Figures “Representing the Kingdoms, Grand Principalities, and Other Regions and Provinces of the Russian Empire, with Their Coats Of Arms”: Personifications of Territories in 18th-century Russian Art

Abstract

Personifications of territories are a part of rich allegorical language of the Baroque, which entered Russian art in the XVIII century. The personification of Russia attracted attention of researchers, but personifications of the territories of the Russian Empire has been so far largely ignored. In the paper allegorical figures of the territories of the Russian Empire are examined on the material of various kinds of art and with the use of information from printed publications (Honoré Lacombe de Prézel’s "Dictionnaire iconologique, ou introduction à la connoissance des peintures, sculptures, médailles, estampes...", descriptions of court celebrations). Personifications embody both administrative units (cities, fortresses, and viceroyalties) and historical ones, namely the Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian, and Moscow kingdoms. The latter had the highest status and were of the greatest importance. The article offers analysis of iconography of the personifications of the territories of the Russian Empire, which in most of the cases was a variation of the iconography of the personification of Russia. The main distinguishing feature of such figures was their coat of arms. Unlike personification of the Russian Empire, which always appeared in chaste attire, personifications of territories could be represented semi-naked. Attributes of power, i.e. crowns and royal robes, belonged only to the most significant of them, namely personifications of kingdoms or viceroyalties. Personifications of the kingdoms appeared in works in honour of the events that were paramount for the Russian Empire. Other personifications of territories (historical regions, cities, fortresses) usually appeared in art on the occasion of an addition of territory or in utilitarian objects (maps).