An exhibition based on the novel “War and Peace” by Tolstoy will open in Minsk

MOSCOW, April 15 Exhibition of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy: the setting of Belarus» will open at the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature in Minsk on April 18 and will last until June 30, the press service of the museum reported.
“On Thursday, April 18, the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature (Republic of Belarus, Minsk) will open the exhibition “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy: the setting of Belarus,” prepared by the State Museum of L.N. Tolstoy, Moscow. The exhibition will last until June 30,» the message says.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see handwritten sketches, unfinished prefaces and early editions of War and Peace, and explore the traces of complex research and moral work preserved in documents and correspondence with family members, friends and acquaintances.

In addition, the exhibition will feature historical engravings and lithographs of scenes from the Patriotic War of 1812 by Klauber, Albert Adam, Faber du Fort, illustrations for the book “War and Peace” by artists A. Apsit, N.A. Volkova, V.A. Serov and A.V. Nikolaev. The exhibition will also feature photographs of Leo Tolstoy and his family, unique draft manuscripts of War and Peace and letters. In total — about 80 exhibits from the funds of the State Museum of L.N. Tolstoy.
The State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature will complement the exhibition with photographs, manuscripts and books related to the great work of world literature, the message added.

The exhibition will be dedicated to the historical and philosophical content of Leo Tolstoy’s novel, which is embodied in the epic narrative about the events of the Patriotic War of 1812. “In War and Peace, Tolstoy also comprehended the patterns of movement of the peoples of Europe from West to East and from East to West — the offensive of Napoleonic troops from the western borders of the Russian Empire, coinciding with the modern border and the lands of Belarus, to Smolensk and Moscow, and then — retreat to Paris,» the press release notes.
The curator of the exhibition, head of the museum’s development department, Natalya Velikanova, is confident that Tolstoy’s historical and philosophical reflections included a range of questions that the writer and his contemporaries sought to answer: about the goals of the movement of man and humanity, about the values ​​of European civilization, about culture and characteristics Russia's development paths. “These reflections have retained their relevance for the reader of the 21st century,” emphasized Velikanova, whose words are quoted by the press service.