The Battle of Chesme is one of the most important episodes of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. During the night, Russian ships were able to "lock" in the Chesme Bay and destroy most of the Turkish fleet.
I. K. Aivazovsky was not a participant in the grand battle of Chesme, which took place on the night of June 25-26, 1770, but on his canvas he convincingly captured the picture of a naval battle.
The canvas "Chesme Battle" was painted by the artist in 1848 and belongs to the early period of the great marine painter's work.
"Chesme battle" is a battle canvas permeated with passionate pathos and drama. In the foreground is the silhouette of the flagship of the Russian flotilla. In the depths of the Chesme Bay - Turkish ships dying from explosions. We see how they burn and sink - fragments of masts fly apart, flames of fire rage, illuminating the dark night with a tragic light.
Turkish sailors, miraculously surviving after the explosion, grab onto the wreckage of a wooden ship, trying to stay on the water, and cry for help. Rising up, the gray smoke of the fire mixes with the clouds. The mixture of the elements of fire, water and air resembles some kind of infernal fireworks. From above, the moon looks somewhat detachedly at everything that happens.
Despite the cruelty of what is happening, the picture "Chesme Battle" makes a major impression. It can be seen that the painter himself, in the process of creating the canvas, experienced a feeling of joyful excitement, intoxication with the brilliant victory won by Russian sailors. The picture is distinguished by virtuoso technique, skill and courage of performance.
The painting "Chesme Battle" by I. K. Aivazovsky is one of the paintings glorifying one of the most glorious pages in the history of the Russian fleet.
In addition to the description of the painting by I. K. Aivazovsky “The Battle of Chesme”, our website has collected many other descriptions of paintings by various artists, which can be used both in preparation for writing an essay on a painting, and simply for a more complete acquaintance with the work of famous masters of the past.
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In the history of the Russian fleet, the Battle of Chesma is one of the glorious heroic events. Aivazovsky himself, of course, could not have witnessed these events that unfolded on the night of June 26, 1770. But at the same time, the artist was able to reproduce the picture of a sea battle on his canvas very reliably and convincingly. Ships are burning and exploding, fragments of masts fly up to the sky, rising bluish-red flames mix with clouds, the moon calmly contemplates what is happening from above. Its calm and cold light seems to emphasize the hellish mixture of fire, sea and water. The feeling is that Aivazovsky himself, creating this picture, was experiencing an ongoing event, during which the Russian sailors won. Despite the cruelty of what is seen in the picture, it leaves the impression of a grandiose fireworks and major. The plot of the picture was one of the episodes of the Russian-Turkish war, in which Russia fought for dominance in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. The Turkish fleet at that historical period was considered the strongest. But after several military battles, he hid in a panic in the Chesme Bay. Pursuing the enemy, Russian ships blocked the exit from the bay, and in one night they completely destroyed and burned the entire Turkish fleet. The Russian fleet lost only 11 sailors that night, while the Turks - 10 thousand. Human. Russia has never experienced such a victory in the history of naval battles. Count Alexei Orlov commanded the events, and Catherine II, being the empress. She ordered the erection of a monument to the heroes who participated in the Battle of Chesme in Tsarskoe Selo. The monument was made in the form of a column, which still stands today in the center of a large pond. The allegorical sculpture is completed by the silhouette of a double-headed eagle breaking a marble crescent. Aivazovsky, wanting to feel the scale of the naval battle, took part in some wars, after which he created many battle canvases. Aivazovsky's painting "The Battle of Chesme" demonstrates the brilliant skill of the painter, his technique and the courage of execution. In the same 1848 Aivazovsky painted the painting “The Battle in the Cheos Strait”, which made a worthy pair for the Battle of Chesme, glorifying the victory of the Russian fleet. Aivazovsky was the brightest of the last representatives of the romantic mood in Russian painting. This was especially evident in his pathetic heroic naval battles.
Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich
Chesme battle - Aivazovsky. 1848. Oil on canvas. 193 x 183 cm. Museum: Aivazovsky Art Gallery, Feodosia
A recognized master marine painter, the artist, like no one else, was able to depict the sea in any of its states and various ships - from a small boat to a huge sailboat. The picture depicts the moment of the naval battle of the Russian fleet against the Turkish, in which the latter suffered a crushing defeat and lost many ships and its experienced sailors.
The canvas reflects the decisive moment of the night battle, when the Turkish fleet was utterly defeated. This is a monstrous and frightening sight - huge ships burn and sink like chips, and the surviving sailors cling to the remains of masts and rigging with difficulty. The incredible power and horror of this battle is emphasized by high-rising pillars of flame, so that it seems that the sea itself is blazing with hellish flames. The flashes of fire are written out so masterfully that it creates the feeling of a picture bursting with heat.
The depth of perspective and volume of the picture is given by the use of contrasting colors. The overall color scheme is very dark and gloomy, which not only corresponds to the tragedy of the event, but is also due to the fact that the battle took place at night, and the smoke and fumes from the ships dying in the fire literally closed the horizon. The sky as such is not visible on the canvas, it is covered with a dense veil of black mourning smoke, against which the fiery splashes of colors of burning ships and the yellow moon, barely visible under the cover of smoky clubs, clearly stand out.
In the foreground of the picture is a boat crowded with people who have just blown up one of the Turkish ships with their firewall. From this explosion, a grandiose fire occurred, which soon destroyed almost the entire Turkish linear fleet. On the other side of the canvas, on the remains of their sunken ship, a handful of Turks who survived the battle are trying to escape. All their hope for survival lies in the fact that they will be taken prisoner, not allowing them to drown in the gloomy waters of the Aegean Sea.
This historic battle allowed the Russian troops not only to prevent the Turks from freely moving their ships around this area of the Aegean Sea, but also to establish a blockade of the Dardanelles, which prevented the main forces of the Turkish fleet from penetrating the Black Sea.
Using such a limited color scheme, the artist managed not only to convey the realities of a naval battle, but also to do it so masterfully that the picture looks like a real photo report from the site of a historical event, striking the imagination of the modern viewer with the grandeur and danger of naval battles of past eras.
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was a comprehensively educated person and an interesting conversationalist. In his youth, he often visited the house of the composer M. I. Glinka, where he played his own melodies on the violin. Later, two of them were included in Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.
Russian artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (real name - Gaivazovsky) was born in Feodosia, in the family of a bankrupt merchant. His father, an Armenian by nationality, was well educated, knew several oriental languages. As a child, Vanya was interested in music and drawing - he himself composed small pieces of music and performed them on the violin, and also painted with charcoal.
The parents did not have the opportunity to give the boy a good education. However, Vanya was lucky: the mayor of Feodosia, A.I. Kaznacheev, noticed Aivazovsky's talent and lobbied for him to be enrolled in the Simferopol gymnasium.
After studying there for two years, in 1833 the sixteen-year-old Aivazovsky was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, in the class of M. N. Vorobyov.
More than others, Aivazovsky was interested in the theme of the sea. During his studies, the future marine painter even participated in the campaign of the Baltic squadron and studied warships. Returning from a trip, he completed several paintings that were exhibited at the Academy's exhibition in 1836.
In them, one can notice the influence of the Dutch masters of the 17th century, but no one doubted the talent of the young artist. Aivazovsky graduated from the academy in 1837 with a large gold medal, which gave him the right to travel abroad. However, before that, by decision of the Council of the Academy, the young artist went to the Crimea to paint seascapes. There he not only completed many landscapes, sketches with views of Feodosia, Kerch, Gurzuf, Yalta, Sevastopol, but also took part in the landing operations of the Black Sea Fleet.
In 1839 he participated in one of the military sea campaigns as a painter. The result of his work in the Crimea was a number of paintings, of which the most successful can be considered "Moonlight Night in Gurzuf" (1839) and "Seashore" (1840).
