. Traditional ancient buckets are transformed into purely decorative premium items that have lost their practical meaning. New types of utensils appear: cups decorated with baroque ornaments, everyday scenes and inscriptions of secular content, cups in the shape of an eagle, goblets made of horns on stands and many others. Church utensils and household items of the clergy in style now did not differ in any way from purely secular things, and sometimes even surpassed them in greater splendor and material value.
After the secularization of the lands in 1764, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra lost its possessions, but its riches by that time were so great that this reform did not affect either the scope of construction work in the monastery, or the rich decoration of church interiors, the personal chambers of the governor and the metropolitan who lived in the monastery, as well as on the wealth of its sacristy and treasury. The monastery continued to receive contributions from empresses and higher dignitaries of the court, the Moscow metropolitan and other clergy. As a rule, these were works made by the best masters of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Veliky Ustyug, Rostov-Yaroslavl and other centers of applied art. Therefore, the Lavra collection of applied art of the 18th century. represents the most diverse types of jewelry making techniques of this time.
The art of silver embossing acquired a peculiar appearance, especially from the middle of the 18th century. These are mainly large baroque curls, masterfully executed in a rather high relief, combined with the image of fruits, baskets of flowers, cupids, garlands of flowers and leaves. The embossing was often made openwork and in this case had an additional background, which gave illumination to the pattern.
A classic example of such a coinage is the massive setting of the Gospel of the Moscow work of 1754 by the contribution of Empress Elizabeth1. Silver plates with painted enamel depictions of the Trinity, the Evangelists, scenes from the life of Christ are arranged in high chased fractional grinders and squares. They are distinguished by their secular character.
Moscow master P. Vorobei made in 1768 2 a silver bowl (which was used in the monastery as a water-blessing bowl). It is decorated with an excellent chased ornament made of peculiar curled cartouches and wide leaves on a gilded background. The legs of the bowl are lion paws holding smooth balls in their claws. The salt shaker of 1787, decorated with chasing and niello, was a gift from Catherine II to Metropolitan Platon from the Moscow master.
The new center of jewelry making - St. Petersburg - is represented in the museum's collection by a chased silver hand with a nose in the form of an eagle's head, made in 1768 by the master Klaas Johann Ehlers4. The same craftsman made a chased silver dish with baroque ornament along the field and the image of a biblical scene: a whale throws Jonah ashore5. At the same time, the master depicted here the coast of St. Petersburg with Peter and Paul Fortress and the spire of the cathedral. A hand and a dish - the contribution of Metropolitan Platon.
Items of ritual purpose also acquired a secular decorative character, and their solemnity was emphasized by their unprecedentedly large size. Typical of the 18th century. a set of liturgical vessels (chalice, discos, starlet and two plates) contributed by A.V.Sheremetyev in 17896. The high sacrament bowl here has a large chased bell-shaped pallet, an openwork silver casing on the body of the bowl and the grate with painted enamel. The large-diameter discos and plates specially made for this chalice are decorated with engravings that convey traditional iconographic themes.
The art of filigree takes on a completely different character. Instead of a flat curl with branches, curling on a flat surface of metal on ancient works, a filigree drawing of the 18th century. it is complicated by additionally superimposed adornments, sometimes combined with enamel and precious stones. In some cases, the filigree is made openwork and superimposed on an additional background. Sometimes the thing was made of filament threads.
The tabernacle of 1789 of the contribution of Metropolitan Platon is an outstanding work of the filigree work. Here there is openwork filigree, and filigree combined with enamel, and filigree superimposed on a smooth silver background. The tabernacle looks like a secular box, as evidenced by its completely non-church form, elegant decoration and flowers planted in the corners of thin metal parts with enamel.
An example of a skillful relief filigree can serve as the setting for the book "Official of the Bishop's Service", as well as the contribution of Metropolitan Platon in 17898.
Great development receive in the XVIII century. Solvychegodsk and Veliky Ustyug enamels with their one-color (blue or white) background, on which human figures, flowers and other images are superimposed in the form of separate metal plates, sometimes additionally colored with enamels. The museum has a large collection of household items of Solvychegodsk and Ustyug work.
