Mikhail Peskov created the painting Minin’s Appeal to the Nizhny Novgorodians in 1861, which brought him the Small Gold Medal at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. The artist chose a dark color scheme in the yellow-brown shades. This coloration was typical for academic painting.
Minin's appeal to the citizens
Creation period
1861
Dimensions
157x204 cm
Canvas, oil
Canvas, oil
Technique
157x204 cm
Collection
Exhibition
11
Open in app#1
Mikhail Peskov
Minin’s appeal to the citizens
#2
#3
The subject of Mikhail Peskov’s canvas is a scene from the Russian history. The action takes place in the Times of Trouble, when Moscow was captured by the Polish invaders. The painting’s main character is national Russian hero Kuzma Minin. He was the Nizhny Novgorod starosta (city elder) and one of the founders and leaders of the liberation movement against the Poles at the beginning of the 17th century.
#5
Kuzma Minin’s figure is in the center of the composition. The city elder is standing in the square in front of the Cathedral of the Forerunner in Nizhny Novgorod and is pointing towards Moscow. Minin appeals to the citizens of Nizhny Novgorod to take up arms against the Polish invaders and raise money to fight for the liberation of the Russian capital: This is what the author of the “New Chronicler” - a literary monument of the Times of Trouble – wrote.
“If we want to help the Moscow state, we will not spare our property and will not spare our yards and will pledge our wives and children, and bow low to a man who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss”.
#6
This is what the author of the “New Chronicler” - a literary monument of the Times of Trouble – wrote.
#7
Kuzma Minin is surrounded, in the painting, by the Nizhny Novgorod people of all estates. They are eagerly holding out their savings and property to the town elder.
#8
The woman standing on the left from Kuzma Minin donates her headdress decorated with precious stones. The girl in the foreground is taking the earrings out of her ears. The beggar is giving his handout. The men in the picture are getting ready to go fight against the Polish invaders and are saying goodbye to their families, while the soldiers are bring them weapons.
#9
Mikhail Peskov was born in 1834 in Irkutsk. His father was a military man. The would-be painter demonstrated his talent for drawing already in childhood. Governor of Eastern Siberia Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky sent the boy to study painting at public expense in St. Petersburg where Mikhail Peskov entered the Academy of Arts.
#10
In 1863, Mikhail Peskov got involved in the rebellion of the fourteen - his fellow painters refused to paint a picture on the mythological subject, which was proposed by the Academy’s commission. Led by Ivan Kramskoy, the graduates of the Academy of Arts submitted a request to the head of the Academy to allow them to choose their own themes for their paintings to be exhibited at the Grand Gold Medal competition.
The Academy Council turned down the graduates’ request, so they went on to found their own artel (team) which soon grew into the Association of Itinerant Art Exhibitions. The movement of itinerant artists (Itinerants) determined the vector of the Russian painting development for almost half a century. Mikhail Peskov, one of its founders, never saw the outcomes of his struggle, as he died from consumption in 1864.
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Minin's appeal to the citizens
Creation period
1861
Dimensions
157x204 cm
Canvas, oil
Canvas, oil
Technique
157x204 cm
Collection
Exhibition
11
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