01 Painting, The art of War, Vasily Vereshchagin's The Apotheosis of War, with footnotes

Vasily Vereshchagin  (1842–1904)

The Apotheosis of War, c. 1871

Oil on canvas

height: 127 cm (50 in); width: 197 cm (77.5 in)

Tretyakov Gallery

Apotheosis depicts a pile of human skulls set on the barren earth, the aftermath of a battle or siege. A flock of carrion birds are seen to be occupied with picking over the pile; some birds have already landed, while others are flying in or roosting in nearby trees. The shadow cast by the mound, coupled with the many black orifices created by empty jaws and eye-sockets, adds a sense of depth to the painting, further exacerbating the scale of the deathly pile.

A range of mountains serves as a dividing line for the painting, separating the vastness of the steppes from the emptiness of the sky, while the city of Samarkand can be seen in the far right of the painting. The city's walls have visibly been breached, a reference to the Siege of Samarkand in the summer of 1868 in which the Russian garrison repulsed a Bukharid attack. More on this painting

The painting was included in the Turkestan series of paintings by Vereshchagin and became the epilogue of the “heroic poem” “Barbarians,” which tells the story of the death of a Russian detachment from Bukhara troops. The author intended to call the painting “The Apotheosis of Tamerlane” and devote it exclusively to the cruelty of Tamerlane. But later decided to give greater significance and generalization to the plot and title. The inscriptions appeared on the frame : “Apotheosis of War” - at the top and “Dedicated to all great conquerors: past, present and future” - at the bottom. 

Timur (Tamerlane), was a powerful ruler and conqueror of the 14th century, who created a strong state with its capital in Samarkand and revered in Central Asia and is now a saint. But his military successes were accompanied by pyramids built from the skulls of the enemy in the territories of the conquered peoples. Even in the time close to the artist, similar pyramids were still encountered. More on this painting

The Apotheosis of War is a mid 19th century painting by Russian war artist Vasily Vereshchagin. Following his completion of the painting, Vereshchagin dedicated his work "to all great conquerors, past, present and to come". Done in oil on canvas, the painting depicts a pile of skulls outside the walls of a city in Central Asia. It is considered part of Vereshchagin's Turkestan Series.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, Vereshchagin also spelled Verestchagin, (born October 14, 1842, Cherepovets, Russia—died March 31, 1904, Port Arthur, China), was a Russian painter noted for his war scenes.

Vereshchagin attended the St. Petersburg Academy and studied in Paris. Devoting his life to travel, he acquired subjects for paintings from on-the-spot impressions in the Caucasus, in Crimea, along the Danube River, and in Turkistan with the Russian army. In the Balkans during the Russo-Turkish War Vereshchagin was provided with the themes for some of his famous war pictures. He also painted in Syria and in Palestine and between 1885 and 1903 traveled in Russia, the United States, and Japan. He died during the Russo-Japanese War, aboard the flagship of Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov.

Vereshchagin’s paintings of scenes during the invasion of Russia by Napoleon in 1812 enjoyed extraordinary popularity; innumerable reproductions of them were made. The pacifist and humanitarian movement of the time made use of his painting of a pyramid of skulls (“Apotheosis of War,” 1871; State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). His works are to be seen in Moscow at the State Tretyakov Gallery and in St. Petersburg at the State Museum of Russian Art. More on Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin

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