Inkerman - Ucrânia
Gallerie d'Italia Piazza Scala Milão
OST - 292x494 - 1857
The painting can be identified
as the depiction of The Battle on
the River Tchernaya shown at the Esposizione di Belle Arti
dell’Accademia di Brera in 1859 and bought on that occasion by Vittorio
Emanuele II for his collection in the Castle of Racconigi.
As Induno stated in the
exhibition catalogue, the painting was based on numerous sketches that he made
when serving with the Piedmontese army on its expedition to the Crimea in 1855
alongside British and French forces to defend the Ottoman Empire against
Russia. While taking part as a member of the Bersaglieri corps, the painter
also produced a series of panoramic views for the War Ministry, which were then
turned into lithographs for the album published in 1857 to celebrate the
expedition. The Crimean War was the first to be fully illustrated, as the work
of artists like Induno was accompanied by the first series of war photographs
taken by Roger Fenton and James Robertson. At the same time, the images of the
military operations led by General Alfonso La Marmora very soon acquired
symbolic significance in Italy as allusions to recent events in the struggle
for national liberation and unification known as the Risorgimento.
The work in the Cariplo
Collection marks Induno’s debut in the genre of large-scale history paintingdrawing inspiration
from the epic deeds of the Risorgimento, a field in which he was to become an
undisputed master. Nor should it be forgotten that the painter was personally
involved in the Cinque Giornate uprising in Milan, like his brother Domenico Induno, and then took part as
a volunteer in the legion led by Giacomo Medici in defence of the Roman
Republic in 1849 as well as Garibaldi’s campaigns ten years later. There are
various versions of the work in the Cariplo Collection (including one owned by
the Banca Popolare di Novara) as well as preparatory studies. In a composition
divided by the line of the horizon and dominated by the figure of General La
Marmora on horseback, the painter depicted a series of episodes involving
groups of soldiers in the foreground as well as two dying Russians comforted by
a chaplain. The movements of troops by the River Tchernaya, where the Piedmontese
fought a number of victorious actions alongside the French army, can be
discerned in the glow on the horizon.
While the care devoted both to
the details of the uniforms and to light effects show the painter’s artistic
debt to the realism of his brother Domenico’s innovative approach to historical
subjects, the painting is enriched here by the epic dimension of the event
illustrated, an element also to be found in depictions of other episodes of the
Risorgimento, such as The Battle
of Magenta (1861, Milan, Soprintendenza al Patrimonio
Architettonico e Paesaggistico, on loan to the Museo del Risorgimento).
From November 2011, the work
has been on view at the Gallerie d’Italia in Milan.
The Battle of the
Chernaya (also Tchernaïa; Russian: Сражение у Черной речки, Сражение у реки Черной,
literally: Battle of the
Black River) was a battle by the Chornaya River fought during the Crimean War on August 16, 1855. The battle was fought between Russian troops and a coalition of French, Sardinian and Ottoman troops. The Chornaya River is on the outskirts of Sevastopol. The battle ended in a Russian retreat and a victory for the
French, Sardinians and Turks.
58,000 Russian
troops in two army corps under Prince Michael Gorchakov
fought against 28,000 French and Sardinian troopsunder French General Aimable Pélissier and
Italian General Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora.
Although the British correspondents were amazed at the courageousness and
impetuosity of their attack, the assault of the Russian army was handicapped by
poor organization and lack of experienced soldiers which, due to Sevastopol,
forced their corps to consist mostly of militia.
In the cover of the morning fog, the Russians
advanced on Traktirburg with
47,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 270 cannon under command of General Pavel Liprandi on the left and General N. A. Read on the
right. The two generals had been ordered by Gorchakov not to cross the river
until given explicit orders. Annoyed that things weren’t happening fast enough,
Gorchakov sent a note to his generals with the words "Let's start it." By
this, Gorchakov only meant that the Russians should start to deploy their
forces. Unfortunately his generals interpreted his words as his order to attack
and they acted accordingly, although reserve forces were still en route to the
battlefield. The attacking Russians immediately met stiff resistance from the
French and Sardinians. Read's forces crossed the river near Traktirburg but
without cavalry and artillery support, they were easily stopped by the French
on the Fedyukhin
Heights (Федюхины высоты). Read then ordered his reserve
formation, the 5th Infantry Division, to attack the Heights but instead of
launching a coordinated assault, he fed them piecemeal in to the fray. Going in
regiment by regiment, the assaulting reserve troops accomplished nothing.
Seeing this Gorchakov ordered Read to deploy the entire division against the
French. This forced the French back up the hill but the Russians could not
capture the Heights. In the following retreat General Read was killed. Upon the
death of Read, Gorchakov took personal command of the right and ordered 8
battalions of Liprandi's left wing to reinforce the right wing. These forces
came under fire from the Sardinians and were driven back. At 10 o’clock in the
morning, Gorchakov concluded that the situation was hopeless and ordered a
general retreat.
The bravery of Sardinian troops and the
French soldiers of the 50th, 82nd, 95th, 97th of the line; the 19th Foot
Chasseurs; and the 2nd and 3rd Zouaves was especially noted. The Italian troops' valiant
effort at the battle was a contributing factor to their inclusion at the
negotiation tables at the end of the war; It was there that the Kingdom of Sardinia began
looking for the aide of other European nations in the Unification of Italy.
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