In the XVIII century. For the interior of the Lavra churches, monumental silver structures were also made according to drawings by famous artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg. For the altar of the Trinity Cathedral, by order of Metropolitan Platon, a large silver seven-candlestick was made in the form of a laurel tree9, and he also decorated the trumpets of the Trinity Cathedral iconostasis with silver. The Moscow master David Prif made a silver canopy over the shrine of St. Sergius of Radonezh (commissioned by Emperor Anna Ivanovna10) according to the drawing of Caravacca. Thus, both applied art XVIII in. presented in the collection of the museum by the most characteristic works.
The works of artistic craft in the collection of the museum make it possible to trace its development from the early monuments of Grand Duke Moscow to the end of the 18th century. Over this long period, technical skill changed and improved, old forms of objects disappeared and new forms appeared, the nature of decoration changed, which always depended on aesthetic views, determined by the socio-economic and political conditions of its time, the development of the domestic and foreign markets, the scale and method of production.
On the works of the XIV-XV centuries. the picture of the gradual revival of artistic crafts after the Tatar-Mongol ruin of the Russian land in the 13th century is revealed. Masters of Moscow and other art centers Ancient Rus master various artistic techniques and improve the technique of mastery.
In the XVI century. Moscow is finally gaining a leading place in the cultural life of the country. The applied arts of this period are distinguished by a variety of forms and artistic decorations, as well as great technical skill. The sophisticated art of enamel, which has taken on an ornamental character, is being improved; the art of black gold, embossing and engraving is becoming more masterful.
Silverware for household and church purposes follow the traditions folk art and are associated with the living conditions of the people, their rituals and everyday life.
The brilliance and decorativeness of 17th century items, the complication of ornamentation, the appearance of painted enamels, the use of a large number of precious stones, pearls and colored glasses give a more secular character to applied art.
In the XVIII century. new forms of objects, a realistic character of ornament and painting on enamel were adopted. In the collection of the Zagorsk Museum, this period is represented by the best workshops in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Their works make it possible to judge the new changes taking place in the applied arts.
The high artistic skill of the works of applied art, presented over more than five centuries, puts the collection of the Zagorsk Museum at a prominent place in the history of Russian artistic culture
Changes in everyday life and their impact on arts and crafts. Features of ornament and decor of art styles of Baroque, Rococo, Classicism.
Silver and gold business: the St. Petersburg school, Moscow craftsmen and manufactories, niello silver of Veliky Ustyug. New types of dishes made of precious and non-ferrous metals: teapots, coffee pots, bouillottes, samovars. Household and church utensils. State regalia. Orders and medals. Enamels. Enamel artists A.G. Ovsov, G.S. Musikiskiy.
The emergence of Russian porcelain. D.I. Vinogradov. Imperial and private porcelain factories. Majolica, faience. Art glass. Decorative fabrics and tapestries. New in clothes. Cabinet and type-setting furniture. Marquetry. Wood carvings in civil and church interiors. Crews. Decorative rock. Cameos.
Artistic folk crafts. Carved and inlaid bottoms of Gorodets. Bone carving Kholmogor. Gold embroidery of the Tver province. Lace of Galich and Vologda. Gzhel ceramics.
Music and theater in the 18th century
Polyphonic choral singing. Kanty. Instrumental music and orchestras. Opera art. Ballet. Music in court, city and peasant life. The emergence of the national school of composition. E.I. Fomin. I.E. Khandoshkin. D.S.Bortnyansky. M.S.Berezovsky. A.O. Kozlovsky.
Attempts to create a publicly accessible public theater under Peter the Great. Amateur performances at the court. School theaters in religious and secular educational institutions. Professional troupes of foreign actors.
The dramaturgy of Russian classicism: tragedies and comedies. The influence of sentimentalism on theatrical repertoire. The emergence of drama and comic opera on the Russian stage. A.P. Sumarokov - playwright and theatrical figure. The founder of the Russian professional theater, actor and director F.G. Volkov. His friend and follower I.A. Dmitrevsky. Mass theatrical performances.
Serf theater. The troupe of Count P.B. Sheremetev. PI Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, TV Shlykova-Granatova and other artists. Palace-theater in Ostankino. People's theater.
ABBREVIATIONS OF THE NAMES OF MAJOR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS REFERRED TO IN THE LIST OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS
BAN - Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg)
VMDPNI - All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art (Moscow)
State Historical Museum - State Historical Museum (Moscow)
GMGS - State Museum of Urban Sculpture (Saint Petersburg)
GMMK - State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin (Moscow)
GNIMA - State Research Museum of Architecture (Moscow)
GOP - State Armory Chamber (Moscow)
SRM - State Russian Museum (Saint Petersburg)
Tretyakov Gallery - State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow)
GE - State Hermitage (Saint Petersburg)
ZIKHMZ - former Zagorsk (now Sergiev-Posad) historical art Museum-reserve (Sergiev Posad, Moscow region)
MFA - Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine (Kiev)
IPIB - Museum of Applied Arts and Life of the 17th century "Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and the Patriarchal Chambers in the Moscow Kremlin" (Moscow)
GPS - Novgorod United State Museum-Reserve (Novgorod)
NGP - Novgorod Palace of Facets (Novgorod)
SHM - Samara Art Museum (Samara)
MONUMENTS OF RUSSIAN CULTURE
SECTION I. HISTORY OF RUSSIAN CULTURE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL
(UNTIL THE END OF THE XVII CENTURY)
FOLK WOODEN ARCHITECTURE
CULTURAL BUILDINGS
1. Klet churches: the Church of Lazarus from the Murom Monastery (14-16 centuries) - the Kizhi reserve; Church of the Deposition of the Robe from the village of Borodavy (15th century) - Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve; the Church of the Transfiguration from the village of Spas-Vezhi (17th century) - Kostroma Museum-Reserve; St. Nicholas Church from the village of Tuchola (17th century) - Novgorod Museum-Reserve "Vitoslavlitsy"; the chapel of Mikhail the Archangel from the village of Lelikozero (18th century) - the Kizhi Museum-Reserve; Church of St. Nicholas from the village of Glotova (18th century) - Suzdal Museum-Reserve.
2. Tent churches: Nikolskaya Church in the village of Lylyavia (16th century); Church of St. George from the village of Vershina (17th century) - Arkhangelsk Museum-Reserve "Malye Korely"; Resurrection church from the village of Patakino (18th century) - Suzdal Museum-Reserve; Church of the Assumption (18th century) in the city of Kondopoga.
An important place in the culture of the 18th century. occupied decorative and applied arts. Rococo style interiors made the space light, the walls seemed thin, were hidden by decorative panels and mirrors reflecting in each other, screens played an important role. Furniture becomes graceful, seems fragile, takes on fancy shapes. The colors of wallpaper and furniture are dominated by pastel tones.
The room was supposed to give the impression of a boudoir, (a room intended for communication only with close people).
Rococo interiors were often complemented by either genuine Chinese products: screens, porcelain, lacquer painting, or decorative compositions stylized as Chinese painting.
From the middle of the XVIII century. with the development of neoclassicism, interior design became simple and rather strict. If French interiors were the model of Rococo, then English interiors were the model of neoclassicism. The interiors of the English architect were especially famous Robert Adam (1728-1792). Creating manor houses, the artist decorated them with columns, pilasters, sculptures. This style is called the "style of Adam". It is distinguished by elegance, decorativeness, organically including at times genuine antiquity objects.
In clothes and hairstyles of the 18th century. the change of styles is also detected. In the era of Louis XV, the appearance of a person became a work of art: the toilets of the nobility were pretentious and sophisticated, the hairstyles were fantastic (wigs came into fashion), black flies on the powdered face became a special language in a love dialogue. “A woman, dressed up and combed like a toy, and shod in narrow shoes with heels, had to step very carefully in order to maintain balance and not crumble, - this developed the habit of a floating gait and smooth movements of the minuet. They wanted to see a woman as a precious doll, a bird of paradise, an exquisite flower. Such creatures befriended a fantastic and capricious airy environment of rocaille interiors ”(2, 45).
The costume, especially for women, becomes a work of art. Such a suit was uncomfortable and impractical, but extremely attractive.
The male costume was dressed in the same way as the female one, with delicate shades of pastel colors chosen.
Love for everything graceful contributed to the flourishing of jewelry and porcelain.
The flourishing of European porcelain art also falls on the middle of the 18th century. and is associated with the Rococo style. The most famous are French porcelain from the city of Sevres and German porcelain from Meissen (Saxony). In their compositions, the Meissen masters depicted "gallant festivities" - the refined entertainment of aristocrats.
