Cemetery of the Smolensko Church — engraving

Cemetery of the Smolensko Church. On the Vasili Ostroff, St. Petersburg.

Technique, Material: Steel engraving / Paper
Artist: A.G. Vickers, Engraver: Edward Smith
Publisher, Date: "Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap-Book", London, 1837.
Size: 21,1 X 27,6 cm.

This engraving depicts the Cemetery of the Smolensko Church (Smolenskoye Orthodox Cemetery) on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, as it appeared in the early 19th century. The inscription below the image reads "On the Vasili Ostroff, near Petersburg" — the old spelling of Vasilievsky Island.

Founded in 1756 by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the Smolensk Cemetery became one of the most important burial grounds in the Russian capital. It was named after the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, and its church, dedicated to the same icon, was consecrated in 1760. Located near the mouth of the Neva River, less than a quarter of a mile from the Gulf of Finland, the cemetery occupied a unique position on the marshy islands of the Neva delta.

The engraving likely illustrates a remarkable annual tradition described in contemporary accounts: each year, the Russians gathered "from all parts" to scatter flowers on the graves and mourn the dead. After the mourning, families would proceed to regale themselves with soup, fruit, and wine, in many instances spreading their cloths on the very graves over which they had been weeping. This fusion of solemn remembrance and communal celebration reflected old Slavic customs intertwined with Orthodox Christian traditions.

This engraving was published in the 1837 edition of "Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap-Book," a celebrated British literary annual issued by Fisher, Son & Co. of London, with additional editions in Paris and Berlin . These elegant gift books were immensely popular in Victorian England, designed for the "drawing rooms" of fashionable society.

The 1837 volume is particularly notable for its poetic illustrations by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838), who signed her work as "L.E.L." — one of the most famous literary celebrities of her day. The Poetess Archive confirms that the book contained a poem titled precisely "Cemetery of the Smolensko Church" on page 16, accompanying this very engraving . Landon's poem describes the Russian custom of gathering "with the summer in their hands" to scatter flowers on graves and mourn the dead.
This engraving thus represents a fascinating intersection of Russian subject matter with British literary and artistic culture, capturing both a sacred site of Orthodox Petersburg and the Victorian fascination with "picturesque" foreign customs.