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Aleksandra StruiskayaMuse of the poets of her time
Country:
 Russia |
Content:
- Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya: The Eternal Muse of Poets
- Biography of Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya
- (based on the story by Marina Ganicheva)
Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya: The Eternal Muse of Poets
She seemed destined to be the eternal muse of poets. In the 18th century, she captivated the enigmatic appearance of yet another poet - her husband. Her eyes, like two mists, Half-smile, half-weep, Her eyes, like two deceptions, Covered with the gloom of failure. Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya inspired not only the poets of her time. Two centuries after her death, Nikolay Zabolotsky, gazing at a portrait by the famous Rocotov, wrote:
"Do you remember how 'from the darkness of the past, Barely wrapped in silk, Struyskaya looked at us, Staring from Rocotov's canvas?"
Biography of Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya
Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya was destined to be the eternal muse of poets. In the 18th century, she captivated the enigmatic appearance of yet another poet - her husband. Nikolay Yeremeevich Struysky, a wealthy landowner from Penza, was devoted to poetry, although it was not a mutual love. Unfortunately, his fame as a poet did not outlive him. But like all poets, he was somewhat otherworldly: he set up a study on the top floor of his huge palace and named it Parnassus. He spent his days writing extravagant poems, only descending to the sinful earth to have them printed. Among his neighbors, he became known as a eccentric and an original. "His whole demeanor was wild, and his attire was strange," wrote his friend. It was probably not easy for his beautiful wife to live with him; consumed by poetry, he lived in a different dimension. But their union was a happy one.
They married Alexandra Petrovna in 1772. Before that, the poet was already married to his contemporary Olimpiada Balbekova; they married in 1768 and lived in Moscow. However, she died in childbirth after a year of marriage, and in his memoirs about his first wife, Struysky wrote: "I learned to love being ignorant of love! Your tenderness cannot be forgotten through death!"
A grief-stricken widower, who had also lost his twin daughters, went to his estate in Ruzaevka and became a recluse. And then one day, a meeting-vision took place there...
Alexandra Petrovna Ozerova, the daughter of a landowner from the Nizhnelomovsky district of the Penza province, was a relative of Pavel I's favorite, influential Count P.H. Obolyaninov, who was married to her cousin.
When Alexandra Petrovna married Struysky, she was seventeen or eighteen years old. Soon after their wedding, the couple traveled to Moscow, where Nikolay Yeremeevich commissioned their family portraits from the artist Rokotov.
The two portraits of the newlyweds became gems of Russian painting. The artist managed to convey the romanticism and impetuosity of the "strange nobleman" with his poetic nature. "The shimmering colors, the blurred contours of the face, the burning eyes - all this makes the image of Struysky exalted and somewhat mysterious," writes the art critic.
However, even more mysterious and enigmatic is the portrait of young Alexandra. A graceful oval face, delicate arched eyebrows, a light blush on her cheeks, and such pensive, expressive eyes, slightly sad, barely noticing the surroundings, rather gazing into the distance, or inward, or into the future.
The artist Rokotov, who left some semblance of memories about Struysky, perhaps more than anyone else, warmed his soul in this family, which often visited Moscow and invited their beloved artist.
There is a legend of Rokotov's love for Struyskaya, probably inspired by the special tone of charm and the success of the artist's talent, who created her portrait. It is unlikely that this was actually the case, although, of course, Alexandra Petrovna could not leave anyone's heart indifferent.
Struysky himself described his beloved in one of the many poems dedicated to her:
"If anyone here was worthy of your charming eyes, Long ago he would have built you a temple in his heart, And he would have offered himself and his heart as a sacrifice to you. You deserve yourself, Sapphira! And heaven's adoration. To honor your beauty, as a mortal, I am speechless. I lose myself in you... I blaze with you." ("Elegy to Sapphira")
The household chores did not bother her; she was surrounded by an atmosphere of creativity and beauty. The house they lived in was built according to the designs of Rastrelli himself. In the hundred-year-old garden that surrounded it, one could walk along the alleys, along the banks of flowing ponds, or wander into the intricate shrubbery maze, dreaming and gazing at the surrounding beauty... And then the poet would descend for tea and read enthusiastic poems.
One of Struysky's books has survived to this day - "Erotoids. Anacreontic Odes." All the "odes" in it are filled with expressions of love for the one who is called Sapphira in the verses but Alexandra in real life, his beloved wife.
The house had a beautiful library of Russian and foreign authors. Struysky had been collecting it since his youth and was a discerning book lover. And then, luxurious books published in his own printing press were added to it. The art gallery was arranged according to the tastes of the time and the tastes of the owner.
Descendants of the poet recalled that in the Struysky family "family portraits were hanging everywhere: in the recess of the large living room, above the couch... a portrait of Nikolay Yeremeevich himself, and next to it, also in a gilded frame, a portrait of Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya, then still young and beautiful."
"The picture gallery featured famous artists from the Russian and foreign schools.
There was another secret in the family portraits, which was only recently revealed by art historians. The house held a portrait of a young man with delicate facial features, a luxurious cravat, and a drapery covering his figure. On the back of the portrait was a mysterious encrypted inscription.
Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya outlived her poet husband by 43 years. He was often impulsive, but more poetically than stubbornly. His friend, I.M. Dolgorukov, fondly remembered him "with all his enthusiasm and poetic frenzy." Nikolay Yeremeevich created an atmosphere of adoration, admiration, and creativity around his beloved, which was unusual for that time, leaving an aura of love in the air of the Ruzaevka estate, where many generations of nobles grew up, preserving the breath of muses. Among them was the poet A. Polezhaev. He left his descendants the greatest wealth - the bliss of creativity and beauty.
Alexandra Petrovna gave her husband eighteen sons and daughters, four of whom were twins, and ten died in infancy. But for the rest of her life, she was warmed by the flame of her husband's poetic inspiration.
Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya was the grandmother of the poet A.I. Polezhaev - the illegitimate child of her son Leontiy. Among the entire Struysky family, only she provided tenderness and care to the poet. Until his death in 1838, Polezhaev corresponded with Alexandra Petrovna and sent her his poems.
N.A. Tuchkova-Ogareva, who visited her in 1836, writes about the pleasant impression that Alexandra Petrovna made on her. She was eighty-six years old when she quietly left this world. And for us, she remains that beautiful young woman with a hint of mystery and charm, slightly smiling, from Rokotov's portrait.
Perhaps she was one of the most beautiful women of the "mad eighteenth century"...
