|
Various pieces of sculpture form an integral part of the Pavlovsk park ensemble. Placed there in the late eighteenth - nineteenth centuries, they stand in complete harmony with the surrounding environment.
In the first place it is necessary to mention bronze statues of figures from ancient mythology in the Old Sylvia (Old Forest) region representing Apollo Musagetes with Muses as well as perishing Niobids. All these statues were cast in the workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts in the period 1780-98 after moulds of famous ancient statues in the museums of Rome and Florence. The casts were smelted from wax models, the most exact means of casting known at that time. The sculptors F. Gordeev and P. Sokolov and the masters of casting and embossing E. Gastekle and V. Mozhalov all helped to create the statues.
The marble statues symbolizing Peace and Justice located in the area between the palace and the Dairy were created by the Venetian sculptor P. Baratta (early 18th century). They had originally been acquired by Peter I for the Summer Garden in St Petersburg, but at the close of the eighteenth century, at Paul's command, were transferred to Pavlovsk.
14 marble busts of famous people from the ancient world (Italy, 18th century) adorn a beautiful alley near the Voliere. In different regions of the park there are also other wonderful specimens of marble garden sculpture: hermas, lions, centaurs created in the eighteenth century.
A most remarkable and well-known in the park is the Carrare marble group The Three Graces by Paolo Triscorni placed in 1803 in the centre of the Pavilion of the Three Graces.
Of great artistic value are marble cenotaphs (imitation gravestones) by an outstanding master of Russian Classicism Ivan Martos, located in several park pavilions (the Mausoleum of Paul I, the Monument to Parents).
|