"With a Fish Caravan to Moscow": an Episode from M. Lomonosov's Biography in Russian Art of the 19th — 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article explores visual representations of one of the most well-known biographical narratives in Russian culture — the story of young Lomonosov's journey to Moscow. It is argued that the "road" episode, originally everyday in nature, gradually acquired symbolic meaning and was reinterpreted as a visual narrative about the "path to science," reflecting the ascent from the lower social strata to the heights of knowledge and public recognition. It is substantiated that the artistic images created did not merely illustrate a biographical episode but helped to form a stable visual formula conveying cultural meanings such as the thirst for knowledge, the pursuit of self-development, and the movement toward a goal. Special attention is given to the analysis of compositional solutions, artistic techniques, and symbolic elements through which artists transformed realistic depictions into metaphorical images. Overall, the article demonstrates how visual art contributes to the consolidation of significant biographical plots in collective cultural memory.

References

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