Rococo was not a style like Gothic and Baroque, it did not become a large and holistic artistic direction. The spread of the tastes of the era of the Regents was prepared by the very fate of the French nobility, who flourished in the 18th century. only in one thing - in the arrangement of a secure and happy life. It was an idle life surrounded by exquisite luxury. Art was an adornment of the idle life of the French nobility.
Decorative arts play a special role (even gastronomy is elevated to the level of art).
The main task of art is to please; art itself is identified with luxury, playfulness and derision.
Mirrors become a favorite wall decoration, they are placed against each other, giving an infinite number of reflections.
The need for luxury goods has created whole branches of art production in France thanks to the labor of furniture makers, weavers, modelers, jewelers and embroiderers.
The favorite decorative motives of the Rococo are shell, stems and flowers.
In the field of decor, neoclassicism turned to the interiors of halls furnished in an antique manner. The exploits of the Napoleonic army brought new decorative motives: swords, banners. During the Napoleonic era, changes take place in clothes and hairstyles. The fashion for everything antique is spreading: from the silhouette and cut of dresses, reminiscent of chitons and tunics, to loose loose curls. Not only crinolines and figs disappeared, but also diamonds, carved stones set in a frame (gems) came into fashion.
Unlike other types of art in the music of the 18th century. Baroque as a style trend was still widely represented. The greatest masters of the Baroque era in music were Bach and Handel.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was the greatest musician of the 18th century, and the impact of his music is growing. His work as a composer was surprisingly versatile with an outwardly modest life (he was a cantor - leader and conductor church choir). From childhood, Bach was deeply religious, and adhered to the Protestant religion. It was the Reformation in Germany that brought forth the fervor of the Protestant chant (choral chant). By making the church ceremony simpler and more strict, Protestantism increased the importance of music in it. The church became the center of musical art, and the church organist was its representative. The art of organ was extremely widespread in Germany, and therefore it is not surprising that the organ accompanied Bach's entire life. His organ heritage includes several genres, among which are choral preludes and two-part polyphonic cycles l fugue. Bach's music expresses religious humility, pathos, lyrics, and impulse. Along with naturalness and simplicity, his works are characterized by sublimity and significance. Among the musical creations of Bach there are a huge number of true masterpieces that have received worldwide recognition.
Next to Bach rises another major figure of the musical Baroque - Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759). His life was spent in large European cities, he received an excellent musical education. The first opera "Rinaldo" staged in London brought Handel fame. Handel wrote music in many genres, but oratorios (large vocal and symphonic works with a developed plot) form the pinnacle of his legacy. The literary source of the composer's most famous oratorios was the first part of the Bible - the Old Testament. Handel lived in England and the events of her political history, as well as the epic scale of biblical subjects, could not but arouse his interest.
The composer was primarily characterized by civil themes. Choosing biblical subjects, Handel admires the power of human passions. It was passion, dynamism, and the image of confrontation that were characteristic of the Baroque.
If the first half of the 18th century. in music, baroque was defined as a musical style, then its second half became the heyday of the work of the composers of the Vienna classical school:
Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The highest achievements of classicism were associated with Vienna, the capital of the huge Austrian Empire, a city soaked through with music.
The Vienna Classical School responded to the mood and ideas of the Enlightenment. Musical art reflected the spiritual quest and contradictory artistic processes of its time. For example, Lessing influenced the work of Mozart.
The principles of classicism found their implementation in the music of the Enlightenment.
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) went down in the history of music as a reformer of operatic art, who laid the foundation for a new opera style. The operas that Gluck wrote were unusual both in content and in the manner in which the characters' feelings were expressed. Gluck's activity took place in Vienna and Paris and was also associated with controversies in philosophy and aesthetics, in which the enlighteners were involved. They criticized the court opera and believed that the ancient theater ideally combines music, plasticity and recitation.
Gluck tried to dramatize the opera, to give it truthfulness and naturalness. All the best operas by Gluck, starting with Orpheus, were written on ancient subjects, in which the composer found powerful characters and strong passions. During the life of Gluck, his operas provoked fierce controversy, but time has shown the viability of the principles, it is not by chance that other outstanding composers have implemented them.
