… A story about the appearance of sculptures in the Summer Garden …

At the beginning of 1719, Kologrivov recently bought an antique statue found in the vicinity of Rome, which is now kept in the Hermitage and is known as “Tauric Venus”.

Aphrodite (Venus) – the daughter of Uranus, was born from the snow-white foam of the sea waves Near the island of Kythera. Tall, slender, with a soft wave of golden hair, Aphrodite is the personification of beauty and eternal youth. Her companions are Ora and Harita, the goddess of beauty and grace.

Apparently, Kologrivov wanted to secretly remove the statue from Italy, but the Roman authorities confiscated it. Kologrivov was recalled from Rome and could no longer influence the course of events. Peter I ordered his diplomats, the State Chancellor Count Gavrila Golovkin and the same Raguzinsky, to assist in its acquisition. Decisive turned out to be the appeal of the latter to Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, vice-chancellor of the church, a longtime “friend” of Raguzinsky. And yet, only in November 1719, “Venus” was “unsubscribed” to Peter I as a gift from Pope Clement XI “for patronage, shown to missionaries to Catholics.” “Venus” was installed in a special gallery at the entrance to the Summer Garden from the side of the Neva. Later, the statue was moved to the Grotto of the Summer Garden, where it remained until 1801, and then to the Tauride Palace, until it took pride of place in the Hermitage. This is the story of the acquisition of “Venus of Tauride”, the first masterpiece of antique art in Russia.

At the moment, on the site of the installed sculpture “Venus of Tauride” there is a sculpture “NEREIDA”