In the
Summer Garden, in the very center of the picturesque playground, an interesting and unique monument of Krylov rises. A bronze statue of the famous Russian fabulist is seated on a 3.5-meter granite pedestal decorated with characters from fables.
History of the monument
The Krylov Monument in St. Petersburg was erected in 1855 with private donations. The summer garden was not chosen by chance: it was here that the fabulist liked to walk.
The author of the monument, the sculptor P. Klodt, initially wanted to portray Krylov in Roman toga, such a mood was inspired by the idealistic style of the time of Pushkin and Belinsky. However, in the end, he settled on the life image of the great fabulist.
Bronze statue of Ivan Krylov
When examining the monument to Krylov, it seems that a little tired Ivan Andreevich, in his favorite long-sleeved frock coat, which he wore in the last years of his life, sat down to rest on a stone.
The features of his face show a special spirituality. He seems to be about to start writing a new fable in his book. In the appearance of I. Krylov there is no pretentiousness and embellishment, only a calm pensive face, on which the sculptor skillfully displayed the mind and talent of the writer.
Granite pedestal
Of particular interest is the square pedestal, decorated with the characters of the fables. P. Klodt created animal figures from nature. A whole zoo lived in his workshop: a bear with cubs and a tamed wolf, a monkey brought by A.P. Bogolyubov from Madeira Island, lambs, a donkey, a crane and other birds and animals. This is probably why the animals on the monument are depicted very realistically.
Only the goat sculptor experienced an inexplicable dislike. The neighbor's grandmother brought her little goat to the workshop every day for posing. Keeping a shy animal near a wolf and a bear was not so simple. However, the hostess's great desire to perpetuate her pet in bronze bore fruit: the grandmother dealt with a stubborn animal, the figure of a goat on a pedestal turned out to be believable and natural.
Fable characters
Before creating a monument to Krylov, the sculptor read all his works and portrayed the characters of 36 fables. Both adults and children recall half-forgotten stanzas from the animals depicted. This explains the keen interest that invariably causes a monument to Krylov in people. Photographs of fragments of the pedestal overlap with the lines of famous fables. Here is a mischievous monkey and a clubfoot. Recognized the "Bremen Town Musicians"? And here "... The Crane stuck its nose up its neck into the mouth of the Wolf ..."
The fence, made in an eclectic style that was fashionable for those times, organically combines with the monument. They installed it 20 years after the end of work and the opening of the pedestal in order to avoid damage to the bas-reliefs.
Once Ivan Andreevich said that his fable animals speak for him. Perhaps that is why the pedestal is very modestly written: "Krylov 1855." And really, there is nothing to add, it remains only to examine the monument to Krylov and recall the remembered lines from instructive, not without humor, fables.