Monument to F.M. Dostoevsky
On one of the streets of St. Petersburg, opposite the Vladimir Cathedral, the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky sits in sad thoughts.
Address:
St. Petersburg, Bolshaya Moskovskaya street
The painful fate of the genius seemed to predetermine the thorny path of his sculpture, conceived by the sculptor Lyubov Kholina in the middle of the last century and only forty years later embodied in bronze.
The Soviet government, although it recognized Dostoevsky as a great writer, nevertheless classified him as an opportunist and was not interested in his popularization.
For this reason, the party leadership of Leningrad for many years “rejected” the very idea of installing a monument. In 1987, Kholina had the idea to “seat” the rebellious classic in a park, not far from the Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: this way the Dostoevsky Museum would be organically supplemented from the street.
Alas, the idea was not useful, but after a short time, quite officially, the artists were offered a creative competition for the best design of the monument.
In 1990, Lyubov Kholina, in collaboration with her son Pyotr Ignatiev and grandson Pavel Ignatiev, won the competition, intending to erect an impressive monument at the intersection of two canals - Griboyedov and Kryukov.
Lyubov Mikhailovna imagined that Dostoevsky would open up to the eye, as if “growing” through granite. The plan seemed too extravagant to the officials, and they decided to place the monument opposite the Vladimir Cathedral, on Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, where Fyodor Mikhailovich often liked to walk and relax on a bench.
At first glance, it seems that the classic figure is carved out of stone, but this is a deceptive impression - in fact, bronze was used to make it.
Dostoevsky is no longer young, he sits with his fingers intertwined, his head slightly lowered: either he is thinking about his difficult lot, or he is reflecting on the passions and vices of all humanity.
Or maybe he is simply exhausted from his daily creative slavery, which forced him to compose without stopping in order to provide for his family. The monument to Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg is highly appreciated by professionals and amateurs, paying tribute to the extraordinary talent of the sculptor.
True, experts believe that the external framing of the statue, entrusted to the architect Spiridonov, turned out to be vulgar due to the use of paving slabs and lanterns that set the teeth on edge. Nevertheless, this monument, inaugurated in St. Petersburg in 1997, is still considered by art historians to be one of the most mature and philosophically filled monuments of recent times, both in form and content.
The Soviet government, although it recognized Dostoevsky as a great writer, nevertheless classified him as an opportunist and was not interested in his popularization.
For this reason, the party leadership of Leningrad for many years “rejected” the very idea of installing a monument. In 1987, Kholina had the idea to “seat” the rebellious classic in a park, not far from the Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: this way the Dostoevsky Museum would be organically supplemented from the street.
Alas, the idea was not useful, but after a short time, quite officially, the artists were offered a creative competition for the best design of the monument.
In 1990, Lyubov Kholina, in collaboration with her son Pyotr Ignatiev and grandson Pavel Ignatiev, won the competition, intending to erect an impressive monument at the intersection of two canals - Griboyedov and Kryukov.
Lyubov Mikhailovna imagined that Dostoevsky would open up to the eye, as if “growing” through granite. The plan seemed too extravagant to the officials, and they decided to place the monument opposite the Vladimir Cathedral, on Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, where Fyodor Mikhailovich often liked to walk and relax on a bench.
At first glance, it seems that the classic figure is carved out of stone, but this is a deceptive impression - in fact, bronze was used to make it.
Dostoevsky is no longer young, he sits with his fingers intertwined, his head slightly lowered: either he is thinking about his difficult lot, or he is reflecting on the passions and vices of all humanity.
Or maybe he is simply exhausted from his daily creative slavery, which forced him to compose without stopping in order to provide for his family. The monument to Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg is highly appreciated by professionals and amateurs, paying tribute to the extraordinary talent of the sculptor.
True, experts believe that the external framing of the statue, entrusted to the architect Spiridonov, turned out to be vulgar due to the use of paving slabs and lanterns that set the teeth on edge. Nevertheless, this monument, inaugurated in St. Petersburg in 1997, is still considered by art historians to be one of the most mature and philosophically filled monuments of recent times, both in form and content.
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