The monument to the Cherepanovs, Russian engineers and inventors, builders of the first steam locomotive in Russia, is the most famous monument of Nizhny Tagil. It was erected in the central square by decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (August 22, 1945). And the opening itself took place on November 4, 1956. The monument cost the city 251 thousand "old" rubles. In this article we will consider some facts about the monument to the Cherepanovs (Nizhny Tagil).
Author's idea
The work on the creation of the monument was entrusted to the sculptor A. S. Kondratiev. He began by studying the life and life of the Cherepanovs. Soon, the author formed the basic concept of the monument. A seated figure in the person of his father, E. A. Cherepanov, personified the power of Russian antiquity, which comes from the earth itself. In the hands of Yefim Alekseemovich is a scroll, and his face is turned to his son. Thus, he throws a call to the young generation for a final solution to the technical problem that has arisen. And the standing figure of the son - Miron Efimovich - expresses strength of mind, tenacity, calmness and confidence. It is quite clear that he will solve the problem that has arisen. According to Kondratyev, this is exactly what people who look at the monument to the Cherepanovs (Nizhny Tagil) should see.
Reality mismatch
It is worth noting that the author of the sculpture, apparently, was full of romanticism and did not fully understand the biographies of the heroes of his monument. If he did, then the monument to the Cherepanovs would have turned out to be completely different. According to Lyubimov (the manager of the steam engine building house), Efim Alekseevich was only considered competent. In fact, he did not even learn to read properly by the age of thirty. The only book he overpowered is the Psalter. Also Cherepanov Sr. did not know how to write. The maximum that he was capable of was to sign in the statements.
Subsequently, the number of books he read increased. But, according to contemporaries, he did this with great reluctance. His son Miron was engaged in translation and writing of texts, and a nephew named Ammos was engaged in the drawings. So in the scene captured by the sculptor, Efim Alekseevich, most likely, asks his son to read him a scroll.
"Two Jews"
This is what the Cherepanov monument was nicknamed among the people after its opening. The thing is that on the solemn day the first snow fell, decorating the heads of the son and father with white yarmulkes. But then the Tagil residents fell in love with the monument of the pioneers of steam locomotive construction, and they began to call the monument simply - “Cherepanovs” or “Skulls”.
Two interesting facts are connected with the construction. Over time, they turned into urban legends.
Fact One: Faces
Young people are unlikely to notice this feature. But the representatives of the older generation, after a careful examination of the monument, have vague guesses: they have already seen these faces somewhere. At least twice a year.
To understand why this happens, you need to turn to history. In those distant times, members of the Union of Artists earned mainly by making sculptures and busts of cult characters. Of course, the main ones were the theorists of scientific communism - Engels, Marx and Lenin. In this regard, the sculptor Kondratiev, who created the monument to the Cherepanovs, was no exception. Either he decided not to bother himself with the work on portraits of his son and father, or the routine left a certain imprint, but Miron is very similar to Marx, and his father to Engels.
Fact two: the compass legend
This story is about a drawing instrument, which was supposed to be in the hand of Miron Efimovich. By the way, the monument to the Cherepanovs (Nizhny Tagil) is connected by a historical thread with another famous building - a monument in honor of NN Demidov. And they are united by nothing more than a compass.
It all started in 1830, when the sons of Demidov decided to build a monument to him. Seven years later, their order was ready. The monument was erected in 1837 next to the still unfinished Vyisko-Nikolskaya church. There was the tomb of the Demidovs. After some time, Nizhny Tagil was visited by Alexander II and ordered that the monument be moved to the main square.
The monument turned out to be impressive. On the marble pedestal were two figures: Demidov, dressed in a court caftan, held out his hand to a kneeling woman in an ancient Greek costume and crown. Below the central pair in the corners were four bronze groups depicting different periods of the industrialist's life: apprentice, enlightener, protector and patron.
A few years later, clerk Belov discovered the theft of some elements of the monument. From the sculptural group, where Demidov was portrayed as a student, the compass and the book disappeared. The clerk informed the owners, and the necessary items were quickly restored at the factory. But two months later the story repeated. With a fright, Belov spread rumors that Freemasons appeared in the village. Who else could so brazenly steal a book and a compass from a monument in front of the watchmen of the dam, church and factory administration? Only masons …
To prevent further looting of the monument, the manager ordered to twist all the small parts from the structure, and then hand them over to the warehouse according to the inventory. In 1891, the Mining Museum opened, and all the elements from the Demidov monument were transferred to its exposition. As a result, only the sign of Mercury has survived to our days. Well, the construction itself was waiting for an unenviable fate. In 1919, after the end of the revolution, the Demidov monument, together with four allegories, was sent to Moscow for re-melting.
