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Historical informatics
Reference:

Virtual Reconstruction of Buildings of the Sennitsy Estate near Moscow: Sources and Research Methods

Korsakov Semen Andreevich

Student, Historical Information Science Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU)

119991, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Lomonosovsky Prospekt str., 27, of. G-423

semen_korsakov373@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.7256/2585-7797.2023.1.40389

EDN:

OQGVUT

Received:

07-04-2023


Published:

25-04-2023


Abstract: The problem of historical and cultural heritage preservation is very relevant these days. Increasing number of monuments is being destroyed every day; however, our compatriots are continuously becoming more interested in landmarks Russia. There has been a marked increase in the number of tourist routes in Moscow region. Numerous noble estates represent an important part of the region’s cultural assets. In Moscow region, there are lots of former estates of prominent families of the Russian Empire: today many of these properties are in ruins. Manor Sennitsy situated in Ozyory district of Moscow region is one of such gradually decaying cultural monuments with a rich history. This study analyzes a set of sources, on the basis of which the author creates a virtual 3D-reconstruction of manor Sennitsy in the period of late 19th – early 20th century when it was owned by the family of Count F.E. Keller. The source base for the study is very diverse: plans, drawings, cartographic materials, photographs, inventories of property, construction cost estimates. The author describes gradual process of 3D-modelling, in the framework of which softwares SketchUp and Twinmotion were used. The article pays attention to the history of Sennitsy’s construction and its owners. Reconstruction of buildings of the Sennitsy manor complex allows to visualize an image of the destroyed monument of culture, as well as to demonstrate high potential of using 3D-modelling methods in history. This study is carried out within the framework of the Project of reconstruction of appearance of the noble estates of the Moscow region, supported by the Department of Historical Information Science of the Faculty of History of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University.


Keywords:

manor, noble estate Sennitsy, F E Keller, cultural heritage, Moscow region, source study aspects, 3D modelling, virtual reconstruction, visualisation, colourisation

This article is automatically translated. You can find original text of the article here.

IntroductionThe article discusses the methods of virtual reconstruction and their application in the context of recreating the appearance of the object of cultural heritage of federal significance "manor "Sennitsy", XVIII – XIX centuries.", located in the city district of Ozery, Moscow region.

A historical reconstruction of the estate is being carried out at the beginning of the XX century, when the estate, listed in the Zaraisk district of the Ryazan province, belonged to the family of Count F.E. Keller. In this work, special emphasis is placed on the reconstruction of the main wing of the Sennitsa estate, which was used as a servants' quarters and a kitchen. This remarkable structure, located near the main house, to the south-east, stood out among other service buildings for its scale and picturesque asymmetrical composition. The wing was built in the same architectural style as the manor house. The first part of the article consistently describes the history of the Sennitsa estate and its owners, the fate of the noble estate in the Soviet era and its condition today. The following is a description of the sources used for the reconstruction of the wing: plans, drawings, photographic materials, descriptive sources. Then the methods of 3D modeling and the stages of virtual reconstruction of the main wing of the Sennitsa estate with visualization of the results are considered.

 

The history of the Sennitsa estate and its ownersThe first mention of Sennitsy is found in the payment books of the Ryazan Region for 1594-1597 [11, p. 498]; further, in the salary books of 1676 it is indicated that 63 yards are listed in the village of Sennitsy [2, p. 10].

Already from the XVI century. the village was recorded for the noble Gagarin family, but the history of Sennits as a manor complex begins from the beginning of the XVIII century, when the estate was owned by Matvey Petrovich Gagarin (1659-1721), the governor of Siberia: then spacious wooden mansions with rich decoration were built, there was a large farm, numerous servants, regular maintenance a garden of apple, plum, pear and thorn trees, five cascade ponds were excavated [12, pp. 73-75]. In 1701-1709, at the expense of Matvey Petrovich, a stone church of the Ascension was built in Sennitsy.

The Gagarin family owned Haylofts throughout the XVIII century . In the early 1770s, a large-scale reconstruction of the estate was implemented. Then its owner was Major General Matvey Alekseevich Gagarin (1725-1793)– the grandson of Matvey Petrovich. In 1771, instead of the old wooden choir, a two-story house with columns and a mezzanine in the style of early classicism was built under him. Four wings were placed at the corners of the courtyard. A new garden in the shape of a pentagon was laid out behind the house, and lime alleys stretched down the slope from the main house to the ponds – to the northwest towards the temple and to the southwest towards the economic part of the estate (see Fig. 1). The layout of the estate laid out during this period has survived to this day.

 

гравюра усадьбы

Fig. 1. A. Sveshnikov. View of the Zaraisk district of the village of Sennitsy. Possession of Major General Prince Matvey Alekseevich Gagarin. GIM. Department of ISO. Folder #30. "Cities of Russia". At the beginning of the XIX century (1804), the possessions in Sennitsy were inherited by Matvey Alekseevich Gagarin's niece, Sophia Matyushkina, married to Vielgorskaya.

