Музы вернулись на фасад Большого театра
Музы вернулись на фасад Большого театра
According to information from Mikhail Sidorov, the official representative of the general contractor in charge of the renovation and restoration of the Bolshoi Theatre and an advisor to the president of Summa Group, historically accurate reproductions of the muses Erato and Terpsichore once again grace the facade of the Bolshoi Theatre. The originals were destroyed during air raids in 1941.
‘Alberto Cavos ordered the first sculptures for the facade of the Bolshoi Theatre as part of an earlier restoration of the building after it was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1853. But after World War II bombings, only fragments of the muses remained in their alcoves. In 1942, the sculptors Mitrofan Rukavishnikov and Sergei Koltsov created their own muse figures out of plaster, but those images bore little resemblance to the original concepts,’ claimed the general contractor’s representative.
When the renovation and restoration of the Bolshoi Theatre was being planned, the decision was made to fully restore the building’s historical appearance. And so the ‘Soviet’ muses were removed from the facade and given to the theater’s museum. The design team, headed by the sculptor Konstantin Arabchikov, made an extensive search through the archival materials in order to precisely reproduce the appearance of the muses that were mounted on the facade in 1856.
Few photographs have survived that clearly show the figures of the muses. According to the sculptors who worked on the project, it is possible to discern from the old pictures only the general stylistic outlines and dynamic movement of the sculptures - no facial expressions or details of the figures are visible. Each image was created in several stages and was the subject of many discussions.
‘The reconstructed muses are 3.5 meters tall and weigh more than two tons apiece. Each figure is made of seven plaster sections. The sculpture components were threaded onto a 19th-century metal frame, and then the craftsmen fastened the parts together and puttied over the join lines so that they are completely invisible. Then the muses were covered with a special primer and paint to preserve their beauty for as long as possible. This will improve their appearance and provide them with extra protection,’ emphasized Mikhail Sidorov.
‘Alberto Cavos ordered the first sculptures for the facade of the Bolshoi Theatre as part of an earlier restoration of the building after it was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1853. But after World War II bombings, only fragments of the muses remained in their alcoves. In 1942, the sculptors Mitrofan Rukavishnikov and Sergei Koltsov created their own muse figures out of plaster, but those images bore little resemblance to the original concepts,’ claimed the general contractor’s representative.
When the renovation and restoration of the Bolshoi Theatre was being planned, the decision was made to fully restore the building’s historical appearance. And so the ‘Soviet’ muses were removed from the facade and given to the theater’s museum. The design team, headed by the sculptor Konstantin Arabchikov, made an extensive search through the archival materials in order to precisely reproduce the appearance of the muses that were mounted on the facade in 1856.
Few photographs have survived that clearly show the figures of the muses. According to the sculptors who worked on the project, it is possible to discern from the old pictures only the general stylistic outlines and dynamic movement of the sculptures - no facial expressions or details of the figures are visible. Each image was created in several stages and was the subject of many discussions.
‘The reconstructed muses are 3.5 meters tall and weigh more than two tons apiece. Each figure is made of seven plaster sections. The sculpture components were threaded onto a 19th-century metal frame, and then the craftsmen fastened the parts together and puttied over the join lines so that they are completely invisible. Then the muses were covered with a special primer and paint to preserve their beauty for as long as possible. This will improve their appearance and provide them with extra protection,’ emphasized Mikhail Sidorov.