The Irbit Museum of Fine Arts presents a print titled “View of Lake Baikal” from the album “A Picturesque Journey from Moscow to the Chinese Border” by Andrey Yefimovich Martynov. Published in 1819, this album was created in connection with the diplomatic expedition of Senator Count Yuri Alexandrovich Golovkin, who was sent by Emperor Alexander I to Beijing in the early 19th century.
Golovkin’s mission was to negotiate the expansion of trade zones along the Russo-Chinese border and to strengthen the position of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in China. Beyond its diplomatic objectives, the expedition also pursued scientific aims — gathering data on the geography, natural environment, and peoples of the Russian Far East.
To document the journey visually, artists were commissioned to “record the views” and depict “all objects worthy of curiosity”. Among them was Andrey Martynov, appointed chief painter of the embassy. During the expedition, he produced numerous pencil and ink sketches capturing the landscapes of Siberia and Transbaikalia, local inhabitants, and scenes from daily life in the embassy camp. These field studies later served as the basis for a series of finished watercolors, engravings, and lithographs. Ironically, Count Golovkin’s diplomatic mission ended in complete failure and Martynov’s works ultimately became the expedition’s most enduring and valuable legacy.
The engraved album comprises 31 prints, though the number varied slightly between editions. It opens with a panoramic view of the Moscow Kremlin and concludes with an image of the border settlement of Maimaicheng in China. Along the route, Martynov drew many cities and towns including Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Perm, Irkutsk, and Kyakhta, as well as major rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei, the Selenga — and, naturally, Lake Baikal. Each print was accompanied by explanatory texts detailing the history, notable sights, and customs of the local populations.
The print “View of Lake Baikal” presents an idyllic landscape: wooded shores frame the lake, while the graceful silhouette of a sailboat glides against a backdrop of distant mountains. While committed to accuracy, Martynov carefully selected dramatic vantage points that heighten the sublime grandeur of the natural setting.
The composition includes several small figure groups. In the background on the right, fishermen unload their catch, while two figures stand on a hillside. In the foreground, two men converse by the water’s edge: one is a barefoot peasant in a long shirt; the other wears a woolen, belted jacket (an armyak), and carries a cane and cap.
This scene resonates with Martynov’s own travel notes: “The lake is surrounded by the Sayan Mountains, whose unbroken chain and ever-changing vistas reveal the striking grandeur of nature”.