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) for almost three decades he remained the conductor (head of the choral and orchestral chapel), and devoted only his free time to composing music. If Gluck reformed opera, then Haydn created perfect symphonies. Him creative way ran through different artistic eras, but the work of the composer was associated precisely with the age of the Enlightenment. Enlighteners believed in the progress of society and man, and Haydn's music expresses optimism and the pursuit of happiness. Haydn's creations are quite rationalistic: they are characterized by thoughtfulness and harmony, which is also consonant with the rationalistic principles of the enlighteners.
In his oratorios, Haydn refers to the theme of nature, the cult of which was characteristic of such an enlightener like Rousseau. It was Haydn who became the brightest composer of the Enlightenment.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) began to compose at an early age, he traveled a lot, gained fame early. Like Gluck, Mozart became a great reformer of opera, not only symphonizing, but also actualizing it. Choosing a piece such as "Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro", Mozart showed his commitment to educational ideas... In The Magic Flute, the composer presents a kind of utopia, close to the faith of the enlighteners in the moral progress of mankind. Mozart's music surprisingly combines naturalness and harmony, sincerity and perfection, impeccable clarity and trembling excitement. The greatest achievement of Mozart's music was the famous "Requiem" - his last work.
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) spent most of his life in Vienna. His writings also bear the imprint of the Enlightenment. The composer showed himself precisely in the genres of sonata and symphony, which finally took shape precisely in this era. His works reveal the thoughtfulness of the entire concept and individual details, clarity of forms.
In his most famous works, the heroic theme, the theme of struggle, is embodied, which is associated both with the personality of the composer himself and with the peculiarities of his biography: he survived the events of the Great French Revolution as a nineteen-year-old boy. Although the ideas of the Enlightenment were characteristic of Beethoven's music, he represents a new era, anticipating romanticism. The composer's musical style differs from the art of other Viennese classics in scope, drama and emotional strength. Such are the "Pathetic Sonata", the Third Symphony ("Heroic"), the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, especially the "Ode to Joy", which concludes the last. The entire legacy of Beethoven as a whole had a tremendous impact on the development of music, especially on the formation of romanticism.
In the second half of the 18th century, Russian applied art reached a significant rise. This was facilitated by the development of the economy, trade, science and technology and, to a large extent, close ties with architecture and the visual arts. The number of large and small factories, factories, workshops producing fabrics, glass, porcelain, and furniture grew. Landowners in their estates set up various workshops based on serf labor.
The humanistic ideas of enlightenment were peculiarly reflected in the applied art of the late 18th century. The craftsmen of this time were distinguished by attention to personal tastes and needs of a person, a search for convenience in the environment.
A new style - Russian classicism - at the turn of the 1770s-1780s was established in all types of applied art. Architects M.F. Kazakov, I.E. Starov, D. Quarenghi, C. Cameron, A.N. Voronikhin created interiors in the spirit of noble simplicity and restraint with a clear division of parts, with a constructively justified arrangement of both plastic and picturesque architectural decor.
The same principles were used to design furniture, candelabra, and chandeliers for palace premises. In the ornamentation of furniture, dishes, fabrics, built in a clear rhythm, antique motifs appeared - acanthus, meander, ionics, vividly interpreted flowers, garlands, images of cupids, sphinxes. The gilding and colors became softer and more restrained than in the middle of the 18th century.
At the end of the 18th century, enthusiasm for antiquity forced to abandon even a complex and magnificent costume. Light loose dresses with flowing folds, with a high belt in the antique manner have become fashionable (VL Borovikovsky. "Portrait of MI Lopukhina". 1797).
The synthesis of arts in Russian classicism is based on the principle of a harmonious combination of all types of arts.
Furniture. During the period of classicism, its forms are simple, balanced, clearly constructed, the rhythms are calm. The outlines still retained some softness, roundness, but vertical and horizontal lines were already prominent. Decorations (low carvings, paintings, bronze and brass onlays) emphasized the expressiveness of the designs. There was more concern for convenience. For ceremonial rooms for various purposes, sets-headsets were designed: a living room, an office, a front bedroom, a hall. New furniture forms have appeared: tables for card games, handicrafts, light portable bobby tables (with a bob-shaped lid), of various kinds dressers. Sofas have become widespread, and in office furniture there are secretaries, bureaus with a cylindrical roll-up cover.
