Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich: biography, photos, sculptures

Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich is one of the greatest sculptors of Russian classicism, whose work is imbued with high ideas of enlightenment, vivid emotionality and sublime humanism. In the opinion of art criticism of the early XIX century, each of his works "reveals a lot of imagination, feelings, original look and masterful hand of the author."

Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky - a sculptor, of all Russian artists, lived, perhaps, the shortest, but also the most brilliant life. Special interest of the creator was caused by characters of antique myths and Russian history. It was in them that he found ideals, important not only for his contemporaries, but also for posterity.

Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich: Biography

The future famous sculptor was born in 1753, in the family of the trumpeter of the galley fleet, on one of the maritime outskirts of Petersburg. His childhood passed here.

At the age of eleven (1764), Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky forever parted with the parents' house and, upon a petition, enlarged the number of pupils of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. At this time in European art - sculpture, architecture, painting - matured and gradually developed classicism. The brightest representative of this trend in the art of Russia was the outstanding sculptor Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich.

Brief biography of the sculptor:

• 1773: graduated from the Academy with a large gold medal;
• 1774-1778: lives in Rome as an academic boarder;
• 1780: The Marseilles Academy of Arts awards him the title of academician;
• 1784-1785 .: for the executed marble statue of Catherine II in the image of the ancient goddess of wisdom, Minerva gained wide popularity and recognition of contemporaries (the work embodied enlightening ideas about the ideal monarch - wise legislator and defender of the Fatherland);
• In the beginning of 1788 he again goes abroad (to Paris) for study;
• 1790: Mikhail Kozlovsky returns to his homeland, creates a cycle of idyllic sculptures;
• In 1796 creates an extensive series of sculptural sketches on the theme of the Trojan War, all this period is marked by the search for monumentality, a new feature that has become one of the components of the artist's further work;
• In the period from 1799 to 1801 he worked on the monument to commander AV Suvorov, who glorified the Russian army by the recent victory in the Italian campaigns;
• In 1802, Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky, in the prime of his strength and talent, suddenly dies.

He was originally buried in the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery. In 1931, the burial was transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the Lazarevskoye Cemetery

Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich: sculptures

The artist's works - stately plastics, reliefs, monumental sculpture and gravestones - are imbued with deep emotion and sublime humanism.

In the style of his works, the influence of the aesthetics of French sculpture of the fourteenth century is noticeable. The most famous of them are: the monument to AV Suvorov in Petrograd, the statue "Samson tearing the jaws of a lion" (now adorns one of the Peterhof fountains), "Sitting Girl" (Winter Palace) and "Hymen", created on the occasion of the marriage of Konstantin Pavlovich (also now in the Winter Palace), a figure of a man, made to study human anatomy.

His bas-reliefs are also famous: "The Return of Regulus to Carthage", "Camille Relieving Rome of the Gauls" (located in Petrograd, in the Marble Palace), "Beating Babies", "Polycrates", "Amur", "Mercury and Nymph", " Apollo "(contained in the museum of Alexander III).

Early

In the initial period of creativity, the main theme of the sculptor's works is the theme of civic virtue, courage, self-sacrifice and fortitude.

Kozlovsky Mikhail Ivanovich heroes of his reliefs makes outstanding characters from the history of ancient Rome, who in the name of the Fatherland and the common good of the people sacrifice themselves. Such are his works "The Farewell of Regulus to the Citizens of Rome" (1780) and "Camille relieves Rome of the Gauls" (1781).

The sublime and laconic images, the clarity of the composition, the thoughtfulness and clarity of lines and forms are features distinguishing the works on which Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky worked during the initial period of his creative work. Sculptures perfectly combined with the architecture of the building, built in the style of early classicism.

Harmony of sculpture and architecture

Particularly harmonious is the commonwealth of two kinds of arts - sculpture and architecture - manifested in the plaster reliefs created for the Concert Hall in Catherine Park (Tsarskoe Selo). The author of the pavilion, executed in the style of mature classicism, is J. Quarenghi (1783-1788). Relief combines a common theme - music. Orpheus playing the lyre tames wild animals; Apollo, playing music, sweetens the ear of Ceres; Muses show the attributes of the arts - these are the subjects that Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky paid attention to. Works of the master (early reliefs) are distinguished by their rhythmic structure, balanced composition, smoothness of contours and majestic solemnity of images. All these features contribute to the creation of a unique musical atmosphere in the pavilion.

Statue of Catherine II

A large statue of Empress Catherine II in the image of the ancient goddess of wisdom Minerva (Ancient Rome) was created by the sculptor from 1784 to 1785. The Empress is enveloped in an antique cloak and is crowned with a helmet (attributes of the goddess). She points with one hand to the trophies lying at her feet, which symbolize the victories won by her. In another sovereign, she holds a scroll with the laws she has issued for the welfare of her subjects. This is how Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky, the sculptor of which is bearing the stamp of his admiration for the ideas of the Enlightenment, embodies his idea of the ideal monarch, the wise legislator and defender of the Fatherland.

"The Vigil of Alexander the Great"

The marble statue, made in the 1780s, has a complex semantic allegory. The image of the glorious hero of Antiquity also served as a sculptor basis for the embodiment of enlightenment ideals - the education of the desire for knowledge and firm will.

The plastic solution and composition of the statue radiates a spirit of calm grandeur and noble simplicity. The figure is distinguished by strictness and proportionality, a smooth flow of forms and contours.

The body of the young man, as it were, is in a drowsy torpor, his muscles are as if "extinguished" by the thinnest matte marble cover, his head rests on the hand that is leaning against his knee. But the deceptiveness of this tranquility is felt implicitly ...

Outline

Many of the surviving drawings, which in the majority are preparatory sketches for future sculptures, trace their connection with the main direction of the master - in the circle of themes and subjects (mythology, the Bible, the Gospel), in the means of artistic embodiment of ideas.

But a number of drawings Kozlovsky can be considered as independent, finished works of graphics. Among them are the "Death of Hippolytus" created in 1792 and "Theusi leaves Ariadne." Critics point out the dramatic and emotional tension with which these works "breathe".

Polycrates

The period from 1788 to 1790 the sculptor again holds in Paris, where he went to get new knowledge and experience. As a result of the tremendous stream of impressions caused by the events of the revolution that was taking place before his eyes, a new inspiration was born, new themes and subjects appeared.

Revolutionary Paris pushed the sculptor to the idea of engaging in a story from the history of ancient Greece about the death of Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos. The legend of Polycrates served as the sculptor's basis for creating a kind of allegorical response to contemporary events. The work reflected the artist's desire to enrich the figurative language of art. Make it even more expressive. In his sculpture "Polycrates" the spectator is given a passionate thirst for freedom, suffering and a sense of the agonizing doom of the hero.

Incarnation of spiritual purity

In 1792, one of the most remarkable works was completed - a beautiful statue of "Sleeping Cupid" (marble). In it the author created an amazing idyllic and harmonious image.

Its analogue to the mood is the image created in a small statue of "Psyche" (marble, 1801), embodying spiritual purity, nostalgia for a happy, unhindered childhood.

"Samson, tearing the jaws of a lion"

In the spring of 1800, the best Russian masters were attracted to the renovation of the Great Peterhof cascade. Work was conducted for six years.

The central place in the idea was taken by the group created by Kozlovsky - "Samson, tearing the jaws of a lion". In the creation of the sculpture, the author used the allegory that arose in Peter's time, in which the biblical Samson was identified with Saint Sampson, who in the 18th century was considered the patron of Russia. In 1709, the day of the commemoration of his memory (June 27), a glorious victory of the Russians over the Swedes in the famous Poltava battle was won . In the art of the times of Peter I Samson was the personification of victorious Russia, and the lion (the central image of the Swedish emblem) personified the defeated Swedish king.

In the grandiose sculpture, the energetic but restrained movement of the mighty body of Samson is depicted. Spiraling around in space, bending the body so that the titanically tense muscles are clearly visible, sharply taking back his leg and bending his head, the hero with both hands tears the jaws of the lion.

Researchers rightly noted the proximity of the sculpture to the art of Michelangelo. But the ideological and imaginative content of the group, the deep patriotic feeling that Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky embodied in his work (a photo of the sculpture is that testimony), for the attentive spectator is the echo of very different Russians, who speak a lot of traditions that are admired by the national history.

Themes of Russian history

The themes of Russian history are the most exciting direction in the sculptor's work. In the second half of the 1790s he created statues "Prince Yakov Dolgoruky, tearing up the royal decree" and "Hercules on horseback." The most complete desire to create an image of high courage and spiritual nobility realized by the sculptor in his monument to the commander AV Suvorov (Petersburg, 1799-1801).

Intrinsic triumphal monument

The symbolic image, allegorically glorifying Russia and its great commander, was conceived by Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky, a monument to Suvorov.

The work began even during the life of the hero. At the age of seventy, the Generalissimo forced the whole world to applaud the heroic transition of the Russian army through the Alps, unprecedented in history. In 63 battles Russians did not have a single defeat, 619 enemy banners were conquered by the victors. Famous Italian campaigns crowned the Russian army and the military talent of Alexander Suvorov with unfading glory.

The task of the sculptor Kozlovsky was to create a lifetime triumphal monument. Order stipulated the theme: not the deeds of the long heroic life of the great commander, not the uniqueness of his spiritual appearance, but only the exploits in the Italian campaign were to be reflected in the statue.

Portrait of the language of allegory

And the sculptor again turned to the language of allegory. A lightly slender figure on a round pedestal is a young manly warrior in armor, full of strength and impetuous advance. This is the image of the Roman god of the war of Mars. The gesture of the right hand, holding a naked sword, is an extraordinary determination. Vigorously thrown back behind his cloak. A handsome courageous face, proudly raised head, unshakable confidence and all-conquering will, masterfully conveyed in the figure-such is the idealized image of the god of war created by the sculptor.

His shield shields the soldier behind the altar, on which are the Sardinian and Neapolitan crowns, as well as the papal tiara. The symbolic meaning of this image is this: Russian weapons under the leadership of Suvorov defended the interests of the three represented states in the Italian campaign.

On the side faces of the altar are female figures, symbolizing the best of human virtues: hope, faith and love.

On the front side of the pedestal there is an image of crossed laurel and palm branches - a symbol of the commonwealth of geniuses of war and peace.

The shield of the hero is based on the trophies of war - the nucleus, guns, banners. Fence around the monument is a chain of explosive bombs.

The allegorical meaning should be sought in all the details of the statue. And the inscription on the pedestal: "The Prince of Italy, Earl of Suvorov of Rymniki" speaks about who the monument is intended for.

High inner truth

In Kozlovsky's work, only the portrait similarity of the allegorical idealized image created by him with the beloved national hero is remotely visible.

In elongated proportions of the face, deeply planted eyes, large nose and characteristic section of the old, slightly sunken mouth of the bronze war god, contemporaries recognized the features of the great commander.

The similarity is blurry and very distant, the external portrait accuracy was clearly not the priority of the sculptor. Having sacrificed portrait authenticity, he conveyed the unshakable will and all-conquering energy of Suvorov. Kozlovsky the language of allegory - through the assimilation of the god of war - idealized and heroized the image of the great Russian commander for centuries. And in this - the high inner truth of his work.