On Dostoevsky in Dresden and his favorite paintings
Today, according to the schedule, we have an article about chapter 2.4, but… I couldn't make it engaging and interesting without touching on 2.5.
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Today, according to the schedule, we have an article about chapter 2.4, but… I couldn't make it engaging and interesting without touching on 2.5.
If you have already read it, you know that in chapter 2.4 a doctor visits Raskolnikov. The entire chapter is a dialogue between Razumikhin and Dr. Zosimov about rumors of the murder of the old woman and Lizaveta - what is known so far, who the suspects are. We hardly hear Raskolnikov's voice or thoughts: he lies there, turned towards the wall, examining the pattern on the wallpaper.
Therefore, I decided to combine my thoughts on this chapter with chapter 2.5, as they form a cohesive narrative. On Monday, an article on both chapters will be published. If you have any questions or thoughts about 2.4, please write them down, and we’ll discuss them in the Monday article comment section.
I won't leave you without interesting facts though.
Let's learn a little about Dostoevsky as a person. We know a lot thanks to the diaries of his second wife, Anna, whom he met while writing "Crime and Punishment." She helped him with the stenography of the novel "The Gambler."
I want to share excerpts from her memoirs about their travels in Germany, particularly their life in Dresden. It was the year 1867, and the novel "Crime and Punishment" had just been completed and fully published. Dostoevsky had paid off most of his debts, met the love of his life — Anna, and seemed happy.
“Fyodor Mikhailovich loved Dresden dearly, mainly for its famous art gallery (Old Masters Gallery) and the beautiful gardens in its surroundings, and he always made it a point to visit the city during his travels.
Fyodor Mikhailovich valued order in everything, including the organization of his time, so we soon established a routine that allowed each of us to use our time as we wished. Since my husband worked at night, he wasn’t in the habit of getting up before eleven. I would have breakfast with him and then immediately go to explore some collection in the museum, where my youthful curiosity was fully satisfied.
By two o'clock, I would invariably be in the art gallery. I knew that by this time my husband would arrive at the gallery, and we would go to admire his favorite paintings, which, of course, quickly became my favorites as well. Fyodor Mikhailovich valued Raphael's works above all others and considered the Sistine Madonna to be his greatest achievement. Later, I saw that my husband could stand in front of this astonishingly beautiful painting for hours, deeply moved and touched.
NB After World War II, this painting visited the homeland of Dostoevsky, it was kept in Moscow for a decade.
He held Titian's talent in extremely high regard, especially his famous painting: "Der Zinsgroschen", "Christ with the Coin", and would often stand for long periods, without taking his eyes off this brilliant depiction of the Savior.
After resting at home, we would go for a walk in the Großer Garten at six o'clock. Fyodor Mikhailovich loved this vast park, especially for its charming English-style meadows and lush vegetation. The round trip from our house to the park and back was no less than six or seven versts, and my husband, who loved walking, greatly valued this walk and would not forgo it even in rainy weather, saying that it had a beneficial effect on us.
At that time, there was a restaurant in the park called 'Zum Großen Wirtschaft,' where in the evenings, either a regimental brass band or instrumental music was played. Sometimes the concert programs were quite serious. Though not a music connoisseur, my husband had a deep love for
the musical works of Mozart,
Beethoven's Fidelio,
Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Wedding March,
and Rossini's Air du Stabat Mater.
He derived genuine pleasure from listening to his favorite pieces. Fyodor Mikhailovich did not care for the works of Richard Wagner at all.
These daily walks reminded us of and replaced the wonderful evenings of our courtship, as they were filled with so much fun, frankness, and simplicity. At half past nine, we would return, drink tea, and then sit down: Fyodor Mikhailovich to read the works of Herzen that he had bought, and I to my diary. I wrote it in shorthand during the first one and a half to two years of our married life, with small breaks during my illness."
Such was Dostoevsky's mode and preferences in painting and music in Dresden.
How do you like this side of Fyodor Mikhailovich?
And what are your favorite paintings?
Amazing article, as always, and I’m super late, as always. Just curious: Anna says that his husband “didn’t care about the works of Richard Wagner at all.” Yet what strikes me is 1) why does she mentions Wagner if he didn’t care about it? Did *she* like Wagner? Did many people in their circle like Wagner? And 2) the way she says this sounds a bit emphatic (“at all”), as though maybe her husband has a strong reaction (possibly negative, but strong none the less) to Wagner. Do we know more about this?
I’m reading The Gambler Wife right now, and I’m loving it! I’m also practicing walking from Dostoyevsky’s house to the island using street view in Google Earth. It’s hysterical, and I often feel like Rodion looking around and wondering how he ended up in a certain spot. I haven’t made it yet without zooming out to see where I am. I really wish I could read Russian to use the street signs to help me! Lol. I’m hoping to be able to find my way by the time I finish the novel. 🤣