"200 years of the discovery of Antarctica"

The discovery of the sixth continent of the planet - Antarctica falls on the date of January 28. Exactly 200 years ago, the Russian expedition under the command of the famous Russian sailors, Captain 2nd Rank Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Lieutenant Mikhail Lazarev, embarked on a long and difficult sea voyage.

This event was one of the largest geographical discoveries in world history and the greatest result of a round-the-world expedition. Russian researchers and travelers made a great contribution to the study of the geographical structure of the World.

The expedition included: military officers, sloop crews, headquarters healer, artisans, hieromonk, astronomer and artist - Pavel Nikolaevich Mikhailov. In total, the expedition totaled 102 people.

The inclusion of the artist in the campaign was mandatory, the main duty of which was to record everything he saw in detail. The reliability of the drawings testified to the results of the scientific campaign, how much they will be useful and in demand in the future.

Before being sent on an expedition, P. Mikhailov received detailed instructions from the Academy of Arts on how to sketch.

Thanks to the graphic drawings of Pavel Nikolaevich Mikhailov, we know for certain the landscape of the newly discovered territories of Antarctica and its diverse wildlife.

The virtual exhibition “200 years of the discovery of Antarctica” introduces the viewer to the graphic works created by P.N. Mikhailov during the 1820 expedition. The “exposition” contains more than one hundred and twenty works of the artist from the collection of the State Russian Museum.

This spring, another exhibition dedicated to the two hundredth anniversary of the opening of Antarctica will open within the walls of the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts. The presented photographs are the result of six years of work by scientists - polar explorers living at the Novolazarevskaya station. By the way, in 2012, the station opened the first virtual branch of the Russian Museum in Antarctica, which became the southernmost point of presence of the Russian Museum on our planet.