The formation of the emotional-heroic image of Peter I in the mural decoration of the Summer Palace

<jats:p>The study aims to describe the formation of the emotional-heroic image of Peter I in the mural decorations of the Summer Palace. The article examines materials from various areas of art-historical knowledge that confirm the systematic creation of an iconographic type for the state’s main persona. The scientific novelty of the study lies in examining the art-historical legacy of B. F. Borzin (1923-1991), who advocated the descriptive reconstruction of monumental and decorative art of the Petrine era. The article substantiates the scholar’s contribution to Russian art history: specifically, B. F. Borzin and his colleagues (O. N. Kuznetsova, N. V. Kalyazina) were the first in Soviet art history to summarize scattered and understudied material on Petrine-era murals. The study addresses the application of stylistic devices in monumental art that expressed the central ideas of the early 18th century – the formation of a new Russia. As a result, new data were obtained regarding the working methods of the masters (collaborative work on site by foreign and domestic “muralists”, copying of visual sources, and the connection between graphic prints and painting) who decorated the interior halls of the Summer Palace – the first imperial residence. These decorations visually affirmed the heroic persona of Peter I through a complex set of early 18th-century painting devices.</jats:p>