“Admiring” as a Principle of Perception and Interpretation of Natural Images in Russian Fine Art of the 18th Century

Abstract

The article highlights a new period in the development of Russian art, which demonstrated a “picture of the world” radically different from previous eras. There is discussed the 18th century, the trends of its secular art, focused on the reflection of real life. That time brought an interesting and significant phenomenon — the natural image intended to demonstrate the properties of living nature, full of diversity and beauty. The article is aimed at assessing the search for this reverent natural ontology, which originated in the depths of early art and grew to the status of an independent genre. This absolutely new phenomenon was filled with particular delight of artists. To reflect it in full, masters resorted to the detailed and scrupulous interpretation of animalistic scenes and individual characters, depicting them in still lifes, hunting, and nature, and comprehending the essence of material life, its laws and specific expression in art. The article reveals the principle of “admiring”, which is within the area of perception and interpretation of this art. There are considered the so-called “Kunstkammer” drawing, floral still lifes, scenes with animal images, which are characterized by the artist’s rapturous contemplation of natural realities and their careful depiction. On the one hand, this process was due to the interest in the knowledge of the natural world, and on the other hand, it contributed to the composition of genres, especially animalism in its specific features. The first artists (M.S. Merian, J.F. Grooth, K.F. Knappe, J.E. Grimmel, A. Dobryakov), mainly among foreign masters, continued the line of the natural world cognition, emphasizing the curious and characteristic moments in its manifestations. They clearly demonstrate a philosophical view of the natural world order, full of sensuality and material delight. The article formulates the idea of importance of the early stage in the development of Russian animalism for the subsequent development of the genre.