The defeat of Nazi troops near Stalingrad (panorama)

The idea of ​​creating an artistic canvas illustrating the exploits of the defenders of Stalingrad was put forward in an open letter from Major General G.I. Anisimov to Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin dated December 12, 1943. And already in 1944, the idea was finally formed at the sketch design competition for the restoration of Stalingrad on creating a panorama of the Battle of Stalingrad ^[1] .

Then, in 1944, a group of artists led by H. Kotov, V. Yakovlev, and V. Belyaev created a collapsible-mobile panorama "The Heroic Defense of Stalingrad." The events of September 15–20, 1942, when Mamaev’s mound was recaptured from German troops, were displayed on the canvas.

Largely due to the fact that the events depicted on the canvas were not indicative of that period of the Battle of Stalingrad , already in 1948 work began on a new panorama. A group of artists, "Grekovtsy" was headed by A. Gorpenko. Work on a new canvas, this time depicting the January battles of 1943 , was completed in 1950 . After showing the panorama in Moscow in 1950, she was sent to Stalingrad , where she was shown at the Pobeda cinema until 1952 ^[1] .

The first decree on the construction of a panorama in Stalingrad was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR in December 1958. According to it, the panorama should have been located on Mamaev Kurgan , the box of the building had already been rebuilt (later there was a military glory hall) ^[2] . However, after 6 years, in 1964 , the panorama “Battle on the Volga” was removed from the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamaev Kurgan .

The panorama was decided to include the Battle of Stalingrad in the new museum , which was to be located on the site of the tram ring, next to two buildings - eyewitnesses of the Battle of Stalingrad: Pavlov’s House and the ruins of Gerhardt Mill .

The building project was completed by the Volgogradgrazhdanproekt Institute. The rotunda has the form of a hyperboloid of revolution, made of prestressed concrete and lined with white limestone .

The new painting of the panorama was created by the artists of the Studio named after M. B. Grekov . A group of military men advised the Greeks - Marshals of the Soviet Union V.I. Chuikov , A.I. Eremenko , N.I. Krylov, chief artillery marshal N.N. Voronov. In 1961, artists prepared a sketch for a panorama of 1/3 of the actual size. The transfer of the image from the preliminary drawing to the panoramic canvas and work on the creation of the subject plan lasted from the summer of 1980 to the spring of 1982 . A panorama of 2000 m² became the largest painting in Russia, one of the largest panoramas in the world, which is still the only one painted on the theme of the Great Patriotic War .

On July 8, 1982 , the panorama “The rout of Nazi troops near Stalingrad” was opened for free visits.

In 2005, to the 60th anniversary of the Victory, the specialists of the Grabar All-Union Restoration Center restored the canvas. Restoration work continued for two years ^[3] .

The panorama "Battle of Stalingrad" is a canvas measuring 16 × 120 m, with an area of ​​about 2000 m² and 1000 m² of the subject plan. This is the largest painting in Russia. The plot is the final stage of the Battle of Stalingrad - operation "Ring" . The canvas shows the connection on January 26, 1943 of the 21st and 62nd armies of the Don Front on the western slope of Mamaev Kurgan , which led to the dissection of the encircled German group into two parts.

The panorama of the battle, visible from the top of Mamaev Kurgan, shows the territory of the modern Central, Voroshilovsky, Krasnooktyabrsky and Dzerzhinsky districts of Volgograd, you can see the buildings that have become symbols of the Battle of Stalingrad: Pavlov’s House , Gerhardt Mill , January 9 area , the water tower of Stalingrad-1 station, elevator .

The canvas depicts the fighters of the Soviet army, who became famous in the days of the Battle of Stalingrad (but not exactly on the day of January 26, 1943, also many of the displayed fighters performed the feat shown in other areas of Stalingrad, and not on Mamaev Kurgan, as shown in the panorama):

• Signalman Matvey Putilov , clamped in his teeth the ends of a tattered wire;
• Khanpasha Nuradilov , commander of a machine-gun platoon;
• Junior Sergeant Nikolai Serdyukov ;
• burning infantryman Mikhail Panikakha ;
• nurse Anna Besschastnova ;
• pilot Viktor Rogalsky , ramming ;
• Captain Mikhail Nechaev , committing a tank ram;
• Sanitary Instructor Gulya Koroleva ;
• tanker Sergey Markin ;
• sniper Vasily Zaitsev
• Commander of the 62nd Army Vasily Ivanovich Chuykov .

• Museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad" - official site
• Museum-panorama "Battle of Stalingrad". Virtual tour - official site
• Panorama "The rout of Nazi troops"
• Interactive 3D Panorama "Battle of Stalingrad"