The photograph shows Sergey and Khristina Sergeyev-Tsenskys next to the building of the panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol. Sergeyev-Tsensky was closely connected with Sevastopol. In his epic “Sevastopol Labors”, he perpetuated the feat of local residents, ordinary seamen and naval commanders during the first defense of Sevastopol in 1854–1855.
In October 1954, Sevastopol hosted celebrations to mark the centenary of the First Defense of Sevastopol. Sergey Sergeyev-Tsensky was among the guests of honor. The yacht called Rion was sent for the writer and his wife to be brought to the Hero City of Sevastopol. Sergeyev-Tsensky met with Sevastopol residents, writers, and sailors of the Black Sea Fleet.
In Sevastopol, the Sergeyev-Tsensky couple visited the reconstructed panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol, where the writer left a comment in the book of honorary guests. The original panorama of the Defense was created by Franz Roubaud. The artist chose the day of the repulsion of the enemy’s attack on the Malakhov strongpoint on June 6 (18), 1855 as the subject of the painting.
The work on the painting lasted from 1901 to 1904. After the preparatory sketch was approved, all subsequent work was carried out in a specially built pavilion in Munich. To paint the panorama, Franz Roubaud was assisted by other artists — Schenhen, Oscar Merte, K. Frosch and 20 students at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. On May 14 (27), 1905, the panorama was opened for public viewing. The opening ceremony was attended by veterans of the Defense of Sevastopol. The total area of the panorama is 1610 square meters.
On June 25, 1942, the building was hit by a German bomb. The painting caught fire, and the struggle to save it lasted several hours. A specially appointed commission later found that two-thirds of the painting, measuring 1116 square meters, had been saved. However, the state of the canvas ruled out any possibility of restoration.
Soviet artists restored the panorama using saved fragments, photographs, old brochures and the studies used for the original painting. The three-dimensional model of the panorama was complemented by several more scenes.
The photograph of Sergey and Khristina Sergeyev-Tsenskys was taken by their relative Yakov Leonov.
