Portrait description of Peter 1 and Eugene. Lifetime portraits of Peter the Great

Often my historical research proceeds according to the principle "He went to Odessa, but went to Kherson." That is, I was looking for information on one topic, but I found it on a completely different issue. But also interesting. So it is this time. Meet: Peter 1 through the eyes of foreign artists ... Well, a couple of ours also wormed their way there.

Peter I, nicknamed Peter the Great, Russian Tsar in 1697. Original by P. van der Werff. Versailles.

Portrait of Peter the Great. XVIII century. J.-B. Weiler. Louvre.


Portrait of Tsar Peter the Great. XVIII century. Unknown. Louvre.

Portrait of Tsar Peter I. 1712. J.-F. Dinglinger. Dresden.

I did not understand what nationality the artist was. It looks like he's still French, because he studied in France. I transcribed his last name as French, and then who knows ...

Portrait of Peter the Great. XVIII-XIX centuries Unknown artist of the Russian school. Louvre.

Portrait of Peter the Great. 1833. M.-V. Jacotot after an original by a Dutch artist. Louvre.

Portrait of Peter the Great. Until 1727. C. Bua. Louvre.

Portrait of Peter the Great. Around 1720. P. Bois the Elder. Louvre.

Peter the Great (presumed). 17th century N. Lanyo. Chantilly.

Here from this portrait, of course, I fell. Where they saw Peter here, I did not understand.

Well, we've finished with the portraits, let's look at the pictures.

An incident from the youth of Peter the Great. 1828. C. de Steben. Museum of Fine Arts in Valenciennes.


Yes, that golden-haired youth is the future Tsar Peter I. How!

Peter the Great in Amsterdam. 1796. Pavel Ivanov. Louvre.

Louis XV pays a visit to Tsar Peter at the Ledigier mansion on May 10, 1717. 18th century L. M. J. Ersan. Versailles.


If anyone did not understand, then the French king settled down in the arms of our king.

The personality of Peter 1 rightfully occupies one of the leading places in the history of the Russian state. And the point is not even that it was this person who founded the Empire as such, but that during the reign of Peter the Great, Russia received a completely new vector of development. Thousands of historical and biographical books have been written that create a portrait of Peter 1, but historians cannot unequivocally characterize the activities of this person to this day. Some of them deify the first Russian emperor, describing his innovations in the state system and foreign policy. Others, on the contrary, try to show him as a tyrant and despot, citing excessive harshness and cruelty towards their subjects. But the portrait of Peter 1, the photo of which is presented below, depicts a purposeful and educated person.

The first emperor is also criticized for ill-conceived innovations, aimed, according to historians, at the eradication of everything Russian, replacing it with Western values. However, both of them unequivocally agree on one thing: it was really an ambiguous, significant and great figure in the history of the Russian state.

Judge not lest ye be judged

If you carefully study the historical portrait of Peter 1, created by the authors of countless works, you can come to a simple conclusion: such large-scale personalities cannot be judged one-sidedly. Strict distinctions according to the type of "white and black" are unacceptable here. In addition, for criticism or, conversely, praise, it is necessary to clearly understand the laws and foundations that existed at that time. And what sometimes seems wild and scary to our contemporaries was a simple routine for different segments of the Russian population at the beginning of the 18th century.

A portrait of Peter the Great cannot be drawn using modern moral values. This approach will be "flat" and emotional. It will prevent a sober assessment of the historical reality of the Muscovite state, and then the Russian Empire of the 18th century.

Therefore, you just need to try to objectively focus on the neutral biography of the first Russian emperor and everything connected with him. After all, such individuals, as a rule, leave a mark not only in politics and the state system.

Education is the basis of the future personality

Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30, 1672. Like all royal offspring, the future sovereign received exclusively home education. And I must admit that, even by today's times, it was not bad. The educators revealed in the boy a great propensity for foreign languages ​​and the exact sciences. In other words, in the future emperor, since childhood, humanitarian and technical aspirations were combined. Although he still gave preference to practical sciences.

The youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya Naryshkina, little Peter, grew up as an amazingly mobile and strong child. In addition to his penchant for science, he gladly climbed fences, fought with noble peers from his inner circle and committed other pranks typical of this age.

Handicraft is an occupation worthy of kings

The special surprise of all biographers, without exception, has always been caused by the tsar's son's passion for simple working crafts, in which he showed interest at a very young age. Not a single historical portrait of Peter 1 is complete without a description of how he could watch the work of a lathe for hours or breathed with pleasure the hot fumes of the palace forge.

The interest of the royal offspring did not go unnoticed. Special artisans were allocated, who began to teach Peter the basics of the simplest crafts: turning and forging. At the same time, it must be taken into account that this did not go to the detriment of the main educational schedule of the young heir. The exact sciences, the study of languages, the basics of military affairs have not been canceled. Already from early childhood, the future sovereign received a multilateral and high-quality education (contrary to the opinion of some Western historians that the home education of Russia in those years was distinguished by one-sidedness and unprofessionalism).

However, you can’t call the emperor a “simpleton” for anything, looking at how the artist Antropov painted a portrait of Peter 1: royal regalia, posture and look speak of a great and powerful person. And even though at the time of the creation of the painting the emperor had not been alive for almost 50 years, the author portrayed him very reliably.

Crowning and exile

The political portrait of Peter 1 should begin to be painted from 1682. After the death of the childless tsar, the young Romanov was elevated to the throne. However, this happened bypassing his older brother Ivan, which the Miloslavsky party (relatives of Peter's older sister Sophia) did not fail to take advantage of to organize a palace coup. The Miloslavskys successfully used the streltsy unrest, and as a result, the Naryshkin clan, to which Peter's mother belonged, was almost destroyed. Ivan was appointed "senior" tsar, and Sophia became the ruler-regent.

The Streltsy rebellion and the outright brutality of the murders had a very serious impact on the personality of Peter the Great. Many historians associate the further, not always balanced, actions of the king precisely with these events.

Sophia, becoming the sole mistress of the country, practically exiled the little tsar to Preobrazhenskoye, a small estate near Moscow. It was here that Peter, having gathered the noble undergrowth of his inner circle, created the famous "amusing regiments". Military formations had real uniforms, officers and soldiers, and were subject to real army discipline. Peter, of course, was the commander-in-chief. For the entertainment of the young king, a “funny fortress” was built, which, honing their “combat skills”, was stormed by a funny army. However, few people then guessed that it was this children's fun of boys running around with wooden guns and sabers that would lay the foundation for the famous and formidable Peter's Guard.

Not a single portrait of Peter 1 is complete without a mention of Alexander Menshikov. They met there, in Preobrazhensky. The groom's son in later years became the emperor's right hand and one of the most powerful men in the Empire.

Miloslavsky coup

The weakness and sickness of the "senior" Tsar Ivan constantly forced the ruler Sophia to think about complete autocracy in the country. Surrounded by nobles from the powerful Miloslavsky clan, the ruler was in full confidence that she would be able to usurp power. However, on the way to the throne stood Peter. He was God's anointed and full king.

In August 1689, Sophia decided on a coup d'etat, the purpose of which was to eliminate Peter and seize the throne. However, faithful people warned the young tsar, and he managed to leave Preobrazhenskoye, hiding in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The monastery was not chosen by chance. Powerful walls, ditches and underground passages were an insurmountable obstacle for Sophia's foot archers. According to all the rules of military science, Sophia had neither time nor money for an assault. In addition, the elite command of the streltsy units frankly hesitated, not knowing which side to choose.

Who made the decision to retreat exactly to Troitse-Sergiev? Not a single historical portrait of Peter 1 mentions this. In short, this place turned out to be fatal for Sophia and very successful for the tsar. The nobles supported Peter. The fighting detachments of the noble cavalry and the infantry of the "amusing" and faithful archers surrounded Moscow. Sophia was convicted and imprisoned in a monastery, and all the associates from the Miloslavsky clan were executed or exiled.

After the death of Tsar Ivan, Peter became the sole owner of the Moscow throne. Perhaps it was the events described that prompted him to seriously reorganize the entire Russian way of life. After all, the representatives of the “good old time” in the person of the Streltsy and the Miloslavskys constantly tried to physically eliminate the young sovereign, instilling in him a subconscious fear, which, according to contemporaries drawing Peter 1, was reflected on his face and haunted his soul almost until his death. Even painters noticed and recreated the unusually strong, but at the same time extremely tired face of the king. The artist Nikitin, whose portrait of Peter 1 is amazing in its simplicity and lack of imperial paraphernalia, just conveyed such a strong-willed and powerful, but deeply sincere person. True, art historians tend to "take away" part of the glory from Nikitin, referring to the drawing style that was uncharacteristic for the beginning of the century.

Window to Europe - German settlement

Against the background of these events, the aspirations of the young tsar for everything European look quite natural. It is impossible not to note the role of Kukuy - a German suburb, which the emperor liked to visit. Friendly Germans and their neat way of life differed sharply from what Peter saw in the rest of the same Moscow. But the point, of course, is not in neat houses. The sovereign was imbued with the very way of life of this small piece of Europe.

Many historians believe that it was the visit to Kukuy that partly formed the historical portrait of Peter 1. In short, future pro-Western views. We must not forget about the acquaintances made by the tsar on the German reservation. There he met a retired Swiss officer who became the main military adviser, and a charming - the future favorite of the first emperor. Both of these people played an important role in the history of Russia.

Access to the sea is a strategic task

Peter is more and more interested in the fleet. Specially hired Dutch and English craftsmen teach him the tricks and tricks of building ships. In the future, when multi-gun battleships and frigates will sail under the Russian flag, Peter will need more than once or twice to know the nuances of shipbuilding. He determined all defects and defects in construction himself. They didn't call him the Carpenter King for nothing. Peter 1 could really build a ship from bow to stern with his own hands.

However, during his youth, the Muscovite state had only one outlet to the sea - in the city of Arkhangelsk. European ships, of course, called at this port, but geographically the place was too unfortunate for serious trade relations (due to the long and expensive delivery of goods deep into Russia). This thought visited, of course, not only Pyotr Alekseevich. His predecessors also fought for access to the sea, mostly unsuccessfully.

Peter the Great decided to continue the Azov campaigns. Moreover, the war with Turkey that began in 1686 continued. The army, which he trained in a European way, was already an impressive force. Several military campaigns were made against the sea city of Azov. But only the last one was successful. True, the victory came at a high price. Small, but built for that period according to the latest engineering ideas, the fortress claimed many Russian lives.

And although the fact of the capture of Azov in Europe was perceived rather skeptically (precisely because of the ratio of losses), this was the first real strategic victory of the young king. And most importantly, Russia finally got access to the sea.

North War

Despite the frank skepticism of European politicians, Peter 1 begins to think about the Baltic. The ruling elite was at that time seriously concerned about the growing ambitions of another young strategist - This is partly why the Europeans supported the Muscovite tsar in his desire to get part of the coastal Baltic lands to open shipyards and ports there. It seemed that it was quite possible to allow Russia to have two or three ports, and the inevitable war for the Baltic would seriously weaken Sweden, which, although it would defeat the weak Russians, would seriously get bogged down in the mainland of wild Muscovy.

Thus began the long Northern War. It lasted from 1700 to 1721 and ended with the unexpected defeat of the Swedish army near Poltava, as well as the assertion of the Russian presence in the Baltic.

Reformer

Of course, without serious economic and political changes in Russia, Peter 1 would not have cut through the famous “window to Europe”. The reforms affected literally the entire way of life of the Moscow state. If we talk about the army, then it received its formation precisely in the Northern War. Peter found resources for its modernization and organization on the European model. And if at the beginning of hostilities the Swedes dealt with unorganized, often poorly armed and untrained units, then at the end of the war it was already a powerful European army that could win.

But not only the personality of Peter the Great, who had a remarkable talent as a commander, allowed him to win a great victory. The professionalism of his closest generals and devotees is a topic for long and meaningful conversations. There are whole legends about the heroism of a simple Russian soldier. Of course, no army could win without a serious rear. It was military ambitions that spurred the economy of old Russia and brought it to a completely different level. After all, the old traditions could no longer fully meet the needs of the growing army and navy. Almost every lifetime portrait of Peter 1 depicts him in military armor or with military paraphernalia. Artists paid tribute to the merits of the emperor.

Not a single army

The portrait of Peter 1 will not be complete if we limit ourselves only to economic and military victories. The emperor must be given credit for developing and implementing reforms in the field of state administration. First of all, this is the establishment of the Senate and boards instead of the obsolete ones and working according to the class principle of the Boyar Duma and orders.

The "Table of Ranks" developed by Peter gave rise to the emergence of so-called social elevators. In other words, the Table gave the opportunity to receive benefits and the nobility solely on merit. The changes also affected diplomacy. Instead of the old fur coats and hats of the well-born boyars who represented Russia, embassies appeared with diplomats already of a European level.

The description of the portrait of Peter 1 will be incomplete if we talk about him only in superlatives. It is worth noting that with the general geopolitical growth of Russia, the life of ordinary people within the country has not changed much, and in some cases (for example, recruitment duty) has become worse. The life of a simple serf was worth less than the life of a horse. This was especially noticeable during the "global" Peter's construction projects. Thousands of people died building the most beautiful city in Europe - St. Petersburg. No one counted the dead even during the construction of the Ladoga Canal ... And many young guys never became soldiers, dying under the canes of officers who introduced discipline in military units.

It is for the complete disregard for human life that the first emperor is criticized, imputing to him senseless cruelty and a huge number of unreasonable victims. In addition, we are everywhere confronted with the facts of the activities of Peter 1 that are striking in their inhumanity.

Only one thing can be said in defense of this man. The first emperor of Russia never moved away from his people to the distances that subsequent rulers allowed themselves. A thousand times the enemy cannonball could have torn him apart. Dozens of times, Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov could simply drown on imperfect sea vessels. And during global construction projects, he slept in the same barracks with sick builders, risking catching ailments, for which at that time there was no cure.

Of course, the emperor was better protected from enemy bullets than an ordinary soldier, he was treated by good doctors, and he had much more chances not to die from the flu than an ordinary peasant. However, let's finish the description of the portrait of Peter 1 with a memory of the cause of his death. The emperor died of pneumonia, which he received while rescuing a simple guard soldier from the cold water of the Neva River that had come out of the banks. The fact, perhaps, is not so remarkable in comparison with the deeds of his entire life, but it speaks volumes. It is unlikely that any of today's "powerful ones" is capable of such an act...

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, son of Alexei Mikhailovich, dying childless, did not appoint himself an heir. His elder brother John was weak both physically and mentally. It remained, as the people wished, "to be in the kingdom of Peter Alekseevich", the son from the second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich.

But the power was seized by the sister of John, Princess Sofya Alekseevna, and the ten-year-old Peter, despite the fact that he was married with his brother John and was called the king, was a disgraced king. They did not care about his education, and he was completely left to himself; but, endowed with all the gifts of nature, he found himself an educator and friend in the person of a native of Geneva, Franz Lefort.

To learn arithmetic, geometry, fortification and artillery, Peter found himself a teacher, the Dutchman Timmerman. The former Moscow princes did not receive a scientific education, Peter was the first to turn to Western foreigners for science. The conspiracy against his life failed, Sophia was forced to retire to the Novodevichy Convent, and on September 12, 1689, the reign of Peter the Great began, when he was about 17 years old. Here it is impossible to enumerate all the glorious deeds and reforms of Peter, which gave him the title of the Great; let's just say that he transformed and educated Russia on the model of Western states and was the first to give impetus to her becoming a powerful state at the present time. In his hard work and concern for his state, Peter did not spare himself and his health. Our capital Petersburg, founded in 1703, on May 16, on the island of Lust Eiland, taken from the Swedes, owes its origin to him. Peter the Great was the founder of the Russian navy and regular army. He died in Petersburg on January 28, 1725.

Crook's Tale

Peter 1 thematic pictures

Let us ask ourselves the question: what kind of tribe were the first all-Russian autocrats: Tatars, Mongols, Germans, Slavs, Jews, Vepsians, Merya, Khazars ...? What was the genetic affiliation of the Moscow tsars?

Take a look at the lifetime portraits of Peter I and his wife Catherine I.

A version of the same portrait, received by the Hermitage in 1880 from the Velyka Remeta monastery in Croatia, probably created by an unknown German artist. The king's face is very similar to that painted by Caravaccos, but the costume and pose are different. The origin of this portrait is unknown.

Catherine I (Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya (Kruse)) - the Russian Empress since 1721 as the wife of the reigning emperor, since 1725 as the ruling empress, the second wife of Peter I the Great, the mother of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. In her honor, Peter I established the Order of St. Catherine (in 1713 ) and named the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals (in 1723).

Portraits of Peter I

Peter the Great (1672-1725), the founder of the Russian Empire, occupies a unique place in the history of the country. His deeds, both great and terrible, are well known and there is no point in listing them. I wanted to write about the lifetime images of the first emperor, and about which of them can be considered reliable.

The first of the famous portraits of Peter I was placed in the so-called. "Royal Titular" or "The Root of the Russian Sovereigns", a richly illustrated manuscript created by the embassy order as a guide to history, diplomacy and heraldry and containing many watercolor portraits. Peter is depicted as a child, even before his accession to the throne, apparently in con. 1670s - early. 1680s. The history of the creation of this portrait and its authenticity are unknown.

Portraits of Peter I by Western European masters:

1685- engraving from an unknown original; created in Paris by Larmessen and depicts the tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich. The original was brought from Moscow by ambassadors - Prince. Ya.F. Dolgoruky and Prince. Myshetsky. The only known reliable image of Peter I before the 1689 coup.

1697- Job portrait Sir Godfrey Kneller (1648-1723), the court painter of the English king, is undoubtedly painted from nature. The portrait is in the English royal collection of paintings, in the palace of Hampton Court. There is a note in the catalog that the background of the painting was painted by Wilhelm van de Velde, a marine painter. According to contemporaries, the portrait was very similar, several copies were made from it; the most famous, the work of A. Belli, is in the Hermitage. This portrait served as the basis for the creation of a huge number of various images of the king (sometimes slightly similar to the original).

OK. 1697- Job portrait Pieter van der Werf (1665-1718), the history of its writing is unknown, but most likely it happened during Peter's first stay in Holland. Bought by Baron Budberg in Berlin, and presented as a gift to Emperor Alexander II. Was in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, now in the State Hermitage.

OK. 1700-1704 engraving by Adrian Schkhonebeck from a portrait by an unknown artist. The original is unknown.

1711- Portrait by Johann Kupetsky (1667-1740), painted from life in Carlsbad. According to D. Rovinsky, the original was in the Braunschweig Museum. Vasilchikov writes that the location of the original is unknown. I reproduce a famous engraving from this portrait - the work of Bernard Vogel 1737

A reworked version of this type of portrait depicted the king in full growth and was in the hall of the General Assembly of the Governing Senate. Now located in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.

1716- portrait of work Benedict Kofra, court painter of the Danish king. It was most likely written in the summer or autumn of 1716, when the tsar was on a long visit to Copenhagen. Peter is depicted in the St. Andrew's ribbon and the Danish Order of the Elephant around his neck. Until 1917 he was in Peter's Palace in the Summer Garden, now in the Peterhof Palace.

1717- portrait of work Carla Moora, who wrote the king during his stay in The Hague, where he arrived for treatment. From the correspondence of Peter and his wife Catherine, it is known that the Tsar liked the portrait of Moor very much, and was bought by Prince. B. Kurakin and sent from France to St. Petersburg. I reproduce the most famous engraving - the work of Jacob Houbraken. According to some reports, Moor's original is now in a private collection in France.

1717- portrait of work Arnold de Gelder (1685-1727), Dutch painter, student of Rembrandt. Written during Peter's stay in Holland, but there is no evidence that he was painted from life. The original is in the Amsterdam Museum.

1717 - Portrait of the work Jean-Marc Nattier (1686-1766), a famous French artist, was painted during Peter's visit to Paris, undoubtedly from nature. It was bought and sent to St. Petersburg, later hung in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace. It is now in the Hermitage, however, there is no complete certainty that this is an original painting, and not a copy.

Then (in 1717 in Paris) Peter was painted by the famous portrait painter Hyacinthe Rigaud, but this portrait disappeared without a trace.

Portraits of Peter painted by his court painters:

Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1680-c1737), Saxon, studied painting in Venice, court painter since 1711. According to entries in the Journal, it is known that Peter posed for him in 1714 and 1722.

1714(?) - The original has not survived, only an engraving made by Wortmann exists.

A very similar portrait was recently discovered in the German city of Bad Pyrmont.

L. Markina writes: "The author of these lines introduced into scientific circulation the image of Peter from the collection of the palace in Bad Pyrmont (Germany), which recalls the visit of this resort town by the Russian emperor. The ceremonial portrait, which carried the features of a natural image, was considered the work of an unknown artist XVIII century.At the same time, the expression of the image, the interpretation of details, the baroque pathos betrayed the hand of a skilled craftsman.

Peter I spent June 1716 on hydrotherapy in Bad Pyrmont, which had a beneficial effect on his health. As a sign of gratitude, the Russian tsar presented Prince Anton Ulrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont with his portrait, which had been privately owned for a long time. Therefore, the work was not known to Russian specialists. Documentary evidence, detailing all the important meetings during the treatment of Peter I in Bad Pyrmont, did not mention the fact of his posing for any local or visiting painter. The retinue of the Russian Tsar numbered 23 people and was quite representative. However, in the list of persons accompanying Peter, where the confessor and the cook were indicated, the Hoffmaler was not listed. It is logical to assume that Peter brought with him a finished image that he liked and reflected his idea of ​​​​the ideal of a monarch. Comparison of the engraving by H.A. Wortman, which was based on the original brush by I.G. Tannauer of 1714, allowed us to attribute the portrait from Bad Pyrmont to this German artist. Our attribution was accepted by our German colleagues, and the portrait of Peter the Great, as the work of J. G. Tannauer, was included in the exhibition catalog."

1716- The history of creation is unknown. By order of Nicholas I, sent from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1835, for a long time it was kept folded. A fragment of Tannauer's signature has been preserved. Located in the Moscow Kremlin Museum.

1710s Profile portrait, previously erroneously considered the work of Kupetsky. The portrait is damaged by an unsuccessful attempt to renew the eyes. Located in the State Hermitage.

1724(?), Equestrian portrait, called "Peter I in the Battle of Poltava", bought in the 1860s by Prince. A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky at the family of the deceased camera-furier in a neglected state. After cleaning, Tannauer's signature was found. Now it is in the State Russian Museum.

Louis Caravaque (1684-1754), a Frenchman, studied painting in Marseilles, became a court painter from 1716. According to contemporaries, his portraits were very similar. According to the entries in the Journal, Peter painted from life in 1716 and in 1723. Unfortunately, there are no indisputable original portraits of Peter painted by Caravaccus, only copies and engravings from his works have come down to us.

1716- According to some reports, it was written during Peter's stay in Prussia. The original has not been preserved, there is an engraving by Afanasyev, from a drawing by F. Kinel.

Not very successful (supplemented by the ships of the allied fleet) copy from this portrait, created by unknown. artist, is now in the collection of the Central Naval Museum of St. Petersburg. (D. Rovinsky considered this picture to be original).

1723- the original has not been preserved, only the engraving by Soubeyran exists. According to the "Yurnale", written during the stay of Peter I in Astrakhan. The last lifetime portrait of the king.

This portrait of Caravacca served as the basis for a painting by Jacopo Amiconi (1675-1758), written in ca. 1733 for the book. Antioch Cantemir, which is located in the Peter's throne room of the Winter Palace.

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin (1680-1742), the first Russian portrait painter, studied in Florence, became the court painter of the tsar from about 1715. There is still no complete certainty about which portraits of Peter were written by Nikitin. From the "Yurnale" it is known that the tsar posed for Nikitin at least twice - in 1715 and 1721.

S. Moiseeva writes: "There was a special order of Peter, ordering persons from the royal environment to have in the house his portrait by Ivan Nikitin, and the artist to take a hundred rubles for the execution of the portrait. However, royal portraits that could be compared with creative style On April 30, 1715, the journal of Peter the Great wrote the following: “His Majesty’s half person was painted by Ivan Nikitin.” Based on this, art historians were looking for a half-length portrait of Peter I. In the end, it was suggested that this the portrait should be considered "Portrait of Peter against the backdrop of a sea battle" (Tsarskoe Selo Museum-Reserve). For a long time this work was attributed to either Caravak or Tannauer. When examining the portrait by A. M. Kuchumov, it turned out that the canvas has three later filings - two above and one below, thanks to which the portrait became generational.A. M. Kuchumov cited the surviving account of the painter I. Ya. His Imperial Majesty "against the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty". Apparently, in the middle of the 18th century, the need arose to rehang the portraits, and I.Ya. Vishnyakov was given the task to increase the size of the portrait of Peter I in accordance with the size of the portrait of Catherine. “Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of a sea battle” is stylistically very close - here we can already talk about the iconographic type of I. N. Nikitin - a portrait of Peter discovered relatively recently from a Florentine private collection, painted in 1717. Peter is depicted in the same pose, attention is drawn to the similarity of the writing of the folds and the landscape background.

Unfortunately, I could not find a good reproduction of "Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle" from Tsarskoye Selo (before 1917 in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace). I reproduce what I managed to get. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the work of Tannauer.

1717 - Portrait attributed to I. Nikitin and located in the collection of the Financial Department of Florence, Italy.

Portrait presented to Emperor Nicholas I gr. S.S. Uvarov, who got it from his father-in-law. A.K. Razumovsky. Vasilchikov writes: “The tradition of the Razumovsky family said that Peter, during his stay in Paris, went to the studio of Rigaud, who painted a portrait of him, did not find him at home, saw his unfinished portrait, cut his head out of a large canvas with a knife and took it with him. gave it to his daughter, Elizaveta Petrovna, and she, in turn, granted it to Count Alexei Grigoryevich Razumovsky." Some researchers consider this portrait to be the work of I. Nikitin. Until 1917 it was kept in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace; now in the Russian Museum.

Received from the collection of the Stroganovs. In the catalogs of the Hermitage, compiled in the middle of the 19th century, the authorship of this portrait is attributed to A.M. Matveev (1701-1739), however, he returned to Russia only in 1727 and could not paint Peter from life and, most likely, only made a copy from Moor's original for bar.S.G. Stroganov. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the original of Moor. This is contradicted by the fact that according to all the surviving engravings from Moor, Peter is depicted in armor. Rovinsky considered this portrait to be the missing work of Rigaud.

Used literature: V. Stasov "Gallery of Peter the Great" St. Petersburg 1903

"Portrait of Peter the Great".
Engraving from a painting by Benner.

However, dudes Peter also did not really like it. “It has come down to us,” he wrote in one of the decrees, “that the sons of eminent people in gishpan trousers and camisoles along Nevsky flaunt presumptuously. I’m ordering the governor of St. Petersburg: from now on, to catch these dandies and beat them with a whip on the well .. until a very obscene look remains from the Gishpan trousers.

Vasily Belov. Lad. Moscow, Young Guard. 1982

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
"Peter I against the backdrop of a naval battle."
1715.

Hasty and mobile, feverish activity, which began of itself in early youth, now continued out of necessity and was not interrupted almost until the end of life, until the age of 50. The Northern War, with its anxieties, with defeats at first and with victories later, finally determined Peter's way of life and informed the direction, set the pace of his transformative activity. He had to live from day to day, to keep up with the events quickly rushing past him, to rush to meet the new state needs and dangers that arose daily, not having the leisure to take a breath, think again, figure out a plan of action in advance. And in the Northern War, Peter chose a role for himself that corresponded to his usual occupations and tastes learned from childhood, impressions and knowledge taken from abroad. It was not the role of either the sovereign-ruler, or the military commander-in-chief. Peter did not sit in the palace, like the former kings, sending decrees everywhere, directing the activities of his subordinates; but he seldom took himself at the head of his regiments, to lead them into the fire, like his adversary Charles XII. However, Poltava and Gangud will forever remain in the military history of Russia as bright monuments of Peter's personal participation in military affairs on land and at sea. Leaving his generals and admirals to act in the front, Peter took upon himself the less visible technical part of the war: he usually remained behind his army, organized its rear, recruited recruits, made plans for military movements, built ships and military factories, procured ammunition, provisions and combat shells, stockpiled everything, encouraged everyone, urged, scolded, fought, hung, jumped from one end of the state to the other, was something like a general feldzeugmeister, a general food master and a ship's chief master. Such tireless activity, which lasted for almost three decades, formed and strengthened the concepts, feelings, tastes and habits of Peter. Peter cast one-sidedly, but in relief, came out heavy and at the same time eternally mobile, cold, but every minute ready for noisy explosions - exactly like the iron cannon of his Petrozavodsk casting.

Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky. "Course of Russian History".

Louis Caravacc.
"Peter I, Commander of the Four United Fleets in 1716".
1716.

Andrey Grigorievich Ovsov.
"Portrait of Peter I".
Enamel miniature.
1725. Hermitage,
Saint Petersburg.

Dutch paintings appeared on the banks of the Neva in 1716, long before the museum was founded. This year, more than one hundred and twenty paintings were purchased for Peter I in Holland, and after that, almost the same number of paintings were bought in Brussels and Antwerp. Somewhat later, English merchants sent another one hundred and nineteen works to the king. The favorite subjects of Peter I were scenes from the life of "Dutch men and women", among the favorite artists - Rembrandt.

L. P. Tikhonov. Museums of Leningrad. Leningrad, Lenizdat. 1989

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
"Portrait of Peter I".
1717.

Jacob Houbraken.
"Portrait of Emperor Peter the Great".
Engraving after an original by Karl Moor.
1718.

Another portrait was painted by the Dutchman Karl Moore in 1717, when Peter traveled to Paris to hasten the end of the Northern War and prepare the marriage of his 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth with the 7-year-old French king Louis XV.

Parisian observers that year portrayed Peter as a ruler who had learned his imperious role well, with the same shrewd, sometimes wild look, and at the same time a politician who knew how to get along pleasantly when meeting the right person. Peter was then already so aware of his importance that he neglected decency: when leaving a Parisian apartment, he calmly got into someone else's carriage, he felt like a master everywhere, on the Seine, as on the Neva. It is not like that with K. Moor. The mustache, as if glued on, is more noticeable here than on Kneller's. In the make-up of the lips, and especially in the expression of the eyes, as if painful, almost sad, one senses fatigue: you think that a person is about to ask permission to rest a little. His own greatness crushed him; there is no trace of youthful self-confidence, no mature contentment with one's work. At the same time, it must be remembered that this portrait depicts Peter, who came from Paris to Holland, to Spa, to be treated for an illness that buried him 8 years later.

Enamel miniature.
Portrait of Peter I (chest).
1712.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

"Family portrait of Peter I".
1712.

"The family of Peter I in 1717".

“Katerinushka, my dear friend, hello!”

So began dozens of letters from Peter to Catherine. There was indeed a warm cordiality in their relationship. Years later, a love game of a pseudo-unequal couple takes place in the correspondence - an old man, constantly complaining of illness and old age, and his young wife. Having received a parcel from Catherine with the glasses he needs, he sends jewelry in response: “Worthy presents on both sides: you sent me to help my old age, and I send to decorate your youth.” In another letter, in a youthful way, burning with a thirst for meeting and intimacy, the king again jokes: “Although I want to see you, but you, tea, much more, because I'm in[your] I was 27 years old, and you[my] 42 years was not. Ekaterina supports this game, she jokes in tone with her “hearty old friend”, is indignant and indignant: “It’s in vain that the old man was started!” She is deliberately jealous of the tsar now for the Swedish queen, now for the Parisian coquettes, to which he replies with feigned insult: “What do you write that I will soon find a lady [in Paris], and that is indecent for my old age.”

The influence of Catherine on Peter is enormous, and over the years it has been growing. She gives him something that the whole world of his outer life cannot give - hostile and complex. He is a stern, suspicious, heavy man - he is transformed in her presence. She and the children are his only outlet in the endless heavy circle of public affairs, from which there is no way out. Contemporaries recall striking scenes. It is known that Peter was subject to attacks of deep blues, which often turned into fits of furious anger, when he crushed and swept everything in his path. All this was accompanied by terrible convulsions of the face, convulsions of the arms and legs. Holstein minister G. F. Bassevich recalls that as soon as the courtiers noticed the first signs of a seizure, they ran after Catherine. And then a miracle happened: “She began to talk to him, and the sound of her voice immediately calmed him, then she sat him down and took him, caressing, by the head, which she slightly scratched. This had a magical effect on him, and he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sat motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and alert.
She not only cast out a demon from the king. She knew his passions, weaknesses, quirks, and she knew how to please, please, simply and affectionately do something pleasant. Knowing how upset Peter was because of his “son”, the ship “Gangut”, who had somehow received damage, she wrote to the tsar in the army that the “Gangut” had arrived after a successful repair “to his brother “Forest”, with whom they have now copulated and stand in one place, which I saw with my own eyes, and it is truly joyful to look at them! No, neither Dunya nor Ankhen could ever write so sincerely and simply! The former porter knew that more than anything in the world was dear to the great skipper of Russia.

"Portrait of Peter I".
1818.

Pyotr Belov.
"Peter I and Venus".

Probably, not all readers will be satisfied with me, because I did not tell about the Tauric Venus, which has long served as an adornment of our Hermitage. But I have no desire to repeat the story of her almost criminal appearance on the banks of the Neva, since this has already been written about more than once.

Yes, we wrote a lot. Or rather, they didn’t even write, but rewrote what was known before, and all historians, as if by agreement, unanimously repeated the same version, misleading readers. For a long time it was believed that Peter I simply exchanged the statue of Venus for the relics of St. Brigid, which he allegedly got as a trophy during the capture of Revel. Meanwhile, as it recently turned out, Peter I could not make such a profitable exchange for the reason that the relics of St. The Brigids rested in the Swedish Uppsala, and the Tauric Venus went to Russia because the Vatican wanted to please the Russian emperor, whose greatness Europe no longer doubted.

An ignorant reader will involuntarily think: if the Venus de Milo was found on the island of Milos, then the Venus of Tauride, presumably, was found in Tauris, in other words, in the Crimea?
Alas, it was discovered in the vicinity of Rome, where it had lain in the ground for thousands of years. "Venus the Pure" was carried in a special carriage on springs, which saved her fragile body from risky shocks on potholes, and only in the spring of 1721 did she appear in St. Petersburg, where the emperor was impatiently waiting for her.

She was the first antique statue that the Russians could see, and I would be skeptical if I said that she was greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm ...

Against! There was such a good artist Vasily Kuchumov, who in the painting “Venus the Most Pure” captured the moment the statue appeared in front of the king and his courtiers. Peter I himself looks at her point-blank, very resolutely, but Catherine harbored a smile, many turned away, and the ladies covered themselves with fans, ashamed to look at the pagan revelation. To swim in the Moscow River in front of all the honest people in what their mother gave birth - they were not ashamed, but to see the nakedness of a woman embodied in marble, they, you see, became shameful!

Realizing that not everyone would approve of the appearance of Venus on the paths of the Summer Garden of the capital, the emperor ordered to place her in a special pavilion, and sent sentries with guns for protection.
- What did you loose? they shouted to passers-by. - Go farther, it's not your mind's business .., royal!
The sentries were not in vain. People of the old school mercilessly scolded the Antichrist Tsar, who, they say, spends money on “naked girls, filthy idols”; passing by the pavilion, the Old Believers spat, crossing themselves, and others even threw apple cores and all evil spirits at Venus, seeing in the pagan statue something satanic, almost diabolical obsession - to temptations ...

Valentin Pikul. "What Venus held in her hand."

Johann Koprtzki.
"Peter the Great".

Among the great people of the past there was one amazing person who, not being a professional scientist, nevertheless was personally acquainted with many outstanding natural scientists at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

In Holland, he attended lectures by the famous chemist, botanist and physician G. Boerhaave (1668-1738), the same one who was the first to use the thermometer in medical practice. With him, he examined the exotic plants of the Leiden Botanical Garden. The local scientists showed him the newly discovered "microscopic objects" in Delft. In Germany, this man met with the president of the Berlin Scientific Society, the famous mathematician and philosopher G. Leibniz (1646-1716). With him, as well as with another famous mathematician and naturalist, H. Wolf (1679-1754), he was in friendly correspondence. In England, he was shown the famous Greenwich Observatory by its founder and first director, J. Flamsteed (1646-1720). In this country, Oxford scientists warmly received him, and some historians believe that during the inspection of the Mint, the director of this institution, Isaac Newton, spoke to him ...

In France, this man met professors at the University of Paris: the astronomer J. Cassini (1677-1756), the famous mathematician P. Varignon (1654-1722) and the cartographer G. Delisle (1675-1726). Especially for him, a demonstration meeting, an exhibition of inventions and a demonstration of chemical experiments were arranged at the Paris Academy of Sciences. At this meeting, the guest showed such amazing abilities and versatile knowledge that on December 22, 1717, the Paris Academy elected him as its member.

In a letter expressing gratitude for his election, the unusual guest wrote: “We want nothing more than to bring science to a better color through the diligence that we will apply.” And as subsequent events showed, these words were not a tribute to official courtesy: after all, this amazing person was Peter the Great, who “in order to bring the sciences to the best color” decided to create the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences ...

G. Smirnov. "Great, who knew all the greats." "Technology - youth" No. 6 1980.

Francesco Vendramini.
"Portrait of Peter I".

"Peter the Great".
XIX century.

Once A. Herzen called Peter I "a crowned revolutionary." And the fact that it really was so, that Peter was a mental giant, towering over the majority of his even enlightened compatriots, is evidenced by the most curious history of the publication in Russian of Kosmoteoros, a treatise in which the famous contemporary of Newton, the Dutchman H. Huygens, elaborated and developed the Copernican system.

Peter I, quickly realizing the falsity of geocentric ideas, was a staunch Copernican and in 1717, while in Paris, he bought himself a moving model of the Copernican system. Then he ordered the translation and publication of 1200 copies of Huygens' treatise, published in The Hague in 1688. But the order of the king was not carried out ...

The director of the St. Petersburg printing house M. Avramov, having read the translation, was horrified: the book, according to him, was saturated with "satanic deceit" and "devilish machinations" of the Copernican doctrine. “Having trembled in heart and horrified in spirit,” the director decided to violate the direct order of the king. But since the jokes with Peter were bad, Avramov, at his own peril and risk, only dared to reduce the circulation of the "atheistic booklet of the mad author." Instead of 1200 copies, only 30 were printed - only for Peter himself and his closest associates. But this trick, apparently, did not hide from the king: in 1724, "The Book of the World, or Opinion on the Heavenly-Earthly Globes and Their Decorations" was published again.

"The atheistic scribe of a crazy author". "Technology - youth" No. 7 1975.

Sergei Kirillov.
Sketch for the painting "Peter the Great".
1982.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge.
"Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei."

Documents relating to the case of Tsarevich Alexei and stored in the State Archives of the Empire are numerous ...

Pushkin saw documents about the torture that the tsarevich was subjected to during the investigation, but in his "History of Peter" he writes that "the tsarevich died poisoned." Meanwhile, Ustryalov makes it clear that the prince died, unable to withstand the new tortures, which he was subjected to by order of Peter after the announcement of the death sentence. Peter apparently feared that the prince, sentenced to death, would take with him the names of accomplices who had not yet been named by him. We know that the Secret Chancellery and Peter himself searched for them for a long time after the death of the prince.

The official version said that after hearing the death sentence, the prince “felt a terrible convulsion all over his body, from which he died the next day”*. Voltaire, in his "History of Russia in the reign of Peter the Great," says that Peter appeared at the call of the dying Alexei, "both of them shed tears, the unfortunate son asked for forgiveness" and "the father forgave him publicly" **. But reconciliation was too late, and Alexei died from a stroke that had befallen him the day before. Voltaire himself did not believe this version, and on November 9, 1761, while working on his book about Peter, he wrote to Shuvalov: “People shrug their shoulders when they hear that the twenty-three-year-old prince died from a stroke while reading the sentence, which he should have hoped to cancel” ***.
__________________________________
* I. I. Golikov. Acts of Peter the Great, vol. VI. M., 1788, p. 146.
** Voltaire. History of the Russian Empire in the reign of Peter the Great. Translated by S. Smirnov, part II, book. 2, 1809, p. 42.
*** This letter was printed in the 34th volume of the 42-volume collection. op. Voltaire, published in Paris in 1817-1820 ...

Ilya Feinberg. Reading Pushkin's notebooks. Moscow, "Soviet Writer". 1985.

Christoph Bernard Franke.
"Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei, son of Peter I, father of Peter II."

extinguished candle

Tsarevich Alexei was strangled in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter and Catherine breathed freely: the problem of succession to the throne was solved. The youngest son grew up, touching his parents: “Our dear Shishechka often mentions his dearest dad, and with the help of God, he returns to his state and constantly has fun with the drilling of soldiers and cannon shooting.” And let the soldiers and cannons be wooden for the time being - the sovereign is glad: the heir, the soldier of Russia, is growing. But the boy was not saved either by the care of the nannies or the desperate love of his parents. In April 1719, having been ill for several days, he died before he had lived even three and a half years. Apparently, the disease that claimed the life of the baby was an ordinary flu, which always collected its terrible tribute in our city. For Peter and Catherine, this was a severe blow - the foundation of their well-being gave a deep crack. Already after the death of the Empress herself in 1727, that is, eight years after the death of Pyotr Petrovich, his toys and things were found in her things - Natalya, who did not die later (in 1725), not other children, namely Petrusha. The clerical register is touching: “A golden cross, silver buckles, a whistle with bells with a gold chain, a glass fish, a jasper ready-made, a fuse, a skewer - a golden hilt, a tortoiseshell whip, a cane ...” So you see the inconsolable mother sorting through these gizmos.

At the funeral liturgy in the Trinity Cathedral on April 26, 1719, an ominous event occurred: one of those present - as it turned out later, the Pskov landrat and a relative of Evdokia Lopukhina Stepan Lopukhin - said something to the neighbors and laughed blasphemously. In the dungeon of the Secret Chancellery, one of the witnesses later testified that Lopukhin said: “Even him, Stepan, the candle has not gone out, there will be time for him, Lopukhin, from now on.” From the rear, where he was immediately pulled up, Lopukhin explained the meaning of his words and laughter: “He said that his candle did not go out because the Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich remained, thinking that Stepan Lopukhin would be good in the future.” Despair and impotence was filled with Peter, reading the lines of this interrogation. Lopukhin was right: his candle, Peter, was blown out, and the candle of the son of the hated Tsarevich Alexei flared up. The same age as the late Shishechka, the orphan Pyotr Alekseevich, not warmed by either the love of loved ones or the attention of nannies, grew up, and everyone who was waiting for the end of the tsar rejoiced - the Lopukhins and many other enemies of the reformer.

Peter thought hard about the future: he was left with Catherine and three "robbers" - Annushka, Lizanka and Natalyushka. And in order to untie his hands, on February 5, 1722, he adopted a unique legal act - the "Charter on the succession to the throne." The meaning of the “Charter” was clear to everyone: the tsar, breaking the tradition of transferring the throne from father to son and then to grandson, reserved the right to appoint any of his subjects as heirs. He called the old order "an unkind old custom." It was difficult to come up with a more vivid expression of autocracy - now the tsar controlled not only today, but also tomorrow of the country. And on November 15, 1723, a manifesto was published on the upcoming coronation of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Evgeny Anisimov. "Women on the Russian Throne".

Yuri Chistyakov.
"Emperor Peter I".
1986.

"Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of the Peter and Paul Fortress and Trinity Square."
1723.

In 1720, Peter laid the foundation for Russian archeology. In all dioceses, he ordered to collect ancient letters, historical manuscripts and early printed books from monasteries and churches. Governors, lieutenant governors and provincial authorities are ordered to inspect, disassemble and write off all this. This measure was not successful, and subsequently Peter, as we shall see, changed it.

N. I. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures. St. Petersburg, "All". 2005 year.

Sergei Kirillov.
Study of Peter's head for the painting "Thoughts about Russia" (Peter the Great).
1984.

Sergei Kirillov.
Thoughts about Russia (Peter the Great).
1984.

P. Subeyran.
"PeterI».
Engraving from the original by L. Caravacca.
1743.

P. Subeyran.
"Peter I".
Engraving after the original by L. Caravacca.
1743.

Dmitry Kardovsky.
"The Senate of Peter the Great".
1908.

Peter denied himself and the Senate the right to issue verbal decrees. According to the General Regulations of February 28, 1720, only written decrees of the tsar and the Senate are legally obligatory for collegiums.

Sergei Kirillov.
"Portrait of Peter the Great".
1995.

Adolf Iosifovich Charlemagne.
"Peter I announces the Peace of Nishtad".

The conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt was celebrated with a seven-day masquerade. Peter was beside himself with joy that he had ended the endless war, and, forgetting his years and ailments, he sang songs and danced around the tables. The celebration took place in the building of the Senate. In the midst of the feast, Peter got up from the table and went to sleep on the yacht that stood on the banks of the Neva, ordering the guests to wait for his return. The abundance of wine and noise at this long celebration did not prevent the guests from feeling bored and burdened by the obligatory fun along the line, even with a fine for evasion (50 rubles, about 400 rubles for our money). A thousand masks walked, pushed, drank, danced for a whole week, and everyone was happy, happy when they lasted the service fun until the specified time.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005 year.

