“Let's take, comrade, Suikov's kaitina“Peace by Eimak Sibia”. On the left are the Cossacks, the drunkards are the Tatai. Gyemyat Cossack samopals - bang-bang-bang. Tatai steles are whistling - zip, zip, zip. Everything got drunk, everything is in motion! Another minute - uyaaaa! Sibius is resting!"
(Art critic in the play by Arkady Raikin)
Art and history. We continue the series of articles devoted to the theme of historicism of the depiction of weapons and armor on the canvases of great masters. The most varied paintings were considered here, and only a few of them in this regard were both historical and realistic, and … pretentious! In some there were too many "but I see it that way", in others the epic just went off scale, thirdly, everything spoiled one or two details. And here a logical question arises, is there, well, let's say, such a picture in which all this is in moderation and which is harmonious just by the fusion of historicism, knowledge of the specifics of clothing and weapons, and epicity? That is, it must be a talented painting. Moreover, this should be precisely a battle canvas, the task of which is to depict the battle of our ancestors for their vital interests. And it should be noted that there is such a picture. And she is well known to everyone. Moreover, she is so well known that she got into an article on "VO" ("" "How Yermak conquered Siberia", December 23, 2010), and in a play by Arkady Raikin from Soviet times.
The idea to paint this picture came to Surikov in 1889, but the idea was an idea, and he began to work directly on it only in 1891. No wonder they say that any idea must mature. Moreover, what is interesting, by his own admission, he did not read the chronicles, but his vision of the picture, nevertheless, developed. However, this is not surprising. How else to show the confrontation between the two forces and the victory of one of them, if not through their clash and dominance of one over the other by depicting the characters of one "power" larger than the characters of the other? “Ours” are located on Surikov's left, because the peculiarities of our artistic perception are such that our gaze slides across the canvas from left to right. And they are larger than the opponents of the Cossacks - the Kuchumites.
The artist began work on the painting in 1891 and completed it in 1895. And it immediately became a landmark event of the 23rd exhibition of the Association of the Itinerants, it was bought by Emperor Nicholas II, and then in 1897 he handed it over to the Russian Museum, where it is located today.
The picture shows us the culminating episode of the Siberian campaign of Yermak Timofeevich (1581-1585) - the battle of 1582 between the Cossacks of Yermak and the army of the Siberian Khan Kuchum. In one of her descriptions I came across a wonderful phrase: "In the artist's interpretation, this event is presented as a national feat, the artist emphasizes the inextricable connection of Russian soldiers with their leader." Well, this is all a tribute to socialist realism, because all the same, if you think about it, can be described in a completely different way: before us is a clash of barbarism and civilization. More technically and socially developed people subjugate more backward people who have become a brake on the path of progress. Who are these people on the left? Outlaw people, typical conquistadors who came here "for zipuns." Who is their leader? The same conquistador like Cortez or Pizarro? There is a difference? There is! Our people needed furs, that is, yasak, an end to predatory raids, that is, the submission of the aborigines to the "white king", and there - live as you want, the souls of the Siberians have not yet been discussed. The Spaniards, in addition to their thirst for gold, also had a concern for the souls of the Indians in their hearts. Be baptized, believe, and live there as you want … In any case, the campaigns of both the conquistadors and the Cossacks were beneficial both to the heads of their states, and to the states themselves: a lot of new land, gold reserves and "fur currency" are always good. So let's not talk about "people's character" and "people's heroism". Otherwise, every successful "godfather" in our country will be considered a national hero … But this does not diminish the essence of the picture and its epic character, as well as the personality of Yermak himself. This is who you need to be, what kind of charisma to have in order to unite all these "very specific character of people" and lead them to unknown lands to battle and to death!
And the artist understands this and puts Ermak in the center of the picture, and even depicts him in profile, with his hand pointing forward. Both him and all his army are overshadowed by banners with the face of the Savior and the equestrian figure of St. George. Banners, most likely, fluttering both on the Kulikovo field and on the Ugra River … Well, now they are fluttering here, that is, our ancestors have reached their "Berlin"!
And the army of Kuchum is masterfully shown. Whoever is there: both Tatars and Evenks, with Ostyaks, warriors and shamans, but all have bows and arrows, although one has a crossbow. But it is obvious that all this mass cannot resist the Cossacks … Not without reason, however, on another occasion, it was very rightly said that “no endurance, no physical strength, no herd and solidarity of mass struggle can give an advantage in the era of guns and cannons!"
Obviously, the artist was primarily attracted to images of people. Yes, this, in fact, was then the tradition - to draw everyone from nature. There would be no overlapping with photographs, collecting other people's canvases with the necessary faces … But no: write, write like that! And the artist went to the Ob, as well as to Tobolsk, and in the summer of 1891 he was already drawing sketches from the Evenks and Ostyaks in the Turukhansk region. In a letter to his brother, he says that he also chose the size of the canvas: "8 yards and 4", that is, it is approximately 5, 6 × 2, 8 meters. And then again trips … In 1892 he went to the Don - to paint portraits of the Cossacks. And again Siberia, Minusinsk Territory, gold mines, where he found "his Yermak", painted images of Tatars, and in the Minusinsk Museum from the ethnographic collection he made sketches of natives' clothes, embroidered with beads and leather patterns. Here he also wrote a sketch "On the River", in which he depicted an arrow standing in the water.
In 1893, Surikov came to the village of Razdorskaya to paint sketches from local Cossacks, whose names have survived to this day. They were Arseny Kovalev, Anton Tuzov, Makar Agarkov, and their faces later appeared on the picture. Moreover, it was Arseny Ivanovich Kovalev who became the prototype of the final image of Ermak, and Makar Agarkov served as the prototype of the Esaul Ivan Koltso. Here, on the Don, he sketched a large Cossack boat, which then also appeared in the picture. And in the same year he again went to the north of Siberia: now to paint portraits of the Ostyaks. In 1894, Surikov again visits Tobolsk and swims along the Irtysh. This is, in general, from whom our artists should learn to paint historical pictures. You need Ostyaks, or, there, Yakuts - you take and go to Siberia to write Ostyaks, Chukchi or Yakuts. I decided to write my vision of the princess's drowning with Razin - you swim along the Volga and Don, looking for types, but for arrowheads and daggers of the Scythians - welcome to the Golden Storeroom of the Hermitage and the Minusinsk Basin. And see, and "soak in the spirit" of this place. I need a lot of money, but just Surikov had it. I didn't live in poverty, that's why I went everywhere. After all, he received 25 thousand rubles for "Boyarynya Morozova" alone. Considering that a full general at the beginning of the twentieth century was paid 770 rubles, and the lieutenant general received 500!
Due to the size of the painting that Surikov painted at home, he even had to change the Moscow apartment to which he moved, returning from Krasnoyarsk in the fall of 1890, to a larger one. In December 1892, Surikov took a break from work on the canvas, as he was preparing for the exhibition the painting "Healing of the Born Blind". However, at the beginning of 1894 he again took up "his Yermak". And at first the color scheme of the picture was brighter. But then Surikov chose for her the very dark color in which we all know her now. For a long time Yermak “roamed” on the canvas, then “hid” behind other Cossacks, then, in later versions, on the contrary, was completely separated from his army, and only in the end the artist found the most suitable place for him.
The canvas "The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak Timofeevich" was completed by Surikov in 1895, and already in March of the same year, the Council of the Academy of Arts awarded him the title of academician for him. The sovereign-emperor bought the canvas for 40 thousand rubles - the largest amount ever given for a painting by a Russian artist. Already in April 1895, the Tsar's decree was signed on the establishment of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III, and this picture was transferred here. To Tretyakov (to whom Surikov had originally promised this canvas), he all in the same 1895 presented a copy of the painting in a smaller size (103 × 59 cm).
It is interesting that V. Soloukhin wrote about this painting in 1966, or rather, wrote what the museum guides said about it at different times. First, that Surikov wanted to show the people. People, people and people. All around the people. Ermak is not singled out, surrounded by the people, located in the very center of the people. But fifteen years earlier, according to him, it was said differently: “Ermak is located in the center of the composition, which emphasizes his role as a leader, chieftain, commander. He stands under the banner, under the Savior not made by hands and under St. George the Victorious. Feels like his will cementing the attacking army. All the soldiers rallied around him and are ready to lay down their heads, but not to betray their chieftain. (V. Soloukhin. Letters from the Russian Museum, 1966) Well, so: every time, their songs and their view of things. Some time will pass, and new guides (perhaps it will be a robot with a cute female voice) will say that we have an image of a typical colonial robbery and an intolerant attitude of a more developed nation to another! God forbid, of course, but who knows what could be …
Thick clothes made of skins, perhaps, gave the natives at least some kind of protection from edged weapons. But not from bullets! In addition, at that time, bullets in Russia were not so much poured as they were chopped - they cast a rod of lead and chopped cylinders with an ax on a log. Round bullets were used mainly for hunting, but three to five of these "cylinders" were loaded into battle! That is why some of the characteristics of Russian firearms of that time are difficult for a non-specialist to understand. "Five cuts for a hryvnia" - how's that? And so that five bullets chopped from a lead bar with a total weight of one hryvnia will enter the barrel of such a gun, then 204, 75 grams! Divide by five and we get 40 grams - the weight of each "bullet". It is clear that it was impossible to hit the target exactly when firing "this", but when it hit the body, the wounds were simply horrific. That is why, by the way, when shooting, A-shaped stands-supports for a very heavy barrel were often used, which we just see in the picture by Surikov. By the way, the shooter on the far left, who uses this stand, has a match gun, so … Surikov is a fine fellow, only that can be said.
But this is history. And today we have a different task - to consider exactly how, correctly or incorrectly, Surikov depicted weapons and armor on his canvas, what is there from the museum, and what … from the evil one?
Of course, even in 1585, the main type of castle for small arms among archers and Cossacks should have been a wick lock. And the artist did the right thing that he did not equip any of the Cossacks with a pistol - at that time wheeled pistols were very expensive weapons and were not exported to Russia. That is, we can only choose from a wick castle and a shakhan castle. I would, of course, try to show the shooters with match guns, but … here the artist did not sin too much against the truth, only 50 years of difference. After all, even the militiamen and archers of 1612 fired precisely from matchsticks, since it was then that more advanced models of guns with percussion locks began to appear - trophies taken from the Poles and Swedes.
Shishak. Western Europe, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Second half of the 16th century Height: 29 cm; base diameter: 23x21.5 cm (State Historical Museum, Moscow) Surikov painted beautiful sabers for many Cossacks. And this is a historical fact. Having a saber in a rich sheath was prestigious, like a gold chain around the neck in the past 90s among a certain category of the population. And sabers with such a scabbard were supplied to Russia and produced locally. But the deliveries were also very significant. Persia, Turkey - this is where sabers came to us with golden notches on their blades and scabbards, decorated with coral and turquoise.
And as a result: perhaps, this painting by Surikov should be considered the very role model, which, in theory, should be equal to every battle painter who came up with the idea of painting canvases of similar size. And to write that way, although today you can get portraits of the people you need, as well as images of weapons and armor, using the Internet!
