The album “Beautiful Spring” from the collection of the Museum of Moscow includes sketches of the parade organized in honor of the coronation of Emperor Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna.
The coronation ceremony took place in the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin on May 15, 1883. It was one of the most spectacular coronations in the history of the Russian Empire. Festive parades and performances lasted for three weeks. One of such performances was the theatrical procession “Beautiful Spring” held on Khodynka Field. It was directed by Mikhail Lentovsky, an actor, stage impresario, organizer of public festivities, and a former student of Mikhail Shchepkin. The production was designed by Franz Schechtel, an architect, artist, and stage designer, one of the most prominent representatives of the Art Nouveau style, who worked with Lentovsky in the early 1880s. He came up with the costumes of fairy tale characters, as well as the theaters, and props.
A round outdoor stage was constructed in the center of the field. It became the venue of the main performance — the allegorical procession “Beautiful Spring”. The stage was adjoined by a square for spectators facing four open-air theaters: two pantomime and two drama theaters. It was followed by four other semi-circular squares with swings, merry-go-rounds, and open stages for singers, choirs, magicians, jugglers, orchestras, puppet theaters, and other performers. At the end of the lines of small structures were two arched booths where food was handed out.
The parade was a resounding success, and in the same year Lentovsky published sketches for it as a separate album, with the cover designed by Schechtel. The drawings depict ten episodes of the procession: heralds announcing the arrival of spring; Russian bogatyr warriors; the magic Sword Kladenets used to eradicate all evil; hop with cone-shaped flowers symbolizing fun and prowess; skomorokh performers; a bear, a goat, and a crane; musician frogs, and other characters.
In addition to illustrations by Schechtel, the edition included a poem by Leonid Leonidov-Gulyayev also titled “Beautiful Spring”, a plan and lithographs showing the festivities. The album has been published two more times.
