is the moft ftriking,, where the whole appearance is graceful»
and animated. The horie is rearing upon its hind legs; and
its tail,, which is full and flowing, flightly touches a bronze
ferpent,. artfully contrived to aflift in fupporting the valt
weight of the ftatue in due equilibrium. The artift has, in
this noble eflay of his genius, reprefented-Peter as the legiflaton
of his country, without any allufion to conquefl and-blood-»
ihed wifely preferring his civil qualities to his military exploits
M£ The contrail between the compofed tranquillity of
Peter (though perhaps not abfolutely charadteriftick) and the
fire of the horie, eager to prefs forwards,, is very ftriking.
The fimplicity of the infcriptien correfponds to the fublimity
of the defign, and is far preferable to a pompous detail of
exalted virtues,, which-the voice of flattery applies to every
fovereign without diftinclion. it is elegantly finihed in brafs
char afters, on one fide in Latin,.and on the oppofite in Ruffian.
P E T R . O P R I M 0 4 ,
C A T H A R I N A S E C U N D A
1^82.
P E T R . O M U P E R V O Y U
E K A T H E R E N A V T O R A IY A
17 8^2.
T he Ratue, when* I was at Peterfbtirgh, - was not
eredted, but Rood under a large wooden ihed near the Neva,
* Monfter Falconet has ably refuted czar would have aiked me why I did not
the cenfures urged againft his ftatue on this “ put a fabre into his -hand 4 but, perhaps,
account. See his Letter to Diderot, in “ he made too great a ufe o f it when alive,
44 Pieces written- by Monf. Falconet,” tranf- 44 and a fculptor ought only to exhibit thbfe
lated by Mr. Too.ke; p. 47- T h e reader “ parts o f a charadfer which reftedt honour
will alfo find in that work an engraving o f “ on it, and rather to draw a veil acrofs the
-the ftatue. “ I.have endeavoured,” faid' “ errors and vices which tarnrfli-rit, A<la-
Monfieur Falconet to Mr. Wraxall, “ to. 44 boured panegyrick would have been
“ catch, as far as poffible, the. genuine feel- “ equally injudicious and "unneceflary, ft nee
, “ ings o f the Mufeovite legiflator, and to hiftory has already performed that office
44 give him fuch an expreffion as himfelf “ with impartial juftice, and held up his
“ would have owned. I have not decked “ name'to univerfal regard; an d lm u ftd o
“ his perfon with emblems of: Roman con- . “ her prefent majefty the juftice to fay, ihe
“ fulage, or placed, a marechal’ s baton in “ had tafte and difcernment enough per-
“ his hand : an antient drefs would have 44 fe£tly to fee this, and to prefer the. pre-
“ been unnatural, and the Ruffian he wifhed “ fent ihort infcription to any other which
4‘ to aboliih. The Ikin on .which he is “ could be compofed.” Wraxall’s Tour,
4£ feated, is emblematical o f the nation he p; 225— 227.
44 refiped, Poffibly,” faid M, Falconet, “ the J Catharine II. to Peter-I.
P E T E R S B U R G H. 47 5
within a few yards of its enormous pedeftal. When Fal- CHAF-
conet had conceived the defign of his ftatue, the hafe of »
which was to be formed by an huge rock * , he carefully
examined the environs of Peteriburgh, if, among the detached
pieces of granite t, which are fcattered about thefe
parts, one could be found of magnitude correfpondent to
the dimenfions of the equeftrian figure. After coniiderable
refearch, he difcovered a ftupendous mafs half buried in the
midft of a morafs. The expence and- difficulty of transporting
it were no obftacles to Catharine II. By her order
the morafs was immediately drained, a road was cut through
a foreft, and carried over the marffiy ground ; and the ftone,
which after it had been fomewhat reduced weighed at leaft
1500 tons, was removed to Peteriburgh.
This more than Roman work was, in lefs than fix months
from the time of its firft difcovery, accompliihed by a wind-
lafs, and by means o f large friction-balls alternately placed
and removed in grooves fixed on each fide of the road. In
this manner it was drawn, with forty men feated upon its
top, about four miles to the banks of the Neva : there it
wa.s embarked in a vefîèl conftrucied on purpofe to receive
it, and thus conveyed about the fame diftance by water to
* “ Pour marquer à poftérité, d’où cet << Ce qui furtout frappa d’e'tonnemënt,
héros legiflateur etoit parti, et quels “ c ’étoit l’intérieur de la pierre. Un coup
I obftacles il avolt furmonté--Defcrjption •• de foudre l ’avoit endommagé d’un côté
‘ a une Pierre— pour fervlr de Piedëftâl, “ On abbâttit ce morceau & l’on vit, au lietl
‘ &c‘J °H a y g o ld ’s. ’ Rufsland, V . I I .p . 21 r. “ de parties hermogénes, un aflemblage de
+ a he pedeftal is a reddiih granite, in “ toutes fortes de pierres fines & prédeufes.
which the m.cæ are very large and refplen- “ Choient desCrifiaux, des Agathes, des G r t-
dent. This circumftance induced a perfon, “ nais, des Topasses, des Cornalines, des Ami-
who has publiflied an account o f it, and “ tbyftes, qui offraient aux yeux des curieux
was willing to make a prodigy where there “ un fpeftacle, auffi nouveau que magniti-
is none, to give the following ridiculous “ que, & aux phyiiclens u n objet de réend
exaggerated defeription upon breaking " cherches des plus intéreflans.” ’ Ibid
part o f it afiuider. p. 212.