As in previous periods, Russian furniture, compared to Western furniture, is more massive, more generalized, simpler in details. The material for it was the local wood species - linden, birch (gilded and painted in light colors), walnut, oak, poplar, ash, pear, bog oak. At the end of the 18th century, Karelian birch and imported colored wood of mahogany, amaranth, rosewood and other species began to be used. The craftsmen knew how to show their beauty, structure, color, shine, skillfully accentuated by polishing.
Russian masters have achieved great achievements in the technique of set (marquetry). Its essence is in the composition of pieces of colored wood ornaments and whole Paintings (usually from engravings) on the surface of wooden objects. This kind of work is known not only among the capital's court furniture makers, but also among former serfs who worked in Moscow and the Moscow region: Nikifor Vasiliev (Fig. 78), Matvey Veretennikov and anonymous masters of Tver and Arkhangelsk, who introduced walrus bone into the set. Samples of high art of carving furniture of the Ostankino Palace belong to serfs Ivan Mochalin, Gavrila Nemkov and others. In St. Petersburg, furniture and carvings by masters from Okhta, who were transferred to the capital from different places under Peter I, were famous. The artistic appearance of the furniture was completed by upholstery with patterned silks, velvet, printed chintz, linen fabrics, in harmony with the decoration of the walls.
Fabrics. Of all the industries in the second half of the 18th century, the textile industry developed most successfully (Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, Vladimir province). Its rise was determined not only by large manufactories, but also by small peasant enterprises. Masters have achieved particular perfection in new patterned linen fabrics with intricate weaves, with a play of natural silvery-white flax shades. Here the traditions of peasant weaving, a deep understanding of the material affected. Massive cheap motley and dye was also produced. The decorative qualities of colored cloth and woolen fabrics have significantly improved.
The production of silk fabrics for dresses and decorative fabrics, scarves, and ribbons developed rapidly (Fig. 80). By the end of the 18th century, they were not inferior in quality to French ones - the best in Europe. Russian weavers have learned to use a variety of threads, the most complex weaving weaves, reminiscent of embroidery. Compositional techniques, the richness of the palette in decorative fabrics achieved the transfer of space, the subtlety of the transitions of tones, the accuracy of the drawing of flowers, birds, landscapes. Such fabrics were used in the decoration of palaces, sent as gifts abroad.
In fabrics for dresses, especially in sarafan fabrics, up to the 1780s - 1790s, patterns of complex, wavy flower garlands, ribbons, beads were used. But gradually the garlands were replaced by stripes, the patterns became simpler, their rhythms were smoother, the color scale was lighter and softer.
In the 1750s-1760s in St. Petersburg and later in Moscow, in the village. In Ivanovo (now the city of Ivanovo), the production of chintz (cotton fabric with a printed pattern with custard, non-fading paints and subsequent polishing) developed. In the patterns of chintz, masters, especially those from Ivanovo, in a peculiar way processed the motifs of silk fabrics. On the basis of folk heels, they combined a luscious pictorial spot and graphic cutting (drawing outlines, lattices, background dots). At first, calicoes were very expensive. By the end of the 18th century, their cheap varieties began to be produced.
Porcelain. By the end of the 18th century, Russian porcelain became one of the best in Europe. The State Porcelain Factory worked successfully in St. Petersburg. His products were distinguished by whiteness of a slightly warm tonality, shiny glaze, and high technical quality. The shapes of dishes, vases, their painting were not inferior to Western ones.
The most significant of the services was created - Arabesque for court receptions (1784, ill. 77). The tabletop decoration of this set of nine allegorical sculptures glorifies the annexation of Georgia and the Crimea, the "virtues" of Catherine II (sculptor J. D. Rachet). It is dominated by the calm postures characteristic of classicism of the late 18th century, light gilding, and strict proportions of the form of tableware with paintings in the form of arabesques, based on antique ornaments.
In the 1780s, a series of sculptures "Peoples of Russia" (creative processing of engravings) was created - brightly decorative, with characteristic images - representatives of certain nationalities (Yakut, Samoyed, Tatar). Sculptural figures of street vendors, artisans, depicted in motion, at work were produced. Porcelain sculpture has become a favorite decoration of noble interiors for many decades.
