Cronstadt.

Title

Cronstadt.

Description

Beautiful hand-coloured bird’s-eye view of the historic fortified city of Kronstadt, depicting Fort Menshikov, Fort Kronschlot, Fort Risbank (also known as Fort Paul I), Fort Petersfort, Fort Alexander, Fort Konstantin, Fort Catharine, and numerous sailing ships. After the original drawing by James Wilson Carmichael, from Edward H. Nolan’s The Illustrated History of the War Against Russia, published by James S. Virtue in London.

ca. 1857

Artist

Brandard Edward Paxman (1819-1898)

Edward Paxman Brandard (1819–1898) was an English painter, draughtsman and distinguished steel engraver of the 19th century. He was primarily active in London. He came from an artistic family and was trained by his brother, Robert Brandard. He became particularly known for his finely executed steel engravings after works by artists such as J. M. W. Turner and John Constable.

Historical Description

Kronstadt, a city and former fortress on the Baltic Sea island of Kotlin off Saint Petersburg in Russia. Tsar Peter I founded the city in 1703 as a naval base on the Baltic Sea. The first completed fortification was Kronschlot. Kronstadt defended the access to the then Russian capital from the Baltic Sea and was therefore equipped with fortifications and coastal batteries only in the north, west and south. In 1803 the first Russian circumnavigation of the world started from Kronstadt under Captain Adam Johann von Krusenstern. Until the First World War, the Kronstadt port was one of the main ports for timber export from the Russian Empire.