In his oeuvre, Ivan Aivazovsky reproduced quite a number of episodes of the Crimean War (1853—1856), which could not leave him indifferent. The Crimean War left a profound impression on the painter because it resolved the issue of the Russian marine presence in the Black Sea. During his life, Aivazovsky twice painted the famous battle of Sinop where the Russian fleet dealt a crushing blow to the Turks. Actually, he created a series of works devoted to the heroic deeds of the Russian warships in those years. Also, many of his interesting paintings depict the defence of Sevastopol, the turning point of the Crimean War.
In 1854, Aivazovsky painted one of his most well-known pictures of this series,
The Siege of Sevastopol, and gave it to the Sevastopol Museum. It is one of the few works painted by the artist under his immediate impression of visiting the besieged city. Many other paintings devoted to the defence of Sevastopol he created years after the war had ended. The Siege of Sevastopol with factual accuracy presents the panorama of the city. On the foreground we can see a group of French captives. To reinforce the impression, the artist set the battle against the backdrop of a quiet and clear summer evening. The city is sinking in the rays of the dipping sun with a battle continuing far away on the hills and blocking the horizon with clouds of smoke.
For many reasons, Sevastopol occupies a special place in Aivazovsky’s oeuvre. At the beginning of the war, the artist left his work to go to the city to organise an exhibition of his battle paintings. All the money he could gain he donated to charity. In particular, he supported injured soldiers and their families. For a long time, Aivazovsky refused to leave the besieged Sevastopol. The artist’s contemporaries recalled that the exhibition halls showing his paintings were full with soldiers, mariners, and ordinary city dwellers from morning till night. Other paintings devoted to the defence of Sevastopol, Admiral Nakhimov at the Malakhov Redoubt and The Place Where Admiral Kornilov Was Mortally Wounded, are also in the collection of I.K. Aivazovsky Feodosia Art Gallery.
