Narrative Miniatures in the Design of Charters to Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov

Abstract

The issue of using narrative miniatures in the design of charters in the 18th century has not been raised in the research literature so far. The process of creating such documents was regulated by a special decree, but it mainly concerned the letters of nobility. It established the document’s form, as well as the mandatory elements of its design with a detailed description. It prescribed the use of “decorations appropriate to the service”, but without specifying the requirements. The decree does not contain any special instructions regarding the design of letters for property grants.

In the course of the scientific description of the letters for movable and immovable property granted to Admiral Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov for the Victory in the Battles of Reval and Vyborg (1790), it was founded that such letters were generally issued according to the same rules as the letters of nobility. “Decorations appropriate to the service” in this case are narrative miniatures included in the composition of the frame. A detailed study of miniatures raises the question of the existence in the 18th century of the practice of using symbols and allegorical images in the design of official documents.