Monument to Paul I by Vitali
Description:
The monument to Paul I by Vitali and its copy are installed in two cities closely associated with the name of the Russian Emperor Paul I - Gatchina and Pavlovsk.
The sculpture of Paul I is installed on a four-sided polished figure pedestal made of Finnish granite. The emperor is depicted in a ceremonial uniform and a triangular, resting on a cane. The position of the emperor, the landing of the head, the expression of the face give the monument features of representation and grandeur. In Gatchina, the statue is mounted on a parade ground in front of the Grand Gatchina Palace, near the parapet, facing the palace and parade ground, as if the emperor were hosting a parade.
The model of the statue was made by the famous Russian sculptor Ivan Petrovich Vitali on the ceremonial portrait of Emperor Stepan Semyonovich Shchukin. The portrait of Paul I was painted in 1796 and approved by the emperor himself. Both the painting and the monument retain a portrait resemblance to Paul I. For the monument to the emperor Ivan Petrovich Vitali received the Order of St. Anna II degree. In the late XIX - early XX century, the authorship of the monument was often mistakenly attributed to other sculptors - Peter Karlovich Klodt von Jurgensburg and Louis Jean Jacques.
The first statue cast in bronze at the St. Petersburg Galvanoplastic Plant was installed in Gatchina on a granite pedestal with a plinth on August 1, 1851 during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, son of Paul I. A copy of the sculpture made by the method of electroplastic master Sokolov was installed in Pavlovsk in 1872 on a reduced metal pedestal without a protruding base.
In honor of the opening of the Gatchina monument on August 1, 1851, a parade was arranged in front of the Gatchina Palace, in which Pavlovsky, Yegersky, Cavalergard and Hussar regiments took part. The parade was attended by Emperor Nicholas I. This event was captured – the court “painter of His Majesty” Adolf Sharleman captured the future heir to the Russian throne Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich at the moment when he stood at the sentry near the monument in the uniform of the Life Guards.