Sculptural Portraits Research Articles

ТАТЬЯНА СЕРГЕЕВНА БАЛУЕВА, УЧЕНЫЙ, СОРАТНИК, ДРУГ

The article elucidates the contribution of an outstanding Russian anthropol-ogist Tatiana Sergeevna Balueva to the development of skull-based facial recon-struction technique and other fields of anthropological science. The pioneer of the scientific approach to face reconstruction based on the underlying bone struc-tures was a famous anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov who founded the school of anthropological reconstruction in Moscow where in 1950 a laboratory under his guidance was organized in the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. After Gerasimov, the laboratory was guided by his direct student Gali-na Lebedinskaya who also made a significant contribution to the development of skull-based facial reconstruction technique. In 1996, Tatiana Balueva, who had worked under the guidance of Lebedinskaya for along time, succeeded her as the Head of the laboratory.Dr. Balueva, who passed unexpectedly in 2012, left her mark in various fields of anthropology. She led numerous expeditions to remote areas of Siberia. The material collected there became the basis for her dissertation and numerous publications. The anthropological analysis of the data on indigenous peoples of the North-East of Russia shed light on the complex processes of formation of the population of this region.Under her leadership, the Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction developed a special program of investigation of the relationship between facial features and the underlying bony framework; its implementation produced a sig-nificant pool of statistical data. The years of research under Balueva’s direction resulted in the program of craniofacial correspondence that significantly clarifies the reconstruction of appearance and allows receiving the lifetime skull-based anthropological description of a face, so-called “physical description on a skull”. During T.S. Balueva’s tenure as the Head of the laboratory the unique collection of sculptural portraits considerably replenished with the works made taking into account improvements of a method.T.S. Balueva authored 64 sculptural reconstructions, over 300 graphic re-constructions, and close to 200 forensic examinations on unidentified skulls. She received international recognition as an expert in craniofacial reconstruction and identification. The list of the main sculptural reconstructions of T.S. Balueva is provided in the appendix.

THE IMAGE OF ANNA YAROSLAVNA IN FINE ARTS: PAST AND PRESENT

The article focuses on the iconography of Anna Yaroslavna (around 1032-between 1075 and 1089), the daughter of Yaroslav Mudry (983/98-1054), who was married to Henry I (1027-1060) and acquired the status of Queen of France. The study is based on the most famous portraits created by artists from the Middle Ages to the present day in various types of visual arts - sculpture, painting, graphics, numismatics. It is not known for certain what the princess looked like – rather insignificant evidence about her appearance has been preserved. In historical chronicles, the red hair color of the young wife of Henry I is primarily noted. More often, character traits are emphasized – kindness, generosity, humility, self-sacrifice. Portraits of the daughter of Yaroslav Mudry during his lifetime cause heated discussions in scientific circles. It is hypothesized that the sons and not daughters of Yaroslav the Wise are depicted in St. Sophia Cathedral (11th century). And on the copy of the 18th century from a drawing by the Dutch artist A. van Westerfeld in 1651, another couple is represented – Volodymyr Svyatoslavych and his wife Anna (baptizers of Rus) accompanied by eight princes and princesses. Engraved and sculptural portraits of the 17th century, despite the fashionable image of the era, reveal certain characteristic features of Anna Yaroslavna – thinness, general elegance, elongated face oval. Modern Ukrainian artists (V. Znoba, M. Znoba, G. Sevruk, V. Stelmakh), recreating the image of Anna Yaroslavna, are guided by the well-known engraved image of the Flemish artist Jacobus de Bie in 1643. At the same time, each portrait is distinguished by the author's decision and virtuoso mastery of the material. The presented article is not only the first intelligence covering pictorial and historical sources. The collected material testifies to the significant contribution of national history to the development of the European political and cultural space, is a demonstration of unity and friendly relations between Ukraine and France.

The Heroics of the Portrait Images in V. E. Gorevoy’s Monumental Sculpture of the late 1970s–1980s

The article discusses monumental sculptural portraits of the 1970s–1980s by the Leningrad / Saint Petersburg master V. E. Gorevoy. The author identifi es artistic trends in the group of monuments under consideration and the evolution of the heroics of these images, designates the main methods that the sculptor used in his works.

