In portraits, Pushkin is portrayed as a handsome man with a lively look and a straight and thin nose. However, from the testimonies of contemporaries it is known that in his appearance the features of a not-so-distant dark-skinned ancestor possessing all the characteristics of the Negroid race are preserved: a wide nose, dark eyes, curly hair.
Instruction manual
1
There are several picturesque paintings depicting Pushkin, and they are quite different in detail. It is known that painters of those times were not too inclined to convey reality in the most direct and immediate way possible, on the contrary, it was considered a good manners rule to depict a person by embellishing his features. Giving the appearance of Pushkin nobility, equipping him with those features that were considered the most beautiful, was completely normal. Therefore, for starters, you can try to listen to what the poet himself said about himself and how his friends and acquaintances described him.
2
Pushkin created a poem in French, in which he described his appearance. It says that he cannot be compared with the most lanky in growth. Consequently, Pushkin was a man of average height. Further, the poet describes a fresh complexion, brown hair and curls on his head. Then he says that he is a real monkey face. Apparently, Alexander Sergeyevich did not consider himself handsome, just compared his face with a monkey.
3
In the Lyceum about Pushkin they said that he was “a mixture of a monkey with a tiger.” Probably, it was not only his face that was meant, but also his character, and manners, and his penchant for leprosy and disorder. The mischievous disposition and courage of the young poet was warmly loved by his lyceum friends. A similar comparison with a monkey and a tiger leads the granddaughter of Marshal Kutuzov, she writes that the poet comes from African ancestors, and that in his eyes there is enough blackness, something wild has been preserved in them. But then she also writes that Pushkin sparkles with his mind and it is so interesting to talk with him that while talking with him you can forget about everything that is lacking in his appearance.
4
Many contemporaries noted in memoirs and memoirs about Pushkin that his facial expressions were lively, and his face shone with his mind and some childlike liveliness. Talking with the poet, people were fascinated by him, and often he seemed to them handsome not because he really had an incredibly attractive appearance, but because he was an amazing person who could charm anyone with his personal qualities.
5
Pushkin himself wrote that his portrait was not written, which would convey his character and inner world. He even writes about this in the novel "Eugene Onegin" that he hopes for the appearance of such a portrait, by which it will be possible to recognize him in the future. With irony, Pushkin writes that ignoramuses will be able to say “this was the Poet!” Looking at his portrait.
6
There are three most famous portraits of Pushkin. The first was written in 1826 by the artist J. Vivien, it was ordered by the poet himself. The second portrait in 1826 was painted by Russian artist V.A. Tropinin, and the third was written in 1987 by Kiprensky. Despite such a small time difference between them, all the portraits are completely different, they depict three different people. It is from them that one can judge how inaccurate portraits of that time conveyed appearance. Each artist sought to emphasize something most important in his opinion. One tried to convey a childish facial expression, the second a sad and deep look, and the third a mischievous gleam in his eyes. But not one of Pushkin's portraits tells more about him than his works.