"Celebration at Peter's".

By the end of the Northern War, a significant calendar of annual court holidays proper was compiled, which included victorious celebrations, and from 1721 they were joined by the annual celebration of the Peace of Nystadt. But Peter especially liked to have fun on the occasion of the descent of a new ship: he was happy with the new ship, like a newborn brainchild. In that century they drank a lot everywhere in Europe, no less than now, and in the highest circles, especially the courtiers, perhaps even more. The Petersburg court did not lag behind its foreign models.

Thrifty in everything, Peter did not spare the cost of drinking, with which they sprayed a newly built swimmer. All the upper capital society of both sexes was invited to the ship. These were real sea drinking parties, those to which the saying goes or from which the saying goes that the sea is knee-deep drunk. They used to drink until General-Admiral old man Apraksin began to cry, overflow with burning tears, that he, in his old age, was left an orphan round, without a father, without a mother. And the Minister of War, His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov, will fall under the table, and his frightened Princess Dasha will come running from the ladies' half to take a piss and scrub her lifeless spouse. But the feast didn't always end so easily. At the table, Peter will flare up at someone and, irritated, will run away to the ladies' half, forbidding the interlocutors to disperse until he returns, and the soldier will be assigned to the exit. While Catherine did not calm the dispersed tsar, did not put him to bed and did not let him sleep, everyone sat in their places, drank and was bored.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005 year.

Jacopo Amigoni (Amiconi).
"Peter I with Minerva (with the allegorical figure of Glory)".
Between 1732-1734.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburgsky.
The Persian campaign of Peter the Great. Emperor Peter I is the first to land on the shore.

Louis Caravacc.
"Portrait of Peter I".
1722.

Louis Caravacc.
"Portrait of Peter I".

"Portrait of Peter I".
Russia. XVIII century.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Jean Marc Nattier.
"Portrait of Peter I in knightly armor."

The Journal of Peter the Great, published by Prince Shcherbatov half a century after Peter's death, is, according to historians, a work that we have the right to regard as the work of Peter himself. This “journal” is nothing more than the History of the Svean (that is, Swedish) war, which Peter waged for most of his reign.

Feofan Prokopovich, Baron Huissen, cabinet-secretary Makarov, Shafirov and some other close associates of Peter worked on the preparation of this "History". In the archives of the Cabinet of Peter the Great, eight preliminary editions of this work were kept, five of which were corrected by the hand of Peter himself.
Having familiarized himself upon his return from the Persian campaign with the edition of the “History of the Svean War”, prepared as a result of four years of work by Makarov, Peter “with his usual fervor and attention, read the entire work with a pen in his hand and did not leave a single page uncorrected in it ... Few places of Makarov’s work survived: everything important, the main thing belongs to Peter himself, especially since the articles left by him unchanged were written out by the editor from his own draft papers or from journals edited by his own hand. Peter attached great importance to this work and, doing it, appointed a special day for his historical studies - Saturday morning.

"Portrait of Peter I".
1717.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

"Portrait of Peter I".
Copy from the original by J. Nattier.
1717.

"Emperor PeterIAlexeyevich".

"Portrait of PeterI».

Peter almost did not know the world: all his life he fought with someone, now with his sister, then with Turkey, Sweden, even Persia. Since the autumn of 1689, when the reign of Princess Sophia ended, out of the 35 years of his reign, only one year, 1724, passed quite peacefully, and from other years you can get no more than 13 peaceful months.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005.

"Peter the Great in his workshop".
1870.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

A. Shkhonebek. The head of Peter is made by A. Zubov.
"Peter I".
1721.

Sergei Prisekin.
"Peter I".
1992.

Saint-Simon was, in particular, a master of dynamic portraiture, able to convey contrasting features and thus create the person he writes about. Here is what he wrote about Peter in Paris: “Peter I, Tsar of Muscovy, both at home and throughout Europe and Asia acquired such a loud and well-deserved name that I will not take it upon myself to portray this great and glorious sovereign, equal to to the greatest men of antiquity, the wonder of this age, the wonder of the ages to come, the object of the greedy curiosity of all Europe. The exclusivity of this sovereign's journey to France, in its extraordinary nature, it seems to me, is worth it not to forget its slightest details and to tell about it without interruption ...

Peter was a man of very tall stature, very slender, rather thin; the face had a round, large forehead, beautiful eyebrows, the nose was rather short, but not too round at the end, the lips were thick; the complexion is reddish and swarthy, fine black eyes, large, lively, penetrating and well-defined, a look majestic and pleasant when he is in control of himself; otherwise, stern and severe, accompanied by a convulsive movement that distorted his eyes and his whole physiognomy and gave it a formidable look. This was repeated, however, not often; moreover, the wandering and terrible look of the king lasted only one moment, he immediately recovered.

His whole appearance revealed in him intelligence, thoughtfulness, grandeur and was not devoid of grace. He wore a round, dark brown, powderless wig that didn't reach his shoulders; a tight-fitting dark camisole, smooth, with gold buttons, stockings of the same color, but did not wear gloves or cuffs - there was an order star on the chest over the dress, and a ribbon under the dress. The dress was often completely unbuttoned; the hat was always on the table, he did not wear it even in the street. With all this simplicity, sometimes in a bad carriage and almost without an escort, it was impossible not to recognize him by the majestic appearance that was characteristic of him.

How much he drank and ate at lunch and dinner is incomprehensible ... His retinue at the table drank and ate even more, and at 11 am exactly the same as at 8 pm.

The Tsar understood French well and, I think, could speak this language if he wanted to; but, for greater grandeur, he had an interpreter; he spoke Latin and other languages ​​very well…”
I think it will not be an exaggeration to say that there is no other equally magnificent verbal portrait of Peter, which we have just given.

Ilya Feinberg. "Reading Pushkin's Notebooks". Moscow, "Soviet Writer". 1985

August Tolyander.
"Portrait of Peter I".

The fact that Peter I, reforming the state-administrative administration of Russia, created 12 collegiums instead of the previous orders, is known to every schoolchild. But few people know which colleges Peter founded. It turns out that out of all 12 colleges, three were considered the main ones: military, naval and foreign affairs. Three colleges were in charge of the financial affairs of the state: revenues - the Chamber College, expenses - the State College, control - the Audit College. The affairs of trade and industry were conducted by commercial, manufactory and berg colleges. Completed a number of lawyers-college, the spiritual board - the synod - and the chief magistrate, who was in charge of city affairs. It is easy to see what a colossal development technology and industry have received over the past 250 years: affairs that were in charge of only two collegiums in the time of Peter the Great - the manufactory collegium and the berg collegium, are now managed by about fifty ministries!

"Technology for the youth". 1986