Bogdan Pavlovich Villevalde

Possibly, the collection of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich (1827-1892)
Acquired in Petrograd by the grandfather of the present owner in the early 1920s

(549) Structural Condition: The canvas is unlined and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher. This is providing an even and secure structural support. There are six patches on the reverse of the canvas. Paint Surface: The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There is a craquelure pattern, mainly within the sky, but this appears stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows some areas of retouching, mainly corresponding to the 6 patches on the reverse of the canvas, the largest of which is in the upper right of the composition. Summary: The painting would therefore appear to be in fairly good and stable condition having undergone restoration work in the past. (553) Structural Condition: The canvas is unlined and is attached to a fixed wooden stretcher with triangular support sections at the stretcher joins. This is providing a stable structural support. There is a small patch in the lower right as viewed from the reverse. Paint Surface: The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There is a craquelure pattern, mainly within the sky, but this appears stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows some scattered retouchings, mainly within the sky and towards the right of the composition. Summary: The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition. (554) Structural Condition: The canvas is unlined and is attached to a fixed wooden stretcher with triangular support sections at the stretcher joins. This is providing a stable structural support. Paint Surface: The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There is a craquelure pattern, mainly within the sky, but this appears stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows some scattered areas of retouching, the largest of which is an area within the sky in the upper right corner. There is also an area of retouching below the centre of the upper horizontal edge, an area just above the horizon in the centre of the composition and an area in the upper left corner of the composition. Other small retouchings are also visible. Summary: The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition.
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The Siege of Silistria was a critical episode of the early stages of hostilities between Russia and the ailing Ottoman Empire in the Balkans and Crimea. Nicholas I had sent an army to seize the Turkish principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia until certain demands made by Russia had been satisfied. A peaceful settlement was not met, war broke out in 1853 and the following year the Russian army crossed the Danube, laying siege to the Turkish fortress of Silistria.

The emperor’s second son, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, had first proved himself as a young office in the quelling the Hungarian uprising of 1849 and was awarded the Order of St George for bravery under fire (a battle scene which Bogdan Villevalde later depicted in his dramatic 1872 work A Scene from the War of Independence in Hungary, 1849). Konstantin Nikolaevich is thought to be the central figure of the present paintings numbered 553 and 554, depicted in the blue uniform of commander of the 6^th Volynsky Uhlan Regiment.

Bogdan Villevalde was highly esteemed by the Imperial court. Professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts and chair of military painting by 1848, he was commissioned especially by Nicholas I to travel to the Danube in 1854 to accompany the army in the campaign. Clearly part of a larger series, the present works are exceptional examples of the dynamism of Villevalde’s battle scenes. Densely populated and beautifully constructed, in these works the artist manages to convey both the chaos and order of campaigning, observing all the time the minutiae of battle from the glint of bayonets and epaulettes in the middle distance, to the weight of the cannon, the details of uniform and even the difficulties of hearing instructions over the noise of bombardment. The thin black outlines of the figures and cartoon-like figures which are not painted-in are very typical of Villevalde’s technique, as is the stormy drama of brightly-lit patches in the foreground against dark skies (see for example, Flight (1854 ) or Battle Scene (1870), both in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery).