The painting shows the design for a monument near the village of Lesnaya in Belarus, where a “flying” corps commanded by Peter the Great defeated the Swedes in September 1708. Mikhail Mikeshin, who created the design, was the author of a whole series of monuments (including to Catherine the Great in St Petersburg and to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod) that were marked, as in this instance, by the complexity of their plastic concept. Mikeshin’s design was never realised, and later on a monument designed by Artemy Ober was erected on the site to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle.

Mikeshin Mikhail

Mikeshin, Mikhail Osipovich
1835, Maximovka (Smolensk Province) – 1896, St Petersburg
Sculptor, draughtsman, illustrator, author of sculptural projects. Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1852–1858). Awarded a major gold medal and title of first-class artist for painting Count of Tilly at Magdeburg in 1631 (1858). Won the competition to design the Millennium of Russia monument in Novgorod (1862). Academician (1869). Honorary member of the Escola Superior de BelasArtes in Lisbon (1864). Decorated ships of the Russian Navy. Published the artistic magazine Bee.