One of the most famous literary works written by G. R. Derzhavin is “Monument”. In this poem, created in 1795, the poet touches on the problem of the fame of the writer. From his point of view, the purpose of art is to foster a love of beauty, enlightenment, and the eradication of bad morals.
Thus, the best monument to the poet is his work. But the love for Gabriel Romanovich of his compatriots, residents of Kazan, was very great. Therefore, immediately after his death, in 1816, it was decided to perpetuate the name of the great poet.
The decision to build a monument to Derzhavin was made by members of the literature connoisseurs community in Kazan in the year of the writer's death. But then the ordinary Russian bureaucracy proved itself. The first draft of the monument was developed only 14 years later, and even that was rejected by the Imperial Academy of Arts. The financial issue was not at all an obstacle to the construction. On the contrary, after Nicholas I announced a fundraiser for the construction of the monument, cash flow poured in. Indeed, many merchants considered it their duty to respond to the call of the emperor.
So much money was collected that the commission “slaughtered” the earlier adopted draft, believing that the monument to Derzhavin needed to be improved. A new competition was announced, and the emperor himself chose the option he liked: the joint work of Halberg and Ton. The autocrat also determined the place for the monument himself - the courtyard of the university. As usual, the once generously allocated funds became scarce by the end of the work, and in order to deliver the sculpture to its place in 1847, I had to appeal to the people again.
But the residents of Kazan liked the monument to Derzhavin so much that 24 years later it was transferred (again for the money collected by voluntary subscription) to Theater Square. The bronze sculpture of the writer was depicted as an ancient genius. In toga and sandals, with his head uncovered, the poet holds a lyre and style. No less interesting are the decorative details depicted on the bas-reliefs on three sides of the monument. This is the muses, the poet’s inspiration, the allegorical figures of Day and Night, as well as the Enlightenment, which defeats Ignorance.
After the revolution, the new authorities decided that Gabriel Derzhavin, whose monument occupied a central place in Kazan, was a court poet and singer of the autocracy. In 1930, the bronze figure was sent for remelting, the red marble pedestal disappeared in an unknown direction, and a plaster bust of Emelyan Pugachev of dubious artistic value was placed on the site of the once magnificent statue.
But in 2003, to the 260th anniversary of Derzhavin, Kazan returned their famous countryman. True, the place on which the monument previously stood now occupies the building of the Opera House. Therefore, it was decided to build a monument in the Lyadsky garden. There was not a fragment from the previous original of the work of Ton and Halberg, therefore, the sculptors Makhmud Gasimov and Rosalia Nurgaleeva were faced with the task of restoring the monument from the few photographs that have survived to our time. They coped with their task perfectly. True, the current monument to Derzhavin looks lower than the previous one, due to the fact that there is no longer a staircase and a high marble pedestal. By the way, in Russia there are other monuments perpetuating the memory of Derzhavin: in Tomsk, as well as a small bust of the writer in the courtyard of his Petersburg residence.