Ship Theme in Russian Art of the First Quarter of the XVIII Century

The article considers the marine vessels in art during Peter the Great's reign, primarily in engraving. The subject matter is insufficiently studied in domestic art studies. The author for the first time attempts to classify the existing pictures, examines some symbolic meanings of polysemic image. The allegoric meaning of a vessel in understanding of a man, living during Peter the Great's reign was the scientific aquisition of the world, the pinnacle of technical and engineer idea, demonstration of Russian ship builders' skills and the means to establish the Russian Empire as a European state, a stronghold of prosperity of the nation, symbol of Peter's "deified" monarchy