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Abstract

The article deals with the history and some aspects of the portrait of the Russian emperor Alexander I portrayed as the ancient Slavonic pagan deity Rodomysl by the count F.P. Tolstoy. The medallion with this portrait was created in 1814 after the victory in the battle of Leipzig (or battle of the Nations). Medallic series dedicated to the victory at the Patriotic war of 1812 was minted in 1834–1837. Portrait of Alexander I became an obverse of all twenty medals. The author analyzes the details of this portrait. The special attention is paid to the original idea of the medalist, i.e. the image of Emperor Alexander as the ancient Slavonic pagan deity Rodomysl. Conducted study shows that this god did not exist in the Slavonic mythology and it was the invention of G.A. Glinka, the author of the book “Ancient religion of the Slavs” which was published in Mitau (city of Jelgava in Latvia) in 1804. This image illustrates the existence of two trends in Russian culture and science at the beginning of the 19th century, namely, interest in antiquity and ancient Rus.

Keywords

Russian history, numismatics, medallic art, Alexander I, F.P. Tolstoy.

Uliana M. Volkova. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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