In 1799, a landscape printmaking class under the guidance of Semyon Fyodorovich Shchedrin was established at the St. Petersburg Academy of Printmaking. In this class, the students were tasked with transforming paintings of the Peterhof, Pavlovsk, and Gatchina parks into engravings. At the beginning of the 19th century, they created many landscape engravings depicting the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The series was titled “Views of the Environs of St. Petersburg” and was created between 1799 and 1813. The prints were based on Shchedrin’s original watercolor paintings.
The engravers were able to create a more comprehensive artistic image than was possible in painting. Their sentimental and classicist approach to nature was perfectly aligned with the language of printmaking, with its clarity and purity of lines and strokes, and the ability to process the plate in an extremely fine and virtuosic manner. This exquisite precision allowed them to convey not only the openwork lace of foliage but also the subtle half-tones of light and air: the sky peeking through the trees, the play of light on the water surface, and the mild shadows cast by boats gliding along the river.
Kozma Vasilyevich Chesky was one of the most talented artists in his class. One of his most prominent works is “View of the Peel Tower in the Pavlovsk Garden” created in 1801. In the center of the composition in the middle ground, there is the Peel Tower. It was inspired by old English watchtowers. It resembles a tower of an old knight castle, shaped like an elongated cylinder with a conical thatched roof. The tower is a two-story building with an outdoor spiral staircase that leads to the second floor. In the early 18th century, a sawmill stood in the place of the pavilion activated by the rush of water. This is how the tower got its name (in Russian, “peel” comes from the verb “peeleet” meaning “to saw”). Behind the tower, there is a decorative watermill and a summer bathhouse. The image also features a variety of plants, including lush trees and bushes. To enliven the composition, Kozma Chesky added cows grazing in the foreground and people strolling in the background. The Peel Tower is the most romantic and unique pavilion in Pavlovsk Park. The print was made using a combination of etching and engraving.
