Bronze Horseman, Monumental bronze sculpture at Senate Square, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian monument on Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, showing the Russian tsar with his arm extended toward the Neva River. It rises about ten meters above a massive granite base, with the horse rearing on its hind legs and supported only by a crushed serpent beneath its tail.
French sculptor Étienne Falconet completed the monument between 1768 and 1778 under commission from Catherine the Great to honor Peter the Great. His assistant Marie-Anne Collot modeled the face of the tsar, while Falconet designed the overall composition and solved the delicate balance of the rearing horse.
Newlyweds often leave flowers at the base and pose for photographs, making the site a regular stop during Russian wedding ceremonies. Visitors frequently touch the horse or rider hoping for good luck, and over time these gestures have polished certain parts of the bronze.
The monument is freely accessible throughout the year and offers good conditions for photography in the evening when lit. The square sits directly on the riverbank, so it can feel noticeably cooler and windier than the surrounding streets.
The pedestal is a natural granite boulder weighing roughly 1600 tons, transported from a nearby village using innovative techniques. An inscription on both sides gives only the name of the tsar and the year in Latin and Russian, with no further explanation or praise.
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