Pyotr Klodt. Model of the Stern Decoration of the Corvette Volk

A running wolf: this is a model of the stern decoration of the screw corvette Volk, made in St Petersburg in 1856. Its author is Pyotr Klodt (1805–1867), the sculptor best known for the horse groups on the Anichkov Bridge.

The Volk was launched on 6 (18) June 1856 at the Okhta shipyard in St Petersburg. This 11-gun screw ship was transferred from the Baltic to the Black Sea Fleet, which had lost most of its ships in the Crimean War: in early September 1857 the Volk left Kronstadt together with the Buivol and the Vepr, and by the end of April 1858 she arrived in Nikolaev. In 1869 the corvette was sold for scrap.

The wolf is executed in high relief, that is, it stands out strongly from the background. The plaster figure is painted bronze and mounted on a wooden board painted black. The animal is shown in full stride, its legs outstretched and its jaws slightly open.