Svyatoslav

Svyatoslav Igorevich, 942 – 972. Grand Duke of Kiev since 945.

History

During the reign of Svyatoslav, the power led by Kiev becomes known and active on the international scale. The Prince pursued an active foreign policy, he was never satisfied with his victories for long and sought new ones. Therefore, the glorious traditions of warfare in Russia were established at that time.

Svyatoslav was only three years old when his father, Igor of Kiev, was killed by the Drevlyane and the actual power in Kiev passed to his mother, Princess Olga. Svyatoslav was raised as a tireless warrior, and as an adult, he only thought about campaigns, conquering new lands, and trophies.

The chronicler provides a colourful description of Svyatoslav: when Svyatoslav grew and matured, he began to gather a lot of brave warriors, and fast he was like a leopard, and fought many wars. He did not have a tent, but when he slept, he would put the saddlecloth with the saddle under his head — and all the rest of his warriors were the same.

The Stone

The masters created a dramatic image of Svyatoslav, which tells us that he is shown in the heat of battle: leaning back in his saddle, the rider waves his spear, while preparing to raise his shield to repel the oncoming blow. His coal black horse, a figure which is carved from a dolerite, has just landed after a big jump. His eyes sparkle with an evil glitter — this effect was achieved through using pieces of tiger’s eye with vertically oriented layers.

The variety of textures and hues used makes the image of the hero even more picturesque — the combination with glossy reddish jasper (the pants) and agate with a red stripe (the shirt) with fine regular carving of the chainmail from flint and more chaotic strands of the wolf skin cloak tossed onto the warrior’s shoulders (moss agate). It is worth noting how the masters use the natural defect of the stone — remains of a micro-geod — into an element of the image: one can see that the cloak has seen many battles that have left their traces on the skin.

Svyatoslav is holding a round shield typical of the time of his reign in his left hand. Its rich decor, in which one can see the head of a deity, was portrayed using the finest cameo. The contrasting layering of agate is used to achieve the effect.

A large block of pegmatite with large crystals of smoky quartz is at the base of the sculpture. “Splashes”, as if left by the hooves of the brave knight’s horse plunging into the battle, were carved on the taller part of the block.