Romanov Riches: Russian Writers and Artists Under the Tsars

According to the populist critic Nikolai Dobroliubov, Peter I “cast off the ancient, obsolete forms in which the highest authority existed before him; but the essence remained the same even under him … In a sailor’s jacket, with an ax in his hand, he held his kingdom just as terrifyingly and powerfully as had his predecessors dressed in porphyry and seated on a golden throne with a scepter in their hands.”²⁸

Peter’s attitude toward culture in general, and literature and art in particular, was utilitarian. His main goal was the creation of a strong, modern army and navy. This attitude was reflected in the books of Peter’s personal library, in which most of the more than fifteen hundred volumes were devoted to military studies and shipbuilding, followed by historical works and books on architecture and parks.

In his desire to strengthen “order and defense,” Peter shook up the country. His radical cultural initiatives were part of that shake-up. Merely a listing of those initiatives is impressive: an unprecedented secularization of culture; the establishment in 1703 of Russia’s first printed newspaper, Bulletin on Military and Other Affairs, Worthy of Being Known and Remembered, Occurring in the Muscovite State and Other Neighboring Countries; and the expansion of the network of printing presses that began producing “civil” books—that is, set in the new, simplified type.

Later, the great scientist and poet Mikhail Lomonosov drew a parallel between this last innovation and the tsar’s enforced Europeanization of his subjects’ appearance: “Under Peter the Great not only the boyars and their wives, but even the letters threw off their wide fur coats and dressed in summer clothing.”²⁹

One of the most notable steps in the change of Russia’s political and cultural image was the establishment in 1703 of the city of St. Petersburg in the mouth of the Neva River; it became the official new capital in 1712. The tsar was particularly proud of that action, fantastic in both its boldness and irrationality, and he never failed to include it in lists of his main achievements. In terms of culture, St. Petersburg became a laboratory for elaborating the architectural and behavioral models that Peter wanted to extend throughout the country.

Private brick buildings, European-style parks, and streets paved with stones and illuminated by streetlamps first appeared in Russia in St. Petersburg. Peter’s favorite creation was the Summer Garden, which abutted his summer residence; he had personally drawn the original plans for it. An inveterate teacher, the tsar told his gardener, “I want people who stroll here in the garden to find something edifying.”³⁰

Rejecting the gardener’s suggestion to place books on the benches, Peter ordered sculptural groups depicting the characters of Aesop’s fables, which he loved, for the park. The groups ornamented the fountains. A metal sign at each fountain gave the fable’s text in large letters. Peter liked to gather strollers and explain the meanings of the depicted stories.

Another educational measure was the installation of a Roman marble statue of Venus, bought on Peter’s orders in Italy in 1719. This was a direct challenge to the Orthodox Church, which banned sculptural depictions of people in general (it was considered pagan idolatry), and of naked women in particular.

In Russia, the marble Venus was immediately dubbed the “white she-devil,” and of course would have been vandalized if Peter had not prudently posted guards. Bringing stunned (and probably secretly indignant) guests over to his beloved Venus, Peter tried to teach them the basics of mythology, which he knew rather well.

Still, Peter’s erudition was basically utilitarian. The great German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz, at one time Peter’s adviser, recalled the tsar’s statement that he found more beauty in well-working machinery than in lovely paintings. According to Alexandre Benois, Peter made a great mistake: wanting to reform Russian art, he took as his model provincial Dutch culture, bringing in second-rate masters and thereby slowing Russia’s artistic progress.

Benois did not understand that Peter was not interested in importing the most fashionable or sophisticated European art; he wanted what he considered most useful and necessary for Russia’s current needs.

What Peter needed most of all were craftsmen who could build and design St. Petersburg; he insisted that the European architects, sculptors, and artists he hired be jacks-of-all-trades. By that time in Europe, the leading artists were primarily narrow specialists: some did portraits, others still lifes, and still others historical paintings.