Monument to Suvorov - a monument to the Russian military leader,
Generalissimo Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov in St. Petersburg.
It
is located on Suvorovskaya Square opposite the Field of Mars and Trinity
Bridge, between the Marble Palace and
the house of Count Saltykov.
The monument to Suvorov was erected by order of Emperor Paul I,
during whose reign the commander made his famous campaign in Italy, for
which he received the title "Prince of Italy". The monument was ordered,
designed and approved during the life of Suvorov. Pavel ordered a
monument to Suvorov to be erected, since this was how the merits of
commanders in Ancient Rome were celebrated. The monument to Suvorov is
the first monument in Russia to an uncrowned person. Prior to that, in
Russia, monuments were erected only to tsars and emperors.
The
authorship of the monument belongs to the sculptor M. I. Kozlovsky, who
worked on the monument from 1799 to 1801. Kozlovsky's project was
approved by the highest in January 1800.
The figure of Suvorov is
made of bronze. The monument has no portrait resemblance to the field
marshal. The sculptor created an allegorical figure in the image of the
god of war Mars, in ancient Roman armor, in a helmet, with a raised
sword in his right hand and with a shield decorated with the Russian
coat of arms in his left (in life, Suvorov was short and thin). This
approach fully reflects the aesthetics of the early stage of development
of Russian classicism.
Next to the figure is an altar, on which
lie the crowns of Naples and Sardinia, as well as the papal tiara -
Suvorov, as if protecting them, covers them with a shield. On three
sides of the altar there are bas-reliefs "Faith", "Hope", "Love".
The granite pedestal of the monument, designed by Voronikhin, is
decorated with figures of two winged geniuses - Peace and Glory, who
overshadow a shield with an inscription with palm and laurel branches:
"Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymnik. 1801".
Bent banners
are depicted below the shield.
The grand opening of the monument
took place on May 5 (17), 1801, on the anniversary of the death of the
commander. By this time, neither Suvorov nor Pavel was alive; the
opening was attended by their sons, Prince Arkady Suvorov and Alexander
I.
Models of the monument are kept in the Hermitage, the Russian
Museum, the Museum of Urban Sculpture, and the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery.
Emperor Paul I intended to erect a monument in front of the southern
facade of the Mikhailovsky Castle, but in March 1800 Suvorov fell out of
favor. Then the emperor returned to the previous decision to install a
monument to Peter the Great in front of the facade of the Mikhailovsky
Castle. As a result, a monument to Field Marshal Suvorov was erected on
the opposite side of the Tsaritsyn Meadow (now the Field of Mars) near
the Moika River.
In 1818, during the reign of Emperor Alexander
I, at the suggestion of K. I. Rossi, in connection with the
reconstruction of buildings on the Field of Mars, the monument was moved
to a modern place on the Neva embankment, to the square called
Suvorovskaya.
In 1834, the cracked marble pedestal was replaced
by a granite one of the same shape.