On the issue of the admission of E.A. Lancere’s sculpture “Svyatoslav on the Way to Tsargrad” to the State Russian Museum

The author traces the history of the arrival of E.A. Lanceray’s wax sculpture “Svyatoslav on the Road to Constantinople” (1886) and a wax sketch of this composition to the State Russian Museum using archival sources. According to the 1988 museum catalogue “State Russian Museum. Sculpture of the 18th – early 20^th century”, both works were donated to the museum in 1928 by a private individual. Archival documents do not confirm this information. Documents from the Russian State Historical Archives (appropriations, coupons confirming payment) are published on the purchase by the Academy of Arts of the sculpture “Svyatoslav” from Lanceray’s widow Ekaterina Nikolaevna in 1887–1888. Then, according to the documents from the State Russian Museum archive, by March 1898 the work was transferred to the Russian Museum of Alexander III along with part of the collection of the Academy of Arts.

Two documents from the State Russian Museum archives are published regarding the arrival of the wax sketch of the composition “Svyatoslav” to the museum. In 1920, the Art Department of the Russian Museum accepted Lanceray’s sculptures “Amazon” and two equestrian figures “Svyatoslav” and “Kirghiz” from A.N. Benois for safekeeping. In 1928, the museum received an application from Ekaterina Nikolaevna Lanceray with a request to accept as a gift Lanceray’s original wax works, which were given for safekeeping in 1918– 1919 years by A.N. Benois. These archival documents allow us to conclude that E.N. Lanceray donated to the State Russian Museum the sketch of the composition “Svyatoslav”, which was already in safekeeping at the museum, as well as two other wax compositions by the sculptor “Amazon on horseback Gunter” (1885) and “Kirghiz on the Hunt”.

1. Dementiyeva, L.A. (2011), Evgeniy Lanceray. Albom sculpturnykh modelei [Evgeny Lanceray. Album of sculptural models], GIM, Moscow, Russia.

2. Schmidt, I.M. (1954), Evgenii Aleksandrovich Lanceray [Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lanceray], Iskusstvo, Moscow, USSR.