Of the private porcelain factories, the Franz Gardner factory (1765) (Verbilki village near Moscow) turns out to be the most viable. Already at the end of the 18th century, he performed services for the royal house with the original use of motives of Russian orders in the paintings. Quite cheap Gardner's porcelain tableware, distinguished by its simplicity of shape, rich floral painting, close to folk traditions, was a success both in the capital and in the provinces (Fig. 79).
Glass. Colored glass brings true glory to Russian glass in the last third of the 18th century. MV Lomonosov, with his work on the theory of color and the technology of colored glass, opened new ways for Russian glassmaking, enriched the palette of glass, and revived Russian mosaics. He organized a factory for the production of smalt, beads and glass in the village of Ust-Ruditsa, Petersburg province. Masters of the State Plant in St. Petersburg Druzhinin and Kirillov were trained in making colored glass from Lomonosov. The plant is mastering the production of glass of deep and pure tones - blue, purple, pink-red, emerald green. Now it is not engraved crystal that dominates in its production, but thin colored and colorless glass. Glasses, glasses, decanters get smooth shapes, in which the body smoothly passes into the leg, creating soft, graceful contours. Paintings in gold and silver of garlands, bows, stars, monograms are calm in rhythm, emphasizing the plastic volumes of the vessels.
The so-called milky white glass (mugs, decanters, church objects) is also produced, resembling more expensive porcelain in appearance and character of the paintings.
By the end of the 18th century, the private glass factories of Bakhmetyev in the Penza province, the Maltsevs in the Vladimir and Orel provinces, and many others were developing and achieving great success. Their colorless and colored glass and crystal are widely distributed throughout Russia.
Artistic metal processing. The flourishing of jewelry art in Russia begins in the middle of the 18th century and continues throughout the entire century. It disposes of art materials of extraordinary beauty: diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones, painted enamels, non-ferrous metals (gold, silver, platinum, alloys). The art of cutting stones reaches a high degree of perfection. To enhance the play of the stone, jewelers find a variety of artistic and technical methods of mounting, movable fixing of parts. Artists-jewelers create multicolored jewelry, whimsical in shape: earrings, rings, snuff boxes, shoe buckles, buttons for luxurious suits for both men and women.
In the last third of the 18th century, the forms jewelry acquire poise, the color scheme of precious stones becomes stricter.
During this period, silversmiths achieved great success. In accordance with new tastes, the shapes of silver sets are simple and clear. They are decorated with flutes, antique ornaments. On silver glasses, snuffboxes, the masters of Veliky Ustyug reproduce images of antique scenes and victories of Russian troops from engravings.
An outstanding phenomenon in the applied art of the 18th century is the steel art products of Tula masters: furniture, boxes, candlesticks, buttons, buckles, snuff boxes. They build the decorative effect of their works on the contrast between smooth light steel and ornaments in the form of faceted pieces, sparkling like diamonds. Craftsmen use bluing (heat treatment in a furnace at different temperatures) of metal, which gives various shades - green, blue, lilac, from thick to bleached. Folk art traditions are reflected in the love of bright colors, in a deep understanding of the material.
Colored stone. In the second half of the 18th century, deposits of marble, cherry-pink eagle in the Urals, multi-colored jasper, variegated breccia, Altai porphyry, and blue Baikal lapis lazuli were discovered. In addition to the Peterhof (1722-1723) and Yekaterinburg (early 1730s), in the very heart of Altai, the Loktevskaya factory began to work in 1787 (since 1802 it was replaced by the Kolyvanskaya). There are wide opportunities for the use of colored stone in the decoration and decoration of monumental and decorative works of palace interiors.
The ability to reveal the aesthetic qualities of the material has always distinguished Russian craftsmen, but it was especially vividly expressed in the art of stone cutting. Working on the projects of architects, stone cutters artistically reveal the fabulous beauty of the stone, its natural pattern, extraordinary shades of color, shine, enhancing them with excellent polishing. Gilded bronze in the form of handles, which only complements and emphasizes the shape. Projects for stone-cutting products, obelisks, vases, based on antique forms, were created by Quarenghi, Voronikhin.
The flourishing of Russian applied art of the 18th century was associated with the work of architects Kazakov, Starov, Quarenghi, Cameron, Voronikhin and a number of trained folk artists. But its true glory was created for the most part by the remaining unknown serfs - furniture makers, carvers, weavers, stone cutters, jewelers, glassmakers, ceramists.