Touches to the iconography of Prince Dmitry A. Golitsyn: the search for portraits

Author consider a number of works that have been identified by various researchers as portraits of D. A. Golitsyn, a prominent statesman of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 18th century. The Prince's interest in art determined his special role in the artistic world of Europe, as well as in the formation of the Hermitage collection and in attracting foreign artists to the country. The subject of research is the connection of existing portrait images with the milestones of the fate of Golitsyn and in the context of interaction with the artistic world of the 18th century. Despite the prince’s close contacts with painters, sculptors, and graphic artists, few portraits of him are currently known. Research method used in the article is the iconographic elucidation of the main features of Prince Golitsyn's appearance, which allow to identify his images. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the systematization of the iconographic series of images of D. A. Golitsyn available today, as a result of which his well-known silhouette portrait turned out to be created by a modern graphic artist I. V. Golitsyn based on an engraving depicting the son of the prince, a priest of the Catholic Church D. D. Golitsyn. The attribution of one of D. A. Golitsyn's portraits from the collection of his daughter's heirs, the German aristocrats Salm-Salm, is recognized as erroneous, since it is a copy of the work of the French painter of the first half of the 18th century from the Coypel family and depicts another person. The circle of absolutely indisputable images of Prince has been determined. Golitsyn, which include sculptural portraits by French artist Marie-Anne Collot, one of which is now in a private collection in Moscow, as well as a profile drawing by her husband Pierre-Etienne Falconet.

ОБРАЗ САРЫ БЕРНАР ВО ФРАНЦУЗСКОЙ ИЛЛЮСТРИРОВАННОЙ ПРЕССЕ 1870-1920 ГОДОВ

This study is devoted to the reflection of the image of Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest French actress of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Her pictorial, photographic and sculptural portraits are widely known and very well studied. However, the iconography of her image on the pages of the satirical illustrated press in France remains little known. The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the stable images of Sarah Bernhardt, developed by cartoonists of the Third Republic, viewed through the prism of the anti-Semitic discourse that took place in France at that time, and the use by artists of the principles of zoomorphism in cartoons. Careful selection of the most significant masterpieces of magazine illustration made it possible to identify the main approaches to the image of the great actress, as well as to demonstrate the features of the public and artistic reception of Sarah Bernhardt. This allowed to underline such stable methods in constructing the caricatural image of the actress, as: ridiculing the Jewish origin of Sarah Bernhardt, focusing the viewer's attention on her excessive thinness, zoomorphizing her image, mockering the private, public, theatrical and creative life of the actress.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov (1907–1970) and his method of face reconstruction from the skull

The article is dedicated to the 115th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov, a world-famous scientist, pioneer of historical and forensic portrait reconstruction, founder of the Plastic Reconstruction Laboratory at the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (currently the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences). M.M. Gerasimov created the most famous gallery of sculptural portraits of a number of historical persons, and also recreated the appearances of fossil peo-ple from the available bone remains. A man of encyclopedic knowledge, anthropologist, archaeologist and sculp-tor rolled into one, Gerasimov laid the foundations of craniofacial reconstruction and created his own scientific school. For his invaluable contribution to science and practical anthropology, as well as to forensic medicine and forensic science, the scientist was awarded the State Prize in 1950, as well as the title of Honored Scientist of the RSFSR in 1969. The method of facial reconstruction developed by Gerasimov formed the basis of modern meth-ods equipped with advanced imaging and computer technologies. The laboratory created by M.M. Gerasimov exists and is actively functioning up to the present days, and his students successfully continue the work he started. For decades, the authority of M.M. Gerasimov in anthropological reconstruction has remained unshakable, the method of reconstruction of the appearance of fossil people, developed by the scientist, has received world-wide recognition, and it is fundamental for modern researchers. Followers of M.M. Gerasimov continue to develop and improve the method, which is of paramount importance in paleoanthropology, ethnography, historical sci-ences, and which has found practical application in forensic science, forensic medicine and plastic surgery.

