Description of the attraction
The monument to Paul I was erected in front of the Gatchina Palace on August 1, 1851, and, in fact, is an unofficial symbol of the city, which can often be seen on the covers of books and souvenirs associated with Gatchina.
The model of the statue of Paul I was made by the famous Russian sculptor Ivan Petrovich Vitali by order of Nicholas I. This is one of his best creations. Like all of Vitali's works, the figure of Paul I is filled with exquisite grace. For the execution of the statue, the sculptor used the ceremonial portrait of Pavel Petrovich, belonging to the brush of Stepan Semyonovich Shchukin and painted by him in 1796. In the monument to Paul I, as in the painting, a portrait resemblance to the emperor is preserved. For this monument to I. P. Vitali was awarded the Order of St. Anne II degree.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. the authorship of this monument was mistakenly attributed to other sculptors: L. Zh. Jacques and P. K. Klodt. But this unfortunate mistake was corrected by I. E. Grabar, artist and art critic in his monograph "History of Russian Art".
The statue of Paul I stands on a polished four-sided figured pedestal made of Finnish granite. Paul I is depicted in a cocked hat and a ceremonial uniform, leaning on a cane. One leg is put forward and slightly bent at the knee. The position of the head, the pose of the emperor, the expression on his face give the monument a special representativeness and grandeur. The monument is erected in front of the Great Gatchina Palace on the parade ground, near the parapet, and is facing the parade ground and the palace, as if the emperor himself is ready to receive the parade.
It is believed that the pedestal under the statue was designed by R. I. Kuzmina, although the name of the author is not indicated in the archival documents. It is only known that in July 1850 Nicholas I approved the drawing of the pedestal for the statue of Paul I in Gatchina. This drawing was given to the architect Kuzmin with instructions on the preparation of an estimate for its construction.
The monument to the emperor was cast at one of the foundries of St. Petersburg. During the manufacture of the statue, an exact copy was created, which was later installed in front of the palace in Pavlovsk.
Emperor Nicholas I delved into the smallest details regarding the installation of the monument. By order of the emperor, the square in front of the Gatchina Palace had to be finished by all means by August 1, 1851, and the statue of Paul I had to be covered with canvas fixed on racks, like screens.
The monument was unveiled on August 1, 1851 in the presence of Nicholas I himself. A parade was timed to this event, in which the Jaegers, Pavlovsky, Gusarsky, and Cavalry regiments participated. This solemn event was captured by the court painter Adolphe Charlemand. The artist captured the Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, the future heir to the throne, when he stood as a sentry in the uniform of the Pavlovsky Life Guards regiment near the monument; and G. Schwartz painted the painting "The Opening of the Monument to Emperor Paul I".
In 1919, the city authorities wanted to get rid of the statue of the monarch. But thanks to the curator of the Gatchina Palace Museum and Park, V. K. Makarov, the monument was defended.
The monument to Paul I safely endured all the hardships of the turbulent 20th century. The romantic emperor was not touched by either the communists or the fascists, despite the fact that the Palace Square in Gatchina in 1919 was renamed the Victims of the Revolution Square, where there was a mass grave with the victims of the Civil War who died in Gatchina buried in it. Only in 1957 was the burial moved to the city cemetery.
In the life of the city and its inhabitants, the bronze emperor always had a special, magical meaning. After the war, when the Higher Naval Radio Engineering School was located in the Gatchina Palace, every year, on the night before graduation, the cadets wore a specially sewn vest on the statue of Paul. This tradition greatly annoyed the command of the school. Investigations were carried out without fail, but the culprit was never found.
Many visitors note that the inhabitants of Gatchina somehow especially respect the personality of Paul I. For the Gatchina people, he is like a local god, a keeper of a hearth or Roman lari.
Like many years ago, the emperor, frozen in eternal sleep, sacredly keeps the peace of his native city.
