Triumphal prints (gravures) dating back to the beginning of Peter the Great’s reforms

Abstract

The end of 17th — early 18th century saw the rapid development of the art of making prints in Russia. A print as a product of mass replication became a powerful tool of propaganda of the reforms introduced by Peter the Great. The article addresses the origins and further development of a special kind of the art — a triumphal print. The article contains an in-depth analysis of the earliest print of this type put on a frontispiece of the Kiev Pechersk Paterik, published in 1702. The print depicts the first victories of Peter the Great at Azov and Kizikermen in 1696 and foreseen victories in the Northern War. The article examines a triumphal frontispiece print of a book by I. Turuboiskii “Politikolepnaya apotheosis” published in 1709, glorifying the events of 1702 and repeating the key compositional elements of the frontispiece from the Paterik.

Keywords:

reforms of Peter the Great, print (gravure), the Kiev Pechersk Paterik, Politikolepnaya apotheosis