I. K. Aivazovsky. "Peter I at Krasnaya Gorka, lighting a fire to signal his dying ships", 1846, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
In 1840, Aivazovsky, along with other graduates of the academy, came to Italy, where he quickly gained popularity. He met N.V. Gogol there, as well as the artists A.A. Ivanov and the Englishman J. Turner. Aivazovsky visited Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, studying artistic masterpieces. At this time, he completed the work: "Evening in Venice" (1843, Palace, Pavlovsk); “Shipwreck” (1843, Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia); "Venice" (1843, Muzalevsky's collection); Bay of Naples at night (1843, Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia).
I. K. Aivazovsky. "Fight in the Chios Strait", 1848, Art Gallery. I. K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia
After Italy, he went to Germany, from there to Holland, then visited France, Switzerland, visited England, Portugal and Spain. During these trips around Europe, Aivazovsky’s artistic style finally took shape - he did not make preliminary field studies and drawings, being content with only a few pencil sketches, saying that “... the movements of living elements are elusive for a brush: writing lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of a wave is unthinkable from nature…” In 1844, the twenty-seven-year-old Aivazovsky returned to Russia as a famous academician of the Roman, Paris and Amsterdam Academies of Arts. Immediately after returning to St. Petersburg, he received the title of academician, was assigned to the Main Naval Staff as an artist. Soon Aivazovsky began work on a major order - a series of paintings with views of cities on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
I. K. Aivazovsky. "Chesme battle", 1848, Art Gallery. I. K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia
Having completed the order, the master returned to his native city in 1845, built his own house and took up creativity. During this period, he painted the canvases “Odessa at Night” (1846, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg), “Evening in the Crimea” (1848, Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia).
In 1848, Aivazovsky completed several marinas on historical subjects: “The Battle in the Chios Strait”, “Chesme Battle”, “Navarin Battle” (all in the I.K. Aivazovsky Art Gallery, Feodosia).
On the canvas “Battle in the Strait of Chios”, the artist showed a naval battle taking place during the day. In the foreground are two ships: a white and blue St. Andrew's banner flutters on the mast of one, a red flag on the mast of the other. In the foreground, a fragment of a mast with a piece of sail swings in greenish waves - apparently, all that remains of a sunken ship. In the background, in the smoke of the battle, you can see several more masts and sails of the rest of the ships of the squadron.
In the painting “Chesme Battle”, the master depicted the feat of Lieutenant Ilyin, who blew up his ship near enemy Turkish ships.
The battle takes place at night - in the sky, partially covered with clouds, the moon is visible. Several ships are on fire, the soldiers are trying to escape in the boat.
In the subsequent works of Aivazovsky, one can notice the strengthening of the traditions of romanticism (“The Ninth Wave”, 1850, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, etc.).
During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the artist repeatedly visited the besieged Sevastopol. Subsequently, he captured the events he saw on the canvases “The battle of Sinop during the day” and “The battle of Sinop at night” (both - 1853, Naval Museum, St. Petersburg). A few years later, he completed another painting dedicated to the Crimean War: The Siege of Sevastopol (1859, Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia).
In 1867, the artist painted the canvas “The Island of Crete” (Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia), dedicated to the liberation struggle of the Greeks against the Turkish conquerors.
In subsequent years, the master completed several landscapes depicting steppes, farms, as well as views of the Caucasus. However, despite the fact that the artist worked on them with great diligence, these paintings are still not as expressive as his famous marinas.
In the second half of the 19th century, Aivazovsky continued to paint historical subjects. Particularly interesting are the works "The Arrival of Catherine II in Feodosia" (1883); "The Black Sea Fleet in Feodosia" (1890); "Brig" Mercury "attacked by two Turkish ships" (1892); "Napoleon on the island of St. Helena" (1897), all - in the Art Gallery. I. K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia).
Aivazovsky lived in Feodosia, but quite often made short trips to other countries. For example, in 1870, as part of the Russian delegation, he attended the opening of the Suez Canal. Returning to his native city and using only small sketches and excellent visual memory, he created the canvas "Suez Canal".
