What are the mysteries behind the atlases of St. Petersburg?
In Ancient Greek mythology, mighty atlases held up the vault of heaven, while, in St. Petersburg, they decorate palaces and profitable houses.
Atlases or atlantes perform not only a decorative function, but also mask supports and other structural elements. This architectural tradition came from Ancient Greece, where, according to legends, atlases were titans condemned to hold up the heavens or sky for eternity.
The ideals of antique classics found a second breath in Europe in the 18th-19th centuries, including in St. Petersburg. The abundance of these mythical creatures gave rise to many urban legends.
Hermitage atlases
The New Hermitage building.
St. Petersburg's most famous giants have held up the portico of the New Hermitage since 1848. Ten five-meter granite figures were created for two years by 150 craftsmen under sculptor Alexander Terebenev. The prototype was the atlantes of the destroyed ancient Greek temple of Zeus in Agrigento (modern Sicily).
The New Hermitage building.
These atlases are literally like twins. Particularly impressionable citizens believe that, at night, they come to life and change positions. You only have to come to the museum at midnight to find yourself in the epicenter of mysticism.
In St. Petersburg, young wives have a tradition of rubbing for good luck the big toe of the right atlas looking at the Field of Mars. It was the one that was seriously damaged during World War II, but it survived, thus gaining fame as a defender of the city.
A feet of sculpture of the New Hermitage building.
In fact, the official anthem of the Hermitage became the Soviet song ‘Atlantes’, which contains the following lines:
When your heart is heavy and the chest is cold
Come to the steps of the Hermitage at twilight,
Where, without drink and bread, forgotten in the ages,
Atlantes hold the sky in their stone hands.
Atlases on houses
House Vege with Atlas on the Kryukov Canal Embankment.
The atlases of entrepreneur Robert Vege's profitable house (14, Kryukov Canal Embankment) are the largest in the city in the residential building ensemble. In size, they are only slightly inferior to the Hermitage ones. The two giants support the passage to the courtyard and guard the main entrance.
The house was built in 1912-1914 according to the design of architect Sergey Ovsyannikov and was intended for renting apartments to wealthy and educated people, who were not indifferent to culture and architecture.
In addition to the atlases, it is decorated with marble bas-reliefs with plots from ancient Greek myths, while the benches of the lobby are decorated with marble satyrs. Because of the abundance of mythical figures, Petersburgers dubbed the house “demonic”. They say that electronics behave strangely around and in it and even geomagnetic anomalies sometimes occur.
House Vege with Atlas on the Kryukov Canal Embankment.
The entrance to the profitable house of provincial secretary Sergei Anglares (13, Sapyorny Lane) is guarded by four unusual atlases in boots and animal skins. All of them are quite different. Locals call them “savages” and “barbarians”, because of their stern facial expressions and clenched fists.
Anglares Profitable House.
And, on the facades, you can also see other diverse architectural details – lion and cat faces, dragon heads, figures of babies and women. In short, a variety of styles are mixed there.
Anglares Profitable House.
The house was built in the 1880s by architect Pavel Deineka. Initially there was no such strange decoration in the project, but, during the construction the inner wall collapsed, which made the roof and ceilings sag. They had to add atlases and other creatures to support the building's supports. But, why are they so garish and gaudy?
Anglares Profitable House.
According to one version, the artist wanted to play a joke on the owner, a rich man, and depicted burlaks, laborers in the Slavic style instead of classical atlases. And they also needed boots for the Russian winter. Usually, atlases have a detached look, but these sculptures are directed at passers-by and cause anxiety. And it was there that one of the first car accidents in St. Petersburg took place.
BONUS: Caryatids of St. Petersburg
The Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg.
In addition to male figures, you can also see female figures – caryatids – in St. Petersburg. In architecture, it is believed that caryatids should support lightweight structures. For example, as in the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace (18, Dvortsovaya Embankment) or in the house of the Department of Estates/Manors (Liteiny Prospekt, 39).
Pashkov house.
But, perhaps the most original caryatid figures support the dome with a globe of the Singer Company house (Nevsky Prospekt, 28).
Aerial view of the building of the Company Zinger, the Nevsky avenue.
