Abstract
The article deals with the history and evolution of the personifi cation of the Russian state in the Russian medallic art of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century. During this period, there were two types of allegory of the country: it was depicted either in the image of the tsarina of pre-Petrine Russia, or a maiden warrior in stylized ancient Russian military armors. The attributes of such personifi cations were national symbols: a coat of arms, a sword and cross, an emperor’s insignia, a rod with Imperial eagle.
The first personifi cation of the Russian Empire as tsarina of pre-Petrine Russia was shown on two medals dedicated to the Patriotic war of 1812 – “People’s militia” and “Peace for Europe” from the series of F.P. Tolstoy, minted in 1834 and 1837. Allegories are dressed according to the fashion of the beginning of the 19th century in stylized sarafan (Russian folk costume) and kokoshnik (traditional Russian headdress). Since 1881, onwards with the medal dedicated to the death of Emperor Alexander II, the personifi cation of Russia was depicted in ethnographically correct costumes and headdresses of Russian tsarinas of the 17th century.
First allegory of Russia as warrior maiden was depicted on the medal by Austrian medallist A. Scharff, minted at the St. Petersburg Mint, dedicated to the revival of the Black Sea Fleet in 1886.
Keywords
Russian Medallic art, the 19th – 20th centuries, museum collections
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