Vue de Minsk. Prise du chemin de Smolensk, 2 Fevrier 1840.

Title

Vue de Minsk. Prise du chemin de Smolensk, 2 Fevrier 1840.

Description

View showing the wintery city of Minsk with the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Taken on the way to Smolensk on 2 February 1840. From the Atlas Pittoresque.

ca. 1842

Artist

Lemercier (1803-1887)

Huge Parisian firm of lithographic printers founded by Joseph Rose Lemercier (1803-1887), who began as the foreman for Langlumé in 1825. Working on his own account from 1827, 1829-36 in partnership with Bénard association formed in 1837 according to IFF catalogue for Joseph Lemercier. The firm was still active in 1841.

Historical Description

At the beginning of 1067 Minsk was mentioned for the first time as Menesk or Mensk, a town in the Polotsk principality in the union of Kievan Rus. Since the beginning of the 14th century it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. As early as 1444 the city was included in the list of the 15 most developed cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since the Union of Lublin in 1569 Minsk belonged to Poland-Lithuania. The Polish language gained a lot of importance in the city. In the 16th century Minsk became an important city of crafts and trade. In 1798 the Roman Catholic bishopric of Minsk was also founded. As early as 1796, Minsk became the capital of the governorate of the same name, and in December of the same year it received a new city coat of arms: the Holy Virgin on a blue field, surrounded by four angels. The city's former lingua franca, Polish, was increasingly replaced by Russian since Minsk became part of the Russian Tsarist Empire. In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party was founded in Minsk. This party later developed into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Minsk became the capital of the short-lived "Belarusian People's Republic" in 1918. In 1922, Minsk became the capital of the newly formed Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, a constituent republic of the Soviet Union.