 

The Vielgorskys owned Haylofts during the first half of the XIX century . In the second quarter of the century, the owner of the estate was the famous Russian philanthropist and musician Mikhail Yurievich Vielgorsky (1788-1856) – a close acquaintance of Gogol, Zhukovsky, Karamzin, Lermontov, a true friend of Pushkin. Mikhail Yurievich was the godfather of Alexander Sergeevich's daughter Natalia.

In 1856, through the female line, the Sennits were transferred to Shakhovsky. Under Prince Alexander Ivanovich Shakhovsky (1822-1891), the son-in-law of M. Yu. Vielgorsky, a new stage in the construction history of the estate began. For unknown reasons, the house built in 1770 by M. A. Gagarin was replaced by a new one, but more modest in size. It was built two-storeyed, with open terraces, large windows, a portico, four columns and under a triangular pediment (see Fig. 2). A new park was created behind the house, which, like the lime alleys planted in the 1770s, has survived to this day. Also in 1874-1877, the Church of the Ascension was rebuilt [14, l. 1-5]: it was converted from a family tomb into a new parish church [8, p. 24].

 

Дом Шаховских

Fig. 2. Shakhovsky House. Photo con. XIX century . Source: Avchinnikov A. G. In memory of Count F. E. Keller. Ekaterinoslav, 1906. – p. 49.In 1886, the Sennitsa estate was completely transferred to Alexander Ivanovich's daughter from his first marriage – Maria Shakhovskaya (1861-1941), married Keller.

 

Her husband Fyodor Eduardovich Keller (1850-1904, see Fig. Russian Russian Army: the hero of the Balkan campaign and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, where he became close to M. D. Skobelev. Count F.E. Keller successfully headed the Page Corps from 1894 to 1899, and in the period from 1899 to 1904 he held the post of Yekaterinoslav governor. With the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War in 1904, Lieutenant General F.E. Keller volunteered for the combat zone in Manchuria, where he was first appointed commander of the II Siberian Corps, and then became the head of the Eastern Detachment. On July 1, 1904, Count Keller was killed in battle at the Janzelinsky Pass after a shell burst. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Fyodor Eduardovich was an outstanding personality, the soul of the company, and in all his endeavors he always achieved success [10, pp. 918, 922, 923].

 

Келлер - молодой - в возрасте

Fig. 3A. wing-adjutant Count F. E. Keller, 1879 Source: Kiselyov A. And he lived and died like a hero! To the 100th anniversary of the death of Lieutenant General Count Fig. 3B. F. E. Keller. Zaraysk, 2004 / URL: http://veszarajsk.narod.ru/page48 a.html (Accessed: 09.02.2023)

Figure 3B. Lieutenant General Count F. E. Keller, 1904 Source: GIM. Inv. No. AND III 36331/23.Under the Kellers, the "Golden Age" of the Sennitsa estate begins.

 

Since the 1880s, the largest reconstruction of the manor complex in its entire history began. Fyodor Eduardovich was able to realize his most romantic dreams here, putting a lot of effort, imagination and money into their realization. The estate was reconstructed in the then fashionable architectural style of English Gothic of the Victorian era. In turn, the count's wife, Maria Alexandrovna Keller, was personally involved in the management of the estate: the documents of the fund No. 189 of the RGVIA show what careful reporting was carried out in the Countess's Haylofts – expenses were calculated, monthly purchases of provisions and household units were recorded, a list of employees of M.A. Keller was kept, etc.

The fundamental changes that occurred as a result of the reconstruction of the estate at the end of the XIX century are reflected in the "Plan of the buildings of Countess Keller M. A. in the estate "Sennitsy" of the Zaraisk district of the Ryazan province dated February 10, 1911" [17] (see Fig. 4). Thanks to the plan, it can be argued that all construction work that began in the 1880s years, by 1911 were completed. A new manor house was built on the preserved stone foundations of the house of M.A. Gagarin (the Shakhovsky House also stood on the foundation of 1770 and was demolished by the Kellers). It was a two-story brick building, its volume was complicated by towers and stone terraces, and the features of English architecture were traced due to narrow Gothic windows and characteristic rustication (see Fig. 5). A.G. Avchinnikov recalled about the Keller house: "... there is a two-story house recently rebuilt in the artistic Old Elizabethan English style. The entrance tower, the Gothic windows of the monastery appearance, the oak staircase leading up from the vast vestibule, the small window frames, the open stone terraces – all this is strictly maintained in the architectural style that was chosen by the builders. Inside, all the decoration of the rooms is also selected with great taste and testifies to the artistic sensitivity of the owners" [1, p. 49].

 

План 1911 г

Fig. 4. The plan of the buildings of Countess Keller M. A. in the estate of "Sennitsy" of the Zaraisky district of the Ryazan province from February 10, 1911 of the Central State Administration of Moscow to 1917 F. 311. Op. 1. D. 3614. L. 1.Fig. 5. The Keller manor house in Sennitsy.