ЖИВОПИСЕЦ ВАСИЛИЙ НЕФЕДОВ В БИОГРАФИИ И ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ СКУЛЬПТОРА СТЕПАНА ЭРЬЗИ (НЕФЕДОВА)

The relevance of the topic is due to the need for a comprehensive study of the creative personality of an outstanding sculptor of the 20th century Stepan Dmitrievich Erzya (Nefyodov, 1876–1959). Object of the article: biography and creative (including art-pedagogical) activities of sculptor S.D. Erzia; subject of the article: creative, mentoring relationship of the sculptor with his nephew, the painter Vasily Ivanovich Nefyodov (1890–1918). The study is of a historical and cultural nature; it uses comparative-historical and biographical methods. The sources of the study are the works of S.D. Erzia and V.I. Nefyodov (both located in museums and archives of the Russian Federation, including the Republic of Mordovia, and not preserved, known only from photo reproductions), press materials of the first third of the 20th century, archival documents. The author reconstructs the biography of V.I. Nefyodov, reveals the role of S.D. Erzia in his creative development. As a result of the study, it has been proved that a number of surviving paintings, which are considered by researchers as the works of S.D. Erzia, actually had been created by his nephew. The author attributes the photo of V.I. Nefyodov, made in the suburbs of Paris Seaux in 1912, sculptural portraits of V.I. Nefyodov created by S.D. Erzia and other works dedicated to him. It is proved that the unpreserved statue “Prayer for a Chalice” made in the Urals, which some researchers (for example, the Ural archivist E.V. Shimonek) call “an unknown creation of Erzia”, is a grave monument for V.I. Nefyodov, made exactly from this photo.

О статуэтке из Национального музея Рес­публики Татарстан

Introduction. The article deals with an item contained in the Buddhist Collection of Tatarstan’s National Museum. Buddhist art is essentially canonical, which sets forth some difficulties to be faced when it comes to refer certain pieces to different regional schools. Goals. The paper attempts a comparative analysis of the Buddhist statuette from the National Museum of Tatarstan and suggests an attribution of the unique item. Results. The analysis shows the figurine (inv. no. КП-10367/9) depicts a Mongolian Lama. It is headdress that proves a most significant element since the former is characteristic of Jebtsundamba Khutuktus of Khalkha. So, our further insights do attest to the statuette depicts a Bodg Gegeen of Mongolia. And there is reason to presume this is an early sculptural portrait of the 8th Bodg Gegeen — Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Khalkha.

Boims’ epitaph from the chapel of the Holy Trinity and the Passion of the Lord in the context of the evolution of memorial plastic between the 16th and 17th centuries

Basing on the use of principles of a system approach, comparative and historical, semiotic, iconographic, iconic, formal and stylistic methods it has been defined the place and the meaning of Boims’ epitaph from the chapel of the Holy Trinity and the Passion of the Lord in Lviv dealing with the topology of memorial plastics and sculptural portrait’s evolution in the modern West-Ukrainian lands at the border of the 16th and 17th centuries; the paper characterizes image-thematic and artistic peculiarities of a landmark and points out identifications of separate personalities among those who have been specified. The study stresses on the fact that the epitaph combines the features of memorial compositions of family prayer kneeling that was popular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 1550–1575s, and the adoration of the sacred scene by spouses that is presented as iconographic type developed in the 1600–1625s as the imitation of monumental tombstones of noble families’ representatives. The author suggests that except for J. Pfister's desire to avoid usual decisions, lack of space to place sculpture and customers’ wishes to immortalize all representatives of the genus, the composition tiering has been inspired with single tiered family bourgeois epitaphs in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the sculptor's tendency to develop multi-level structures. The research demonstrates the portrait’s development in Lviv sculpture that has proved the subordination of the heraldic program to the psychological features of the depicted personalities, its shift from the reproduction as a part of the ancestral organism (the epitaph of the Sholts-Volfovychs’ family) to the creation of the family image as an emergent unity of individuals, and is a characteristic of Boim’s epitaphs. The author highlights the development of Lviv sculptural portrait presented with the visualization of psychological interconnections of Boim’s family representatives, the expression of the essential one at the moment, the depiction of individual one in the associations with generally cultural and over-timed one. The paper focuses on “a-tectonicity”, “belonging to painting”, and dynamic development of the epitaph’s form especially noticed in a group of “Pieta”. The study highlights the integrity of a composition provided with zigzag baroque rhythm, outlining imaginative triangle with prayerfully folded palms of George and Yadviga Boim and the head of the Mother of God, the contrast of white alabaster and black marble background, stressing on central axis with fragmented Crucifixion, cartouche scrolls, the figure of the blessing Christ. The author suggests the statement about the picture at the second level of the composition that is the first from the inscription, not of the son, but of Pavel Georgy Boim’s brother, and in the series as a whole is the adoration of the Pieta by the sons of the family protoplast. The author points out the deformation of the epitaph’s reception under the conditions of its probable transferring from the original surrounding.

