Arts & EntertainmentArt

Vereshchagin's painting "The Apotheosis of War" and its sad unhistoriness

Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin was never in favor with the rulers. It is understandable: instead of portraying battle scenes in the palace style, where enthusiastic soldiers in brand new uniforms are bursting into battle, and dapper generals prancing on well-fed horses, he painted suffering, devastation, wounds and death. Being a professional military, the artist was in 1867 in Turkestan. Imperial Russia just led there the seizure of territories and "pacified" the local peoples, so Vereshchagin had seen enough of the corpses. His response to the armed conflict as such was the canvas "The Apotheosis of War."

It is believed that the picture was inspired by the ruthless suppression of the Uighur uprising in western China. According to another version, it was inspired by stories about how the ruler of Kashgar executed thousands of people and put their skulls in the pyramids. Among them was a European traveler, whose head crowned the top of this awful mound. At first, the painting "The Apotheosis of the War" was called "The Triumph of Tamerlane", but round traces of bullets in the turtles inevitably sent the observant viewer to later times. In addition, the illusion of the Middle Ages was dispelled by the inscription made by the artist on the frame: "Dedicated to all the great conquerors - the past, the present and the future."

"The apotheosis of the war" made a depressing impression on the high-society public in Russia and abroad. The Imperial Court considered this and other battle paintings of the artist discrediting the Russian army, and one general from Prussia even persuaded Alexander II to burn all the pictures of Vereshchagin about the war, because they have "the most pernicious influence." Because of this master's works were not sold, only private patron Tretyakov bought several paintings from the Turkestan series.

The painting "The Apotheosis of War" depicts a mound of human skulls against the scorched steppe steppe. The ruins of the city in the background and the skeletons of burnt trees complement the view of destruction, desolation, death. The cloudless, sparkling blue sky only exacerbates the oppressive impression of the canvas. The yellow color scheme in which the work is done, and the black crows circling above the pile of skulls, seem to make us feel the cadaveric smell coming out under the scorching sun. The picture is therefore perceived as an allegory of war, of all war, of time and space.

This is not the only painting about the horrors of wartime, which Vereshchagin wrote. "The apotheosis of war" can also be called his second picture, which appeared a little later, when the artist made a trip to India. At that time the British colonialists brutally suppressed the offensive of the sepoys. To mock the Hindu beliefs about dispelling the ashes over the sacred river Ganges, they tied some insurgents to guns and shot them with powder charges. The canvas "The British Execution in India" was sold in New York to an individual at an auction and since then the trace of it disappeared.

Unfortunately, modern man is so used to the violence and death that occur all over the world every day that mass murders are not surprising to anyone. To create the "Apotheosis of War", Vereshchagin had only a few skulls, which he depicted in various angles. However, in Cambodia , the Khmer Rouge recreated, in practice, the artist's drawing. Vereshchagin did not know that in order for the pyramid of human heads to be stable, the skulls should be without the lower jaw. However, the horrific realities of the 20th century make us all sad "experts" in this matter.

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.birmiss.com. Theme powered by WordPress.