The monument to actor F. G. Volkov is located in the center of Yaroslavl , on Volkov Square , in the Vlasyevsky Square to the left of the Volkov Theater on a high granite pedestal.
Fedor Volkov is depicted in full growth. He is dressed in a stage costume, his gaze is directed to the theater, his hands are folded on his chest. It seems that Volkov admires his brainchild and ponders his fate.
The monument, designed by Yaroslavl V. Marov (architect) and A. Solovyov (sculptor), was unveiled on August 10, 1973.
Pre-Revolutionary Projects
Proposals for the installation of the first monument to the actor in Yaroslavl were made in the 19th century, however, their execution was hindered by the opposition of officials who did not consider the lyceum worthy of perpetuation in stone. For example, Leonid N. Trefolev wrote:
| Three years later (April 4, 1879) marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the father of the Russian theater - Fedor Volkov. It would be good if, by that time (it had not yet left), in view of the Demidov Lyceum, a monument was erected next to the Demidov’s column with the inscription: Volkov is grateful posterity. You do not need a particularly magnificent monument: the most modest monument is still better than cold oblivion, better than human ingratitude. |
At the beginning of the XX century, the entrepreneur of the city theater, who established a fund to raise funds, was trying to erect a monument to Volkov. It is known about the charity performance that the Moscow Maly Theater gave for this purpose. In 1910, in connection with the celebration in Yaroslavl of the 150th anniversary of the Russian theater, a competition was announced to create a monument; experts from the Imperial Academy of Arts, architect E. N. Sabaneev were invited to the jury. The Museum of the Volkovsky Theater stores two bronze models - the projects of the monument, which then entered the competition.
By the beginning of World War I, the efforts of the City Council and the Russian Theater Society to raise the monument were able to raise over 18,000 rubles. The required amount was divided between the accounts of two organizations, which had long been bickering about the appearance of the monument: each agreed to pay only for the embodiment of the project that arranged it. While the debate was going on, the country entered a period of revolutionary upheaval, and the monument was forgotten.
Sources
- A. Grigoriev. Dancing in a circle: Volkov Square in the history of Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl: North Krai, 2016.
- Zhelvis V.I. Walks in Yaroslavl: A Guidebook. - Yaroslavl: Upper Volga, 2001
- Vygolov V.P. Yaroslavl. Monuments of architecture and art. M .: "Soviet Russia", 1985.
- Kozlov P.I. Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl: Upper Volga Book Publishing House, 1988.