I. K. Aivazovsky. "Brig" Mercury "attacked by two Turkish ships", 1892, Art Gallery. I. K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia
The artist worked until the end of his life. In recent years, he has completed many magnificent works: The Black Sea (1881, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow); "The ship "Maria" during a storm" (1892, Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia), etc.
On April 19, 1900, in one day, he wrote his last work, The Explosion of a Ship (Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky, Feodosia). Aivazovsky died the same night.
In his will, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky wrote: “My sincere desire that the building of my art gallery with all the paintings, statues and other works of art in it, be the full property of Feodosia, and in memory of me, Aivazovsky, I bequeath the gallery to the city of Feodosia.”
Aivazovsky's naval battle is, undoubtedly, one of the most frequent themes revealed on his canvases. The legendary painter admired the exploits of the heroes-sailors who defended their Fatherland, and glorified them with pleasure in his paintings. Thanks to his work, it was possible to perpetuate the memory of many events and glorious episodes from the history of the Russian fleet. The artist also owes his world fame to many masterpieces.
The painting by Ivan Aivazovsky "" is deservedly called one of the most striking and famous works of the greatest marine painter among those that belong to the early period of his work. It is dedicated to the most significant episode of the Russian-Turkish war, which played a decisive role in the end when the countries signed a peace agreement.
The canvas takes us back to the year 1770, on the night of June 25-26, when the ships of the Russian flotilla managed to block a significant part of the Turkish ships in the Chesme Bay and destroy them. Aivazovsky’s painting “The Battle of Chesme” became the best description of the grandiose battle, in which the author managed to perfectly combine two opposite feelings: to reflect the drama of the event for one side and “saturate” literally every stroke with a sense of triumph, heroism, brilliant victory.
In the foreground of the picture, the outlines of the flagship of the Russian fleet proudly loom, and inside the bay, Turkish ships are on fire and explode, fragments of masts fly apart.
The black-gray smoke rising from the scarlet flame mixes with the clouds through which the moon breaks through, and it seems that it is absolutely calmly watching, shedding its cold light, for everything that happens below.
A group of people in the water attracts the viewer's attention in Aivazovsky's painting "Chesme Battle" - these are Turkish sailors who were able to escape after the explosion of their ship. They try to grab onto the wreckage of his masts and hold on, vainly calling for help.
Describing Aivazovsky's painting "The Battle of Chesme", it should be noted how it amazes with its high skill, virtuoso technique and realism of images.
Here, colors are brilliantly collected, conveying the tragedy and triumph of the situation, emphasizing the powerful mixture of the elements: water, fire and air.
Among the best canvases of the famous painter, who devoted many works to the description of military battles during the Crimean War, there are two more devoted to the battle of Sinop.
The battle took place in November 1853, after the Turkish state declared war on Russia. The fleet under the command of Nakhimov set off in the direction of the enemy's shores and, approaching as close as possible, destroyed all Turkish ships based in Sinop Bay in a few hours.
On one canvas - "" - Aivazovsky captured the early morning and the very beginning of the victorious battle for the Russian fleet: the sea, small waves on which sailing ships sway, the sky covered with gray clouds and the first clouds of smoke from cannon shots.
On the second canvas, dedicated to the Battle of Sinop, Aivazovsky depicted. Turkish ships dying with a bright flame throw burnt chips into the black, but already calm water. Russian ships proudly froze in the distance, enjoying their triumph.
On the famous painting by Aivazovsky "", written by the author in 1846, one of the most significant events in the history of the Russian fleet and the events that glorified it is captured. History takes us to October 1827, when there was a battle with the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Bay of Navarino.
In the foreground is the famous Russian flagship Azov, it is badly damaged as a result of the battle, but at the same time decides to board the enemy ship. As a result, Russian sailors go to the enemy deck to destroy it.
With a skillful brush, the master conveyed the tragedy and heroism of the event, despite the raging fire and clouds of smoke, fragments of the masts of broken ships, the intensity of the battle - no one doubts the outcome.
