Unknown drawings of archaeological objects from the collection of D.G. Messerschmidt in the engravings of the «Atlas» by N.G. Le Clerc

Abstract

The article analyzes 4 engravings with two tables on each print from the so-called “Atlas” by N. G. Le Сlerc with drawings of archaeological objects from the documentary heritage of D.G. Messerschmidt, which have been considered unknown so far. “Atlas” is an appendix to the work of N. G. Le Clerc “Histoire physique, morale, civile et politique de la Russie modern”. Based on a comparison of one of the survived drawings with an engraving from the “Atlas”, and a comparison with of descriptions of the drawings given in the manuscript of D.G. Messerschmidt with those in the engraved tables in the third volume of Le Clerc’s book “Histoire… de la Russie modern” it can be argued that the engraved drawings belonged to one of the volumes of the archival collection of D.G. Messerschmidt. A comprehensive study of this visual source in combination with already known drawings, and other sources (“The Painted Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences”, published and handwritten catalogs of the Kunstkamera) will allow us to give a scientific description of the archaeological collection, determine its place in the collection of the Kunstkamera, which is important for the history of archeology and history of the Kunstkamera of the 18th century, when the base of scientific knowledge was being formed.