Sources on the History of Siberia in the First Half of 18th Century: Drawings of Artists of the Second Kamchatka Expedition
The article based on complex analysis of geographical, naturalistic (botanic, zoological, mineralogical), archaeological and ethnographic drawings performed by artists of the academic detachment of the Second Kamchatka expedition J. Ch. Berckhan, J. W. Lürsenius, J. C. Decker is shown importance of these works as subject-matter and disciplinary scientific illustrations representative of development the Russian science. It is revealed that the images of the named artists are realistic visual representations of the past of Siberia and should be used together with the scientific works of the participants of the Second Kamchatka Expedition to study the history of the region. The qualitative characteristics of naturalistic and archaeological drawings allow for the reconstruction of museum collections that have not preserved to this day. It is concluded that drawings of J. Ch. Berckhan, J. W. Lürsenius, J. C. Decker are picturesque memorial monuments of the Russian pictural art, valuable sources on the history of exploration of Siberia and visual history of Russia in the modern period.