Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko (russian: Алекса́ндр Дми́триевич Лито́вченко; ukr, Олександр Дмитрович Литовченко; 1835,

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...

- 28 June 1890,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) was a Russian painter who specialized in depicting

Muscovite Russia The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Biography

Litovchenko attended the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

and, although criticised by his peers for rather stilted compositions, was awarded a lesser gold medal for his rendering of

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

transporting the souls of the dead across the

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

. Along with several other young painters, he challenged the spirit of

academism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...

that was prevalent at the Academy and in 1863 left it to become a freelance painter, joining the

Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki ( rus, Передви́жники, , pʲɪrʲɪˈdvʲiʐnʲɪkʲɪ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restr ...

movement in 1876. In 1868, Litovchenko was recognized as an academician for his picture of a falconer serving at the court of

Tsar Alexis Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

(one of his several versions of the subject). Among his larger paintings, '' Ivan the Terrible Showing His Treasures to Jerome Horsey'' (1875) was purchased by the Tsar for the Alexander III Museum in St. Petersburg, and '' Tsar Alexis and Archbishop Nikon Venerating the Relics of Patriarch Philip'' (1886) was acquired by

Pavel Tretyakov Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Третьяко́в; 27 December 1832 – 16 December 1898) was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gal ...

for his collection in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(as were the finest of his portraits). Litovchenko is also remembered as the author of seven murals in the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskv ...

in Moscow and a set of icons for the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

memorial in

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. File:Lytovchenko Olexandr Calvucci.jpeg, Ambassador Horatio Calvucci sketching the favorite falcons of Tsar

Alexis I Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

(1889) File:PhilipandNikon.jpg, Tsar Alexis praying before the relics in the presence of

Metropolitan Philip Saint Philip II of Moscow (11 February 1507 – 23 December 1569) was the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' from 1567 to 1568. He was the thirteenth Metropolitan in Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Con ...

and

Patriarch Nikon Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...

File:Lytovchenko Olexandr Kharon.jpg,

Carrying Souls Across the

River Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

(1861) File:Alexander Litovchenko - Ivan the Terrible Showing Treasures to the English Ambassador Jerome Horsey.jpg,

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

showing his treasures to

Jerome Horsey Sir Jerome Horsey (c. 1550 – 1626), of Great Kimble, Buckinghamshire, was an English explorer, diplomat and politician in the 16th and 17th centuries. He spent much time in Russia over the course of seventeen years, first arriving in 1573 a ...

, the English Ambassador (1875)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Litovchenko, Alexander 1835 births 1890 deaths People from Kremenchuk People from Poltava Governorate 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Russian male painters Russian people of Ukrainian descent Ukrainian painters Ukrainian male painters History painters Peredvizhniki 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire