Fyodor Tolstoy. The Liberation of Moscow in 1812

This tinted plaster relief, "The Liberation of Moscow in 1812", is dated 1819. Its author is Count Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy (1783–1873), sculptor, medallist and draughtsman. The subject belongs to his famous series of medallions devoted to the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814.

The series of 20 reliefs was made between 1814 and 1836, not on a state commission but on the artist's own initiative. Tolstoy modelled the compositions in pink wax on black slate boards; dies were cut from the originals and used to cast plaster impressions, and later the medallions were also reproduced in porcelain and bronze. The series brought Tolstoy European fame: he was elected a member of the Vienna and Prussian academies of arts.

In this composition Moscow appears as a tormented woman seated on the ruins of still-smouldering buildings. A Russian warrior with a shield strikes down her tormentor, armed with a dagger and a torch, while an enemy soldier falls at Moscow's feet. The medallion's motto reads "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered".