"The Battle of the Ice" in images and paintings
HELL. Kivshenko. "Prince Alexander hurts Jarl Birger", 1888. Well, what can you say? There is no living place in this picture from the point of view of historical realism. Not a single one! It was necessary to be able to do so ... And he also painted The Council at Fili ...
Then Prince Alexander spoke
and with him many others
Russians from Suzdal.
They had countless onions,
a lot of beautiful armor.
Their banners were rich
their helmets radiated light.
Elder Livonian Rhymed Chronicle
and with him many others
Russians from Suzdal.
They had countless onions,
a lot of beautiful armor.
Their banners were rich
their helmets radiated light.
Elder Livonian Rhymed Chronicle
Art and story. "And where is the" Slaughter "? Such came to me from readers of "VO" after the publication of the material about the Battle of Kulikovo in images and paintings. And with “The Slaughter” it was like this: there was a time when it was very reluctant to write it. Then, on the contrary, unless the lazy did not write it. So to give an analysis to all the pictures in which it is depicted is simply physically impossible. But the topic is certainly very interesting, so it's time to consider it. But we will have to start ... again, from the newspaper Pravda, which on April 5, 1942, that is, just in time for the anniversary, published an article devoted to this event. Another material, even with a picture, was published by the Moscow Bolshevik newspaper.
An editorial from Pravda on April 5, 1942. Please note that the text does not mention the drowning of knights in the lake. And why? Yes, because this is not in the earliest and most authentic annalistic texts. So the Pravda reporters compiled “truthful” material that no historian could have found fault with, neither ours nor foreign, because Pravda always writes ... the truth!
An article in the newspaper Moscow Bolshevik. But the newspaper "Moscow Bolsheviks" no one in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks could not forbid fantasies, and the journalists "dragged on" it completely! And in the picture there are both armor and horns - in a word, a complete gentlemanly set of “chained knights”, who in the end, of course, are drowning!
By this time, Eisenstein's film “Alexander Nevsky” was already everywhere on the screens of the USSR, which was first released, then, after August 23, 1939, was removed from the box and put on a shelf, but after June 22, 1941 it was again released, though and not right away, but only after the words of Stalin that we must equal our heroic ancestors in the struggle against the enemies of our Motherland.
N.K. Roerich. “Alexander strikes with the spear of Jarl Birger,” 1904 Actually, at first, they somehow even more often painted Prince Alexander, “who placed the seal on Birger’s face with a spear”. So N. Roerich paid tribute to this plot and in his decorative manner wrote ... a purely decorative picture. It is interesting that Alexander holds a spear with two hands on it, "in Sarmatian style", which in 1240 was not practiced for at least 500 years
His second painting, The Russian War, on the same subject, but written in 1942, is equally decorative and exotic.
Well, then the paintings on this epic topic fell like a cornucopia. And it’s clear why ...
V. A. Serov painted two paintings. The first is the battle itself and the second: "The entrance of Alexander Nevsky to Pskov after the Battle of the Ice." It is interesting that the latter somehow has something in common ... with the "Boyar Morozova." And here we, in fact, have nothing to look for. There is a prince, captive Germans have stirrups, people are present and rejoicing ... There is nothing to complain about.
But where is the battle ...
“Entrance of Alexander Nevsky to Pskov after the Battle of Ice” by V. A. Serov
"Battle on the Ice". V.A. Serov, 1942. Here, of course, everything is more interesting. We will not talk about faces, postures - they are “full of anger and determination”, as it should be. But this is probably the first time that the artist has drawn helmets ... from the movie. Yes, look at the “miracle man” in the center of the canvas, with a round shield and a sword. On his head he has a “helmet" exactly the same from the movie "Alexander Nevsky". Topfhelm with horns is also lying around, well, how could it be without them. And so I would like to ask: in which of the branches of Mostorg, which sells hardware, the author looked at the ax in the guy’s hand in a sheepskin coat, with which he chopped a German in the snow? Well after all Armory the chamber in Moscow, the State Historical Museum in Moscow, and the difference between the battle axes and the workers that were in use in the XNUMXth century was already known. But no, he did not bother with all this. The simpler the better!
That is, this began, and then the examples of glaring negligence, completely unworthy of domestic history, began to multiply and multiply, and multiply. Here, for example, the artist Dmitry Kostylev. And he graduated, and a member of prestigious unions, and went to the open air to France ... In a word, master. He writes to himself: “Creativity for me is an attempt to find answers to the eternal questions of human existence ... And appeal to worthy and strong personalities of the past and the present - such as St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow or Peter I, the Russian Emperor, and others, comes from the desire to come closer to this goal on the examples of their lives ... ”Wonderful! And this is how it is decided in color ...
The prince is written out as it should. Eagle prince (figure on the left), of course. But what skill did the artist lack for his opponent? What is this helmet on him? Worn on the head of microcephalus, not otherwise? But there is also hair and a balaclava ... And then there are horns in the form of a lyre ... Well, after all, it’s known that the knights of St. Mary Teutonic had the charter of the Templars and they were forbidden to decorate their weapons (including helmets), and even more so to cling to them the horns of the unclean! The Livonian Chronicle says: “brothers in rich helmets,” that is, gilded, because this signifies gilding and wealth, and protects from rust. The shoulder ... and the back are clearly armor. But what armor in 1242? And by the way, where does the hand go further from the shoulder, or did it cut off with its shield? No hands, but an artist! And after all, when he draws naked girls, then everything is in place
The "Battle" of the work of V. M. Nazaruk. Here again, one continuous epic. And actually, the name "Flood" would have been much more suitable for her!
The “Slaughter” of Prisekin S. N.
Here we see, directly, a riot of the author’s limitless imagination. We start from left to right and already have a long laugh. First of all, an archer in a cuirass and bourguignot helmet, that is, in armor somewhere in the middle of the 1242th century. Here again, a bunch of helmets from Nevsky ..., and the crossbowman stands in plain sight and turns the Nuremberg collar, which also had not been invented in XNUMX. Prince Alexander lost his helmet somewhere, but didn’t abandon the battle, well, it happens, but it’s different: a man in an underwear shirt with a three-piece pitchfork. And the Germans, and with halberds, are one another more wonderful. It can be seen from the Swiss mercenaries borrowed after the battle of Zempach. And those then were easier. And those here, in the picture, are already the XVII century, no less! Well, in the foreground, of course, who? A man in bast shoes! But bast shoes were the working shoes of peasants, and summer ones. On the history of the distribution of bast shoes in Russia, there is a rich historiography and a whole range of opinions, often mutually opposed. It is also known that the best was put on the war in order to impress the enemy. So although there is no unanimous opinion about bast shoes, I would not begin to draw the foreman in the foreground. What a strange desire to stick out our modesty? What for? He would have put some goat leather props on him. Did they do such then? And the picture would not get worse from this!
The painting by V.V. Matorin surprises others. A mass of infantry in white ... And where are the riders? It is said: the brothers went “pig”. But this is a cavalry system. Or the infantrymen of the order, dressed in chain mail, fled so briskly that they were on the line of contact at the same time as the riders?
The painting by A. I. Borisov is made in the best traditions of the worst socialist realism. All knights in armor of the XNUMXth century and the infantry rushing, putting forward halberds
In the 90s, many battle paintings were painted by the artist Igor Dzys. And among his works there is also a “Slaughter”. And this work of his (see below) is a great example of what an artist can do, who, firstly, knows how to draw, and secondly, knows the historical realities, that is, the material component of culture, the statutes of knightly orders, and most importantly - understands the difference between single and mass. And on this canvas of his there is a single, and mass, and corresponding to the era, and which can correspond - in a word, this is perhaps the only work that can be set by other artists as an example.
Painting I. Dzysya
But the artist E. Emelyanov worked on his large-scale canvas for almost 10 years. And in this he came out with a huge diorama, exhibited by him at the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg. And everything seems to be fine: the order flag with three plaits, and the knights, as if from the Osprey publication, are recognizable, but ... anyway, the ice breaks, the knights drown - and where? In the lake, where a sparrow knee-deep! For 10 years, one could already find the answer to this "sore question" of our time ...
The work of D. Gordeev
If you look at his blog, then individually the soldiers will look very good. But in the picture we see that both the knights and our warriors use spears quite incorrectly. So they used the "Tapestry from Bayeux." But then, the dominant technique was the caching of the spear (that is, when it is clamped under the arm!), Because the spears themselves became longer! And for some reason they all belong to the order of the Dobrzynski brothers. Maybe their battle with Daniel Galitsky, who defeated them in 1237, is shown here? Because on Lake Peipsi, the knights were with black crosses. Well, why did a knight in a horned helmet bow his head so "violently"? In order not to see anything in the helmet slit? That is, it is not enough to know who was dressed at the time. We must also have an idea of tactics and not interfere with cavalry and infantry in the forefront!
And here is the creation of A. Yezhov (2009)
By this time, as they say, well, everything, everything became known, everything is there, the Internet is working - take and write. Or ... draw. So no! We look at "it" carefully. God be with him, with a knight that crawls out of the hole. But you see how Prince Alexander, being on a horse somewhat behind the German knight in the center, nevertheless manages to hit him with a spear in the chest! Well, it doesn’t happen and it wasn’t necessary to draw like that! And he painted, saw that he was mistaken, so it was possible and necessary to redraw, and not make people laugh who are looking at such "revelations" of our "artists"!
But this is the metro in St. Petersburg. Mosaic "Battle of the Ice" at the metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square." And for the mosaic panel is very good. It is not clear why the order’s cross is red and not black, and how the rider swings his sword with his two hands at his opponent, and so ... nothing at all. Well, why are the Germans horns? Tea, not a cow ...
- Vyacheslav Shpakovsky
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