Monastery Devitchy, Moscow — engraving

"Monastery Devitchy. Moscow".

Technique, Material:   Steel engraving / Paper
Artist: ,  Engraver: CJ Willams
Date, Publisher: "Universal Dictionary", London, 1810.
Size: sheet 26x20, image 17.3x11.3 cm.

This engraving depicts the Novodevichy Convent (Virgin of Smolensk Convent) - one of the most beautiful and ancient monasteries in Moscow, located on the Maiden's Field in a bend of the Moskva River.

The convent was founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasily III to commemorate the return of Smolensk and its incorporation into the Muscovite state. The dedication of its main cathedral to the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (one of the most venerated images in Rus')emphasized gratitude for this crucial event.

For centuries, the Novodevichy Convent played a key role in the defense of Moscow from the southwest, forming part of the fortified belt protecting the approaches to the capital. In the 16th–17th centuries, it served as the place of tonsure for women of the tsarist family and noble boyarynas, and its rich endowments made it one of Russia's wealthiest monasteries. It was here in 1598 that Boris Godunov agreed to be crowned tsar.

The engraving captures the convention as it appeared in the early 19th century. Dominating the composition is the Smolensk Cathedral — a five-domed church built in 1524–1525, probably by the Italian architect Aleviz Novy, in imitation of the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin. This is the oldest stone building in the convent.

To the right of the cathedral stands the slender bell tower, built in 1689–1690 in the Moscow Baroque style. Its height is 72 meters — at the time of its construction, it was one of the tallest bell towers in Moscow, second only to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Kremlin.

In the foreground, the massive fortress walls with towers are visible, erected in the late 17th century when the convent was transformed into a first-class fortress. The twelve towers with their openwork "crowns" gave the convent both a defensive and an elegant appearance.

This copper engraving was created by the English engraver C.J. Williams (possibly Charles Williams) and published in London in 1810 as part of the encyclopedic work "Complete and Universal Dictionary...". Its presence in an English reference book tests to the lively European interest in Russian architecture and history following the Napoleonic Wars.

In 2004, the architectural ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the finest preserved examples of Moscow Baroque. Today, this 1810 engraving is not only a work of graphic art but also a valuable historical document, capturing the convent's appearance before subsequent alterations and 20th-century losses.