 |
|
33%
66%
100%
Menu of the Dinner Given by His Imperial Highness Moscow Governor General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich on 20 May 1896 in Honour of the Coronation of Their Imperial Majesties the Sovereign Emperor Nikolay Aleksandrovich and the Sovereign Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna
Author: Vasnetsov , Victor Mikhailovich (1848-1926)
Place of Publication: Moscow
Publisher: A.Levenson
Date of Publication: 1896
Technique: Chromolithograph
Size: 34,8 x 22,2 cm; 40,8 õ 24,8 cm
|
|
Decorative menus supplement the picture of development of graphic design at the turn of the twentieth century. This was the period, when the Russian society was captured by the thought, "that everything, surrounding people in their daily life, should be not only useful, but also beautiful". These menu are often a very fine masterpieces of graphic arts, produced in technique of chromolithography by Russia's leading printing enterprises. Among authors, who made drawings for menus, were many prominent artists of the day. Obviously, only the greatest masters were commissioned to design menus of coronation banquets.
The coronation of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna was an extremely grand celebration. One of unforgettable events of 1896 became a coronation ball, held on 20 May in the Moscow Governor General's house. The dancing lasted until one o'clock in the morning. Then 1 500 guests, invited for a dinner, took their places at small tables, set both in halls of the governor's house, and in an addition specially built for the particular occasion.
The design for the coronation dinner menu, notable for highly refined stylized drawing, was created by Victor Vasnetsov, one of those artists, who gave a general direction in Russian art during the second half of the nineteenth century and paved the way for new styles of art in the early twentieth century. He always promoted the Russian native tradition in arts. Vasnetsov's menu image represents a scene of an Old-Russian Tsar's meal. His lettering is based on traditional Russian medieval calligraphy. Monograms of the Imperial couple and the hosts, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife, Yelisaveta Fyodorovna, were incorporated into the fancy flowered borders of menu decoration. Not without purpose, Vasnetsov shows a griffin holding a sword and a shield in his clutches: this is the emblem of the Romanovs.
|