 

Главный дом запад фасад

View from the southwest. Photo con. XIX – beginning . XX century. from the personal archive of E. L. MininaA picturesque wing was built next to the main house in the same architectural style (see Fig. 6). This type of building is unusual for most Russian noble estates: most often the wings met exclusively economic needs and did not stand out for their architecture against the background of the overall composition.

 

The Sennitsky wing was not much inferior in size to the manor house. Based on the materials of the Ryazan branch of the state Noble Land Bank, in which in 1887 M.A. Keller mortgaged her estate in the amount of 9200 rubles, the ratio of the size of the house and the wing is as follows: 1) the length of the house is 9.33 fathoms, the width of the house is 8.66 fathoms; 2) the length of the wing is 8 fathoms, the width of the wing is 6.5 fathoms [6, l. 22ob.-23]. The wing was built in two floors, had a non-standard roof shape and many narrow elongated Gothic windows. The building was used as a kitchen; most likely, dairy products were produced there, as evidenced by the materials of the inventory of the estate buildings (1895) [6, l. 23]. Also in the wing lived the staff of the estate of M. A. Keller – housekeeper and gardener. To the west of the main wing there was another service wing, intended for the residence of servants and for household needs – a laundry room with a cellar and a dryer was located here [6, l. 22ob.]. This structure was much smaller than the main wing and with its neutral style was noticeably inferior to its "neighbors" in terms of decorative decoration and spatial solution. The main house, an outbuilding with a kitchen and a laundry room were built before 1895; southwest of the main outbuilding there was another notable building - a steam power plant, which was built later, since it is not mentioned in the inventory of 1895 and is not displayed on the plan [6, l. 24ob.-25]. The power plant provided lighting of the estate, water supply (including hot), heating, fountain and mill operation. Its architectural forms corresponded to the style of the main wing and the manor house: the building was made of red brick with a familiar white rustication, it resembled a Dutch house. All three service buildings (an outbuilding with a kitchen, a laundry room and an electrical installation) were located along the southwestern linden alley, which arced around the pond and led from the manor house to the farm yard. On the territory of the economic yard there was a manager's house, the building of the XVIII – beginning. XIX century. in the style of mature classicism, in which the manager of the Keller estate Rudolf Yulievich Obrecht lived. He supervised the planting of trees on 2000 hectares of territory in order to protect the Sennitsky slopes of ravines from destruction. Moreover, thanks to the work of the scientist-forester Obrecht, new tree species were planted on the territory of the estate: Manchurian walnut, Weimut pine, silver poplar. At the beginning of the XX century. there were more than 300 varieties of tree and shrub vegetation in the park. In addition to the linden alley, a larch alley was planted; lawns with flowering shrubs (lilacs and roses) were laid out in front of the house and the wing; an orchard with apple and pear trees was created, in the northern part of the estate there was a greenhouse in which peaches were grown; a fountain was installed in front of the manor house, and through the channels between the ponds bridges were thrown over.

 

флигель северный фасад

Fig. 6. The wing of the Keller manor house in Sennitsy. View from the north. Photo con. XIX – beginning . XX century. from the personal archive of E. L. Minina Thus, under the Kellers in Sennitsy, an integral and rich in its architectural style manor complex was created.

 

The project of the estate was prepared by the personal order of F.E. Keller by the Russian architect Alexander Naumovich Ageenko (1853-1912), the city architect of Melitopol and the author of numerous buildings in Little Russia. However, the project was not implemented under his supervision. According to the "report on the construction of a stone house on the estate of Countess M.A. Keller at the village of Sennitsy in the Ryazan province of Zaraisk district", construction work was led by a local architect – Alexander Ferdinandovich Kruger; construction of the main house began on August 18, 1888 [14, l. 6-9].

At the end of the XIX century, one building was built on the territory of the Sennitsa estate in a break with the general architectural style. In the winter of 1894, the daughter of the Kellers, Maria, died suddenly from injuries sustained after skating on an ice rink. According to the project of architect Nikolai Vladimirovich Sultanov (1850-1908), to the north of the main house, the count decided to build a non–standard structure - a tomb-greenhouse. Exotic plants were grown in the greenhouse, which was heated by an oven, and the tomb connected to it was located under a high arched structure, the entrance to which was flanked by two semi-columns [16, p. 543]. The family crypt was a very complex structure, so Sultanov decided to independently manage the construction work; a trip to Sennitsy is mentioned in his personal diaries [July 13, 8/20, 1894]. In 1904, Count F. E. Keller himself was buried in the tomb.: "In one of the most cozy corners of the park there is a glass gallery built like a greenhouse. This peculiar structure is intended to be the family tomb of the Counts of Keller. The ashes of Count Fyodor Eduardovich's daughter, who died prematurely, already rest in this "chapel of greenhouses". The remains of the father will lie next to the grave of the daughter" [1, p. 52].

This is how the construction history of one of the most remarkable manor ensembles of the Ryazan land ended, in which the architect Sultanov put the final and very original accent.

In 1917, the Sennitsa estate was nationalized. Some household items and art managed to be preserved; they entered the Zaraisk Museum. Today, among the exