Legends of the Copper Rider

The opening ceremony of the monument to Peter the Great, now known as the Copper Rider, took place on August 18, 1782. Today, this monument is a landmark, without which no tourist route can do. Literally from the moment of its opening, it was shrouded in a mystical fleur, and over the years, the truth and fantastic fictions about it completely mixed into one motley, mysterious story.
But do you know that the Copper Rider is actually made of bronze, the pedestal was searched for by an ad in the newspaper, and the casting of the statue stretched for 8 years?

The place was chosen by Catherine II.
The place of installation of the monument is perhaps the only thing that almost did not argue at its creation. Ekaterina ordered to place the monument on the Senate Square, since the Admiralty founded by Peter I and the main legislative institution of Russia - the Senate - are located nearby. True, the queen wanted to see the monument in the center of the square, but the sculptor acted in his own way and moved the pedestal closer to the Neva.
Initially, a lifetime monument to Catherine herself was to be erected on this place, but she considered it more correct to perpetuate the memory of the founder of St. Petersburg to the 100th anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Sculptor recommended by Diderot and Voltaire
To prepare such a grandiose event, a real master was needed, and on the recommendation of her friends Denis Diderot and Voltaire, Catherine summoned to Russia the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falcone, the author of the “Thundering Cupid”, which is now stored in the Louvre, and other famous sculptures. The artist had already turned 50 years old, he had a rich track record, but he had not yet fulfilled such monumental orders.
Falcone felt that his work should go down in history, and did not hesitate to argue with the Empress. For example, she demanded that Peter sit on a horse with a rod or scepter in his hand, like the Roman emperor. The head of the project and the right hand of Catherine Ivan Betskoy advised to put a full-length figure on the pedestal with a commander's rod in his hand. And Denis Diderot offered a monument in the form of a fountain with allegorical figures. Peter’s right eye should be directed at the Admiralty, and his left eye should be directed at the Twelve Collegiums. But Falcone stood his ground. The contract he signed said the monument was to consist "mainly of an equestrian statue of colossal size."

Falcone said there would be no scepter in Peter's hand.
I shall confine myself to the statue of this hero, whom I do not regard as a great commander or as a victor, although he was of course both. The personality of the creator, legislator, benefactor of his country is much higher, and this is what people should show. My king does not hold any staff, he extends his beneficent right hand over the country he visits. He rises to the top of the rock, which serves as a pedestal for him - this is the emblem of the difficulties he has overcome, Falcone wrote in one of the letters.

The stone for the pedestal was searched for by the announcement
Usually, the pedestal pays much less attention than the monument itself. But in the case of the Copper Rider, it was almost the opposite. His pedestal, perhaps the only one in the history of monumental sculpture has its own name - Thunderstone. As a metaphorical "rock" Falcone wanted to use monolithic rock, but the stone of the appropriate size was not easy to find. Then in the newspaper “Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti” there was an announcement addressed to all individuals who are ready to break somewhere a piece of rock and bring to St. Petersburg.
Responded a peasant Semyon Vishnyakov, who was engaged in the supply of building stone to St. Petersburg. He had a lump in the area of Lakhta for a long time, but only there was no tool to split it. Where exactly the Thunderstone lay is unknown. Probably near the village of Lysia Nos. The documents left information that the path of the stone to the city took eight versts.

To transport the rock, according to the recommendations of Ivan Betsky, a special machine was developed, thousands of people participated in the transportation. The stone weighed 2,400 tons and was transported in winter to keep the soil under it from sagging. The transfer operation lasted from November 15, 1769 to March 27, 1770, after which the stone was loaded on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and brought to Senate Square on September 26.

Not copper, but bronze.
The monument is traditionally called the Copper Horseman from the light hand of Pushkin, although it is cast in bronze. The workshop was equipped in the former Throne Hall of the wooden Winter Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. The sculptor thought through every little thing and did a great job.
“When I conceived of sculpting him, as he completes his gallop, standing on his racks, it was not in my memory, still less in my imagination, so that I could rely on him. To create an accurate model, I consulted nature. For this I ordered to build a platform, which I gave the same slope, which should have had my pedestal. A few inches more or less in the tilt would produce significant changes in the movement of the animal. I made the rider ride not once, but more than a hundred different techniques on different horses.

Work on the model of the sculpture lasted from 1768 to 1770. Over the head of Peter worked a young student Falcone Marie Anne Collo, and the snake under the hoof of the horse sculpted Fedor Gordeev. Marie Anne was accepted as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts for this work, and Catherine II appointed her a lifetime pension of 10,000 livres.

The casting of the statue took 8 years
The casting of the statue began in 1774 using a complex technology that allowed the weight distribution to keep the balance of the figure at only three points of support. But the first attempt was unsuccessful - the pipe with hot bronze burst, and the upper part of the sculpture was spoiled. The second attempt had to be prepared for three years. Constant turmoil and disruption of terms spoiled relations between Falcone and Catherine, and in September 1778, the sculptor left the city without waiting for the completion of work on the monument. The brass horseman was the last work of his life. By the way, on one of the folds of the cloak of Peter I you can find the inscription “Molded and cast Etienne Falcone Parisian of 1778”.

The installation of the Copper Rider on the pedestal was led by architect Fedor Gordeev. By order of Catherine on the pedestal wrote “Ekaterina II Peter I”. The grand opening of the monument took place on August 7, 1782. In honor of this event, the Empress issued a manifesto on general amnesty, and also ordered to mint silver and gold medals with his image. One gold and one silver medal Catherine II sent Falcone, who received them from the hands of Prince Golitsyn in 1783.

The monument survived three wars
The brass horseman “went through” three wars without damage, although he is in a convenient place for fire. A legend is associated with the Patriotic War of 1812, which says that Alexander I ordered the evacuation of the monument to the Vologda province, when there was a threat of capture of St. Petersburg by French troops. Major Baturin obtained an audience with Prince Golitsyn and told him about a dream that haunted him. Allegedly, he sees Peter on Senate Square pulls off the pedestal and jumps to the residence of the king on Stone Island. “Young man, what have you brought my Russia to,” Peter tells him, “but as long as I am there, my city has nothing to fear!” According to legend, Golitsyn told the emperor the dream, and he canceled the order to evacuate the monument.

The First World War as a result also did not affect the majestic Peter, and during the Great Patriotic War the Copper Horseman was sheathed with logs and boards, the monument was covered with sandbags and earth.
The same was done with the monument to Lenin at the Finnish railway station and other large monuments, which could not be hidden or evacuated.