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Issues of 2008
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The End of the Battleship "Lefort"
On September 10, 1857, the 64-canon battleship “Lefort” fell to pieces and instantly sank during severe storm in the Baltic Sea. The ship headed from the town of Revel to Kronshtadt (a port nearSt. Petersburg). There were more than 800 seamen with their families on board the ship. All of them perished — 841 people, including 53 women and 17 children. According to investigation held by a special commission, “Lefort” sank because garboard planks of the battleship’s planking came off, and the ship sprang a leak. Some experts named another reason of the shipwreck: at the time, “Lefort” did not carry any cargo and it happened so that unfastened canons and other objects simultaneously rolled to one of the ship’s side. In the early XX century, memorial desks of black marble were installed in the Kronstadt Navy Cathedral in memory of the victims of the catastrophe. The names of the “Lefort’s” crew and members of their families were written down on the walls of the cathedral’s Hall of Glory of the Russian Navy alongside the names of heroes who perished in numerous sea battles since 1695. In the cathedral there was an icon of the Savior reaching forth his arms towards “Lefort”. A lamp shaped as a ship’s aft burned in front of it. In the Silver Store of the State Museum of History of Religion(St. Petersburg) there is another lamp commemorating the tragedy. The lamp was made in 1868 by the famous Russian company of Ignatiy Sazikov. The size (32.2 x 30.0 x 30.0 cm) of the silver chased and gilded piece clearly shows that it was meant for a cathedral or a church. Someone most likely, ordered the lamp, as the shape of the lamp —a ship’s aft with an engraved inscription “Lefort” — was quite untraditional for the age. On the aft there is the state symbol of the Russian Empire — double-headed eagle; such an image was usual for military ships. The oil container is placed inside the lamp on a sort of the hold’s deck and reaches the lower row of the ship’s windows; thus, the lamp looks quite spectacular. Original composition (double row of cut windows of the ship that is heading to endless night) and outstanding quality of work produce great impression on a viewer. Sazikov’s works were really valued by contemporaries. Newspapers named Ignatiy Sazikov “Russian Benvenuto Chellini”, while the renowned art critic V. Stasov called the master “aristocrat of Russian silver making”. The important order to the firm–supplier of the Imperial Court was most likely timed to the tenth anniversary of “Lefort’s” wreck. What was the reason of choosing a lamp as the monument commemorating the tenth anniversary of the tragedy? Let us turn to the tradition of burning lamps in Orthodox churches. A lamp is a container filled with oil usually burning in front of icons and on holy table in Christian churches. It plays very important role in life of a Christian and is used during baptism, wedding and funeral ceremonies. The lamps were usually made of terracotta, and later of bronze and silver. The old lamps were shaped as pigeon, lamb, crown, palm tree, monogram of Jesus Christ, Greek cross or a circle with half-length images of 12 apostles. Ship-shaped lamps were among the most old and popular variants of that hieratical object. The epichristian scholar and martyr Hyppolite (III century) defined the Christian church as “the ship amidst wild waves but the one that never sinks”. The church is the salvation ship, carrying humanity through the storms of life. The tradition to hang models of ships inside churches was widespread in Denmark and some parts of Greece. Images of ships were used in interior decor of the Navy Cathedral in Kronstadt. Contemporaries were sure that next generations would not forget the tragic end of “Lefort”, and that “despite new hardships and sorrows “Lefort” would remain in memory of the Russians forever” (“Chronicle of wrecks”, SPb, 1874). Alas, in due course numerous important historical events have sponged out the memory of the tragedy. Nowadays, due to survived art pieces as the canvas by Aivazovsky and the lamp by Sazikov, we are able to restore tragic events of our national history.
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