Nizhnyaya Dor., 13x, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198516
At the beginning of 1716, Peter I went abroad. The journey lasted almost two years. The tsar visited several German principalities, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France—the largest European power. Peter arrived in Paris on April 26, 1717. Refusing to stay in the Louvre, he settled in the Arsenal district, in a mansion built at the end of the 16th century for the Dukes of Lédiguier, which at that time belonged to the tutor of the young Louis XV, Marshal of France François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi (a memorial plaque honoring Peter I’s stay is now installed on the building erected on the site of the Hôtel Lédiguier). The mansion was prepared for the residence of the tsar and his retinue. According to a French journalist, the tsar found the bed prepared for him too luxurious and chose to sleep in the wardrobe, where there was a servant’s bed. The meeting of the Russian tsar with the young Louis XV was scheduled at the Tuileries Palace. The lavish ceremony of this meeting was meticulously planned by the French court. However, the planned ritual could not be followed. Not reaching the palace, Peter saw the royal cortege approaching. He quickly jumped out of the carriage, picked up the king in his arms, and carried him up the stairs into the reception hall. “I carry all of France on myself,” he declared. The royal entourage—ministers and marshals of France—were embarrassed: what if Louis got scared of the unfamiliar giant and started crying? And all the solemnity, already disrupted, would be completely ruined... However, it went well. Louis behaved like a king, with manly dignity. A few days later, Peter wrote to Catherine: “I inform you that last Monday I was visited by the local little king... a child quite well-developed in stature and age, and quite reasonable for his seven years...”
The sculptural group “Peter I with Louis XV in his arms” was cast in Paris in 1899 based on a model by the Russian sculptor Bernshtam and was installed on the eve of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg in the square of the Peterhof Grinding Factory. By order of Nicholas II, its bronze casting was installed in 1902 on a pedestal near the Merchant Harbor of Peterhof. In the 1920s, the monument was moved to the site in front of the “Chess Mountain” cascade, from 1936 it was located in the square on Soviet Square of Petrodvorets, and during the war it was destroyed. As for Peter, besides new diplomatic connections and new knowledge about European scientific institutions and industrial enterprises, he took from the journey the conviction that his suburban residence must be adorned with fountains like those in Versailles, since “this is very fitting for the foremost monarchs.”
The installation of the sculpture “Peter I with the young Louis XV in his arms” in Peterhof was timed to coincide with the reciprocal official visit to Russia by the President of France Loubet, which took place from May 7 to 9, 1902. A year earlier, in September 1901, Nicholas II visited France. During the period of intensive establishment of Franco-Russian relations, it was deemed appropriate to remind of Peter I’s trip to France, which took place from April 21 to June 24, 1717, lasting 65 days.
For the 300th anniversary of Peterhof, a decision was made to restore the monument in the “Bacchus Garden” near the Merchant Harbor. The unveiling of the recreated monument took place on September 13, 2005. The explanatory plaque fixed on the pedestal provides information about the author of the original sculpture, the sculptor who recreated the monument, as well as the benefactors whose funds made the modern monument possible. The sculptural group does not have the status of a cultural heritage object.
Sources:
https://peterhof.ru/petr-i-c-maloletnim-lyudovikom-xv
https://peterburg2.ru/restplaces/skulptura-petr-i-s-maloletnim-lyudovikom-xv-na-rukah-30021.html
