Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Russian book illustrations of the 1790s: Searching European analogues

The paper shows the influence of the European engravings on the Russian book illustrations. The object of the study are European and Russian 18th-century illustrations for Ovid’s Metamorphoses. As a result of the comparison, prototypes of illustrations for the Russian edition of Ovid of 1794–1795 were identified as engravings from a similar Dutch edition of 1732. The results of a comparison of a number of sketches of the Russian manuscript “Ovid Metamorphoses with Illustrations” of 1796 and the engravings of the French edition of “Metamorphoses” of 1767–1771 are given. The methods of copying and transformation of European prints are analyzed. The author proves creative nature of the interpretation of European samples by Russian engravers and draftsmen of the academic school.