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Portrait of tsar Peter I
Alexey Antropov • Painting, 1770, 268×159 cm
Description of the artwork «Portrait of tsar Peter I»
Anyone would hardly dare to call the Antropov’s Portrait of Peter I, commissioned by the Synod and now presented in the State Russian Museum, a masterpiece. It was painted at the very end of the 1860s: Antropov was already over fifty at that time, and his talent entered the stage of extinction. However, being an artist of the Holy Synod and supervising younger (often more talented and modern) artists, Antropov himself continued to work a lot, albeit without any special innovations, but conscientiously and soundly, as he was taught from childhood, as the son of a gunsmith...
The Portrait of Tsar Peter I is a ceremonial image with all the attributes inevitable for this genre: a column, scarlet velvet, folds of lush draperies. But it is noteworthy that these obligatory details are given in abundance: Antropov seems to deliberately multiply everything by two. Not only is the throne upholstered with purple velvet, but the table is also laid with it. The column is not the only one, as is usually the case, there are two of them: the second one, with the Corinthian order, is decorative. Draperies of precious fabrics are virtually duplicated in shape in Peter’s mantle and in the curtain above the column. Traditionally, there are many golden details: a large imperial crown, the back of the throne, fringes and tassels, weapons, and the clothing decoration. Apparently, such redundancy (even by the standards of a ceremonial portrait) must have been the ultimate expression of luxury for the artist. Antropov painted the Portrait of Tsar Peter I for placing it in the chamber of the Holy Synod, and he, probably, wanted to please the specific tastes of the church elite in that way.
As model for the face of Peter I, Antropov used the portraits by Jean-Marc Nattier that had been created much earlier, during the life of the emperor (for example, see the Portrait of Peter I in Knightly Armor). But the Versailles artist painted Peter in his youth, and his brilliant state work was only a potency, whereas the Antropov’s task was retrospective — to reflect the already accomplished state-making undertakings of Peter in the ceremonial portrait. This required additional attributes. For example, the open book on the table is the Spiritual Regulation adopted by Peter after he subordinated the church to the state and established the Holy Synod to replace the patriarchate institution.
We can observe another pictorial hint of Peter’s reforms in the opening of the arch. This is a rather skilfully executed view of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It is intended to indicate the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter, the new capital of the Tsardom of Muscovy transformed into an empire.
Peter’s pose looks artificial and slightly awkward. This is partly due to Antropov’s insufficient skill in rendering anatomy and movement, partly because of the fact that at the late 18th century in Russia, human subjects were still painted from mannequins dressed in appropriate costumes. On the other hand, the portrait reveals how diligently Antropov tried to get away from parsuna, an archaic flat image of the 17th century, and convey the depth of the space through light and shadow.
Antropov looks at Peter I through the prism of solemn idealization, and in this sense, the picture is significantly inferior to the portrait of Peter III by Antropov's hand. In the later work, the artist dared to depict the contemporary emperor with his individual flaws: the big belly, the frog’s mouth, the small head. But the legendary emperor, “our sovereign Peter” is depicted not so much as a living person, but as a state function, a walking mannequin. And that is why the Antropov’s portrait of Tsar Peter I has more of a memorial and historical value than artistic.
Written by Anna Vcherashniaya
The Portrait of Tsar Peter I is a ceremonial image with all the attributes inevitable for this genre: a column, scarlet velvet, folds of lush draperies. But it is noteworthy that these obligatory details are given in abundance: Antropov seems to deliberately multiply everything by two. Not only is the throne upholstered with purple velvet, but the table is also laid with it. The column is not the only one, as is usually the case, there are two of them: the second one, with the Corinthian order, is decorative. Draperies of precious fabrics are virtually duplicated in shape in Peter’s mantle and in the curtain above the column. Traditionally, there are many golden details: a large imperial crown, the back of the throne, fringes and tassels, weapons, and the clothing decoration. Apparently, such redundancy (even by the standards of a ceremonial portrait) must have been the ultimate expression of luxury for the artist. Antropov painted the Portrait of Tsar Peter I for placing it in the chamber of the Holy Synod, and he, probably, wanted to please the specific tastes of the church elite in that way.
As model for the face of Peter I, Antropov used the portraits by Jean-Marc Nattier that had been created much earlier, during the life of the emperor (for example, see the Portrait of Peter I in Knightly Armor). But the Versailles artist painted Peter in his youth, and his brilliant state work was only a potency, whereas the Antropov’s task was retrospective — to reflect the already accomplished state-making undertakings of Peter in the ceremonial portrait. This required additional attributes. For example, the open book on the table is the Spiritual Regulation adopted by Peter after he subordinated the church to the state and established the Holy Synod to replace the patriarchate institution.
We can observe another pictorial hint of Peter’s reforms in the opening of the arch. This is a rather skilfully executed view of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It is intended to indicate the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter, the new capital of the Tsardom of Muscovy transformed into an empire.
Peter’s pose looks artificial and slightly awkward. This is partly due to Antropov’s insufficient skill in rendering anatomy and movement, partly because of the fact that at the late 18th century in Russia, human subjects were still painted from mannequins dressed in appropriate costumes. On the other hand, the portrait reveals how diligently Antropov tried to get away from parsuna, an archaic flat image of the 17th century, and convey the depth of the space through light and shadow.
Antropov looks at Peter I through the prism of solemn idealization, and in this sense, the picture is significantly inferior to the portrait of Peter III by Antropov's hand. In the later work, the artist dared to depict the contemporary emperor with his individual flaws: the big belly, the frog’s mouth, the small head. But the legendary emperor, “our sovereign Peter” is depicted not so much as a living person, but as a state function, a walking mannequin. And that is why the Antropov’s portrait of Tsar Peter I has more of a memorial and historical value than artistic.
Written by Anna Vcherashniaya
