Monuments reveal

Work by sculptor Ivan Storozhev. Famous Russian Samovar monuments

Famous Russian Samovar monuments
Suksun, a city-type settlement in the Perm region of Russia, bears the name of “the capital of the Russian samovar.” Located on the left bank of the Sylva River (Chusovoy tributary), the city got its name from the Turkic word suksun, which means “jelly water”. Meanwhile, the found here copper deposits became the reason of establishing here a settlement and later a city (1651). Since the 17th century it was here that the production of samovars began.
The monument to the famous Suksun samovar appeared in 2006. The author of the monument is the teacher of the Perm branch of the Russian Academy of Painting and Sculpture Ivan Ivanovich Storozhev. The monument to the samovar consists of 4 sculptures, which symbolize prosperity, strong family relations and hospitality. The height of the monument is 3 meters, and its weight is more than 900 kg.
Meanwhile, there is a popular belief that if to rub a Suksun samovar you will always be surrounded by friends and close people. In addition, on their wedding day the newlyweds come here to perform a kind of ritual. In particular, after holding on to the tap of the samovar, they make a wish and believe that their family life will be long and happy. Besides, the locals and guests of the city, in the hope of returning here again, fill a cup of tea with coins.
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Happy Well of Angels in St. Petersburg

Happy Well of Angels in St. Petersburg

In general, angels live only in heaven. However, immortalized in monuments, angels may live anywhere – from cemeteries and crypts to gardens and streets. For instance, St. Petersburg angels, known also as Well Angels. By nature, the angels are patrons and protectors of people. And descend from heaven to earth St. Petersburg angels can help the suffering and will not let die of thirst. They are guardian angels of the source with life-giving moisture. According to the locals, if you wash your face with the water from this fountain, you will feel better. Some even believe in the full recovery of possible illness. Besides, you can make a wish – and it will come true.
Undoubtedly, the Fountain “Well of Angels” is one of the unusual architectural sights of St. Petersburg. The sculptural composition around the fountain consists of several figures. In particular, a beautiful girl and five angels who help her to draw water in the well.
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Fragment of the Miraculous Christ tombstone sculpture at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Miraculous Christ tombstone sculpture at the Novodevichy Cemetery
Sometimes it happens that the tombstone becomes famous, but we know very little about who lies beneath it. And this what has happened with the grave of AA. Vershinina. The road to the figure of Christ is unmistakable even for those who are here for the first time and by chance. The grave of the unknown generaless Anna Vershinina at the Novodevichy Cemetery of St. Petersburg turned into a city legend and became a place of pilgrimage. A lot of people come to the bronze sculpture of Christ set here daily with the hope for help. Here come not only Petersburgers, but also inhabitants of other cities. In recent years, this statue has acquired so many rumors that it is almost impossible to separate the truth from fiction.
They say, being childless, Anna Vershinina was very sad that after her death no one will remember her. Once, in a dream, she saw the Savior, who prompted to buy a place in the cemetery beforehand and set up his bronze image there – and then every passerby would certainly pray here. And the place in the cemetery had to be bought in advance, and who of the spouses will first go to the Lord, he will rest here.
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Ulyanovsk, Russia. Soviet TV star Valentina Leontieva monument, opened August 1, 2008. Bronze. Work by sculptor Nikolai Antsiferov

Adored by millions, Soviet TV star Valentina Leontieva was among those celebrities whom the whole country worshiped. The monument to the famous TV presenter appeared just on her birthday – August 1 (2008). A bronze two-meter sculpture on a pedestal made of granite from the Irininsky deposit (Moscow region) depicts Valentina Leontieva, who left the theater and sat down in the park to relax and admire the view of the river. The author of the monument – sculptor from St. Petersburg Nikolai Antsiferov.
Born on August 1, 1923 in Leningrad, Valentina Leontieva had to survive the siege of Leningrad. At the age of 18 she helped the wounded and sick in the besieged city. When the “Road of Life” opened, her mother and two sisters left the blockaded city. Subsequently, Valentina recalled how her sister’s son died on the road and she could not even bury him humanly: the body of the child had to be buried in a roadside drift.
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The creation of the German animal sculptor Richard Freese, bronze Deer. Originally installed in the Rominsten forest, after the Great Patriotic War it appeared in Russia. The history of deer sculpture in Smolensk

The history of deer sculpture in Smolensk is quite interesting. In 1909, during the hunt in the Rominsten forest, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II killed a deer. The animal made a very strong impression on him, and he decided to install a statue of a deer in his castle. For many years the monument adorned the courtyard of the hunting castle in East Prussia, but in 1944 the statue mysteriously disappeared. In 1945, the sculpture, found by Soviet soldiers at the dacha of Goering, moved to Smolensk.
By the way, one deer horn weighs 200 kg. Meanwhile, residents and visitors of the city of Smolensk have a fun tradition – to rub the genitals of a deer to attract good luck.

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Inspired by the painting of of Peter Brueghel the Elder ‘The Parable of the Blind’ monument in the Hague. Blindness and blind people monuments

Blindness and blind people monuments
“The Parable of the Blind” is a picture of Peter Brueghel the Elder. Other names are “Blind”, “Parabola of the Blind”, “Blind Leading the Blind”. The picture shows six blind men, who move forward in a chain, holding each other. The first blind leader who walks first stumbles and, together with the staff, falls into the pit. Following him blind, falls on him. The third, associated with the second staff, will also follow its predecessors. The fifth and sixth do not yet know anything, but they inevitably must be in the pit behind their companions. In fact, the picture depicts the biblical parable of the blind: “If a blind man leads a blind man, they both fall into a pit.”
And the monument is in The Hague. Here, Russian artist Alexander Taratynov has created the sculptural versions of the most famous painting.
Meanwhile, installed in different cities of Russia, monuments to blind people remind us that among us live people who need our help. By the way, among the notable dates reminding us about blind people is The International Day of the White Cane. It is an attempt to equalize the rights of the disabled and the conditionally healthy, to allow the first to feel full, and the second – to try on the life of a person without vision.
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October, 2017. The “Dubrava” park of Klimovsk (urban district of Podolsk). Work by sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov. Russian artist Vasily Polenov monument

Russian artist Vasily Polenov monument

In the “Dubrava” park of Klimovsk appeared a monument to outstanding Russian painter Vasily Polenov. On the sculptural composition worked a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Honored Artist of Russia, sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov. The sculptural composition, made of bronze, is a figure of the artist and a frame mounted on an easel. Besides, the author of the monument attached a tablet to the frame with the name of the work “Klimovsk. Oak trees. 2017”. The landscape behind the frame will change constantly, together with the seasons and people who visit this part of the park. A cloth thrown on the frame, as if opening a new masterpiece of fine art. In addition, two more sculptures decorate the composition – a small dog at the feet of Vasily Polenov, and a cat.
Less than a week has passed since the opening of the sculpture, however among the people have already appeared a legend – to make money, you need to rub the cat’s right ear.
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