ГАЛЕРЕЯ ПОРТРЕТОВ, ВЫПОЛНЕННЫХ ПО ЧЕРЕПАМ ЭСКИМОСОВ, В ЛАБОРАТОРИИ АНТРОПОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ

The Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction (LAR) of the Centerfor Physical Anthropology (CPhA) of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has a truly unique collection of graphic and sculptural portraits made from the skulls of ancient and modern Eskimos from the Old and New Worlds. The article presents the works of G.V. Lebedinskaya, T.S. Surnina, T.S. Baluyeva, as well as some reconstructions made more recently by todays LAR research fellows. These latest works were carried out, taking into account the new data based on the improvement of the method of graphic facial reconstruction from a skull. The processing technique for 3D reconstruction of skull, based on a series of photographs taken from different angles is described. Thanks to this method, it is possible to obtain accurate images of the skull from front and side profile without any perspective distortion. The presented recon-structions were made using both classical and new methods, the last ones, based on the use of computer and the Photoshop Software. An innovative way of rep-resenting lifelike facial features makes it possible to show the real color of the skin, hair and eyes. In the article is as well discussed the place of the Eskimos in the anthropological classification system and the peculiarities of their features in Greenland and Chukotka.

Антропология и искусство (о некоторых итогах и планах по антропологическому изучению древних и современных популяций по произведениям изобразительного искусства)

Introduction. The article is devoted to a retrospective review of the results of the anthropological study of fine art sources, achieved by the race research laboratory directed I.V. Perevozchikov that are currently ongoing. Materials and methods. Descriptions of materials and methods are detailed in the main articles of the team cited in the bibliography. Results and discussion. The anthropological study of fine art is a new interdisciplinary direction in anthropology; it is carried out in two directions: 1) the western european portraiture and russian portraiture, 2) the ancient sculpture and painting. The idea of using ancient human images in anthropology is not new, but the population approach to the analysis of series of images belongs to I.V. Perevozchikov. About one and a half thousand portraitures were described as samples from populations, anthropological characteristics and estimates of homogeneity of populations based on composite portraits were studied. Anthropological description of the ancient population of the Mediterranean was obtained from samples: fayum portrait, roman sculptural portrait, etruscan portrait. In the evolution of the portrait, certain stages of the reflection of the physical individuality are determined; human images can be viewed from the anthropoesthetic standpoint as markers of a person's biological and social needs for self-identification. Conclusion. Combination of the descriptive method and the composite portrait for studying ancient and modern portraits makes it possible to obtain objective data on the anthropological types of the depicted population. Obtaining anthropological information about ancient populations contained in a variety of art resources of the cultural heritage requires an interdisciplinary synthesis of scientific ideas and knowledge of specialists in the natural sciences and the humanities.

Modeling and plastic techniques in creation of Moldovan sculptural nudes

There are many various materials suitable for the creation of sculptural nudes, but they are almost identical to those used to create a sculptural portrait. Among them, there is clay, stone (from limestone and granite to marble and some semi-precious stones), metals (bronze, aluminum, silver, gold), wood (of various types), wax (as a preliminary material), plasticine (which is also used for sketches) and gypsum (intended for casting works). Plastic techniques, as well as modeling ones, expand the range of interpretation of nude with the assistance of sculptural language elements and original compositional solutions. Thus, modeling techniques, in all their diversity, represent the wide scope and freedom of creativity that sculptors use to validate their ideas and artistic concepts. Plastic techniques and anatomical structures are of great importance, which, together, give originality to the works. Regardless of the period, in which the sculptors created, and of their stylistic preferences, they advocated a complex dialogue with the audience, in which the methods of modeling the material, or, in other words, the expression of the external form in the sculptural nude was a very important one.

СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ИЗОБРАЗИТЕЛЬНАЯ ЧЕХОВИАНА НА ДОНУ И В ПРИАЗОВЬЕ: К ПОСТАНОВКЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ

Chekhov’s oeuvre is “the text of culture” which broadcasts meanings outside literature to the other kinds of arts. An artist, who perceives and conceives it, may find himself or herself in the milieu of different time and space. However, his or her vision and perception of Chekhov’s personality and works enrich both his/her own world of arts, the world of arts in general, and the understanding of Chekhov’s oeuvre and legacy. Artists of the Don and Azov Region, who come from the same part of the country as the great writer, react to the writer’s destiny and works in much more vivid way, creating some kind of the “Chekhovian text” in the fine arts of the region. Originality of artistic searches, specific features of artists’ manner and style, profoundly expressed focus of their creative efforts on Chekhov’s works and life, and allusions to writer’s works condition the selection of samples of the fine arts Chekhoviana in the Don and Sea of Azov Region. A sculptural portrait of A.P. Chekhov by S.N. Oleshnya illustrates the perception of the writer by his contemporaries: a combination of cheerfulness, love for life, humour, and sadness. A work by V.A. Kozin entitled Chekhov is a sample of Vector graphic art and depicts the writer as a “common man”, stressing the idea by a slightly changed Chekhov’s phrase given at the bottom of the sheet. A sculptural portrait of A.P. Chekhov by A.A. Sknarin, a sculptor, and Yu.D. Dvornikov, an architect, depicts Anton Pavlovich both as a genius writer and a great public figure and enlightener, who enlarged and enriched the stocks of a city public library in Taganrog with a great number of books. At the same time, the monument turned out to be harmoniously “inside” the Pushkin plot of Rostov-on-Don. The Monument to A.P. Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard” by D.V. Lyndin in Taganrog is a sample of site-specific and environmental art – the genre urban sculpture. A stage set study for the Chekhov’s play The Cherry Orchard by A.A. Mytnikov and a study-scale landscape by M.P. Volodina entitled The Cherry Orchard differently, but, at the same time, in Chekhov’s way convey the sense of the play. The fine arts Chekhoviana of the region is an independent and original phenomenon.

Скульптурная репрезентация Александра I и стихотворение А. С. Пушкина «К бюсту Завоевателя»

The article focuses on the busts of Alexander I and the Russian poetic reception of the sculp-tural portrait in the fi rst third of the 19th century. Consideration of this sculptural genre from a political and cultural perspective, combined with the analysis of the Russian poetry on busts, helps to reveal numerous contradictions that accompanied the formation of the image of the Russian emperor in sculpture. The most profound poetic response to these contradictions turns out to be «To the Bust of the Conqueror» by Alexander Pushkin.

„GALERIA ARTYSTYCZNA” W KATOWICACH, JAKO LINEARNY POMNIK – MIEJSCE PAMIĘCI WYBITNYCH TWÓRCÓW KULTURY

Created since 2004 in the center of Katowice, the “Art Gallery” is a collection of sculptural portraits of outstanding creators of culture associated with the city and the upper Silesian region. it has the form of a linear monument supplemented every year with new sculptures of figures chosen by the inhabitants of the city and the region. it is a space of memory, but also a contemporary “didactic park”. it complements the nearby “culture zone”, also known as the Silesian Akropolis, created on the site of the former mine.

Римский скульптурный портрет и вотивный портрет республиканского времени (предварительные сравнительные данные по обобщённым портретам)

The materials for the composite portraits were images from electronic antique collections of museums, image banks and catalogs. To obtain visual images of the studied groups, the composite portrait method was used in a digital program. Results and discussion. Unlike the roman sculptural portrait of the 1st century BC, which has a specific purpose and real prototypes, prototypes of votive terracotta heads of the 3rd – 1st centuries BC can be both real people and typified model-forms. The main differences between the composite roman portraits from the etruscan-italic votives relate to the orbital part of the face, the nose width and the upper lip hight. The composite images of the roman votives of Latium are similar to the composite roman sculptural portrait in the nose width. The morphological differences between the votive portrait and the Roman republican sculptural portrait can be a reflection of really different anthropological types, which does not except the presence of the cumulative (Greeks, Etruscans, Latins) canon of morphological form in votive portraits. Conclusion. The early Roman portrait, represented by two distinctive forms of portraiture, reveals different anthropological types. The extent to which a possible morphological canon of votive heads gifts is influenced by Greek prototypes can be determined by comparison with a composite Greek portrait.

КАК ВЫГЛЯДЕЛИ НАШИ ПРЕДКИ, ИЛИ ЧТО МОЖЕТ АНТРОПОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИЯ?

Anthropological Reconstruction Laboratory of the Center for Physical Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS. The article relates the current state of the M.M. Gerasimov Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction of the Center for Physical Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Emphasizing the role of the founder of the method of face reconstruction from the skull, the author discusses the latest improvements to this method. The data bank on the thickness of the facial integument in representatives of various ethnic groups, and the accumulated experience with regard to the relationships between facial features and the underlying structures of the skull, made it possible to create a program of craniofacial correspondence ‘The Algorithm of Appearance’, which significantly improves the process of reconstructing in vivo appearance based on the skull. The visual reconstruction of the appearance is supplemented by an anthropological description of the lifetime appearance, in terms of the ‘verbal portrait’ used in forensic science. A description of a unique collection of more than 300 sculptural and graphic portraits made on the basis of the skulls of ancient people and historical figures is given. Based on the examples of specific projects, the possibilities of anthropological reconstruction for solving applied and theoretical problems of science are shown. The reconstruction of the appearance of soldiers killed in the Second World War is the key patriotic direction of the Laboratory s work. Based on the results of these reconstructions, several fi were identifi Th Laboratory is currently at work on reconstructing the lifetime appearance of A.V. Suvorov on the basis of a death mask.

Modeling techniques and plastic methods in the creation of Moldovan sculptural portraits

“In many respects the expressiveness of sculpture depends on the correspondence between the idea and material,” wrote the great Russian sculptor S.T. Konenkov. This undeniable truth determined the nature of this research, in which we set out to trace how modeling techniques contributed to plastic methods, to what extent the idea of a sculptural work was brought to life with the help of skillfully processed material. So, regardless of the material and technique chosen by the author, a sculptural portrait presupposes the presence of classical research as a shape, volume, texture and last but not least, psychological expressiveness. Sculptural portraits are not viable without a complex psychological interpretation. Thus, the choice made by the sculptor in favor of this or that technique, this or that material becomes important. The ideas of the work and the final results are foreseen by the author since the execution of the drawing or sketch in clay or plasticine. Thus, an idea originally conceived in the form of a sketch follows a complicated and winding path until it reaches the final phase. And the skillful embodiment of the initial idea depends only on the skills of the sculptor, and there are many techniques for creating a work, from which the master chooses the best one.

Portrait in Western European porcelain of the XVIII century

This article is dedicated to portrait images in Western European porcelain of the XVIII century. Research is conducted on the works created in various European countries, such as Germany (Meissen), France (Sevres), Austria (Vienna), and England (Wedgwood Pottery Manufactory). Prominent masters of porcelain –Kendler, Boizot, Grassi – are the authors of the portraits. Sculptural portrait images of August III – painter of the court of the French Queen Marie Antoinette and the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II are notable for exquisite artistic merit. The article reviews porcelain sculpture, as well as oil painted portraits. Interpretation of the images manifests the features of three styles characteristic to art of the XVIII century: Baroque, Rococo and Classicism. Portrait images reflect the themes typical to the Age of Enlightenment. The article describes the peculiarities of the creations of artists who worked in various European porcelain manufactories. Research methodology is based on the detailed stylistic analysis of the works of Baroque, Rococo and Classicism; fundamental examination of the works in historical sequence for determining the evolutionary changes; comparative analysis for revealing national and authorial specificities. The novelty is defined by the fact that this article is first to comprehensively analyze the portrait images in porcelain of such countries as Germany, France, and Austria of the XVIII century, as well as in identification of the features characteristic to different artists.

The uniqueness of theatrical memoiristics of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik

The subject of this research is the memoir heritage of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik. The novelty is defined by the absence of works dedicated specifically to the theatrical memoirs of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik. This article examines her memoiristics as part of the history of Russian theater, which allows the researchers to determine the author's contribution to the Russian theater studies. The goal of this consists in drawing attention of the audience and researchers to the memoiristics of Tatiana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik, as well as in describing the role of her theatrical memoirs within the Russian literary studies and the history of Russian theater. Analysis is conducted on the key peculiarities of the memoir heritage of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik: stylistic uniqueness, attention to details of the theatrical culture, mastery of sculptural portraits. The author also reveals fascinating rare facts about the prominent figures of art and theatrical events of the late XIX – early XX centuries. The conclusion is made that the memoirs of T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik represent a rich source on the history of Russian theatre. The details of theatrical culture, in-depth analysis of acting, portraits of the outstanding figures of Russian and foreign culture – all these facts makes her memoir heritage an invaluable material that contributes to the study of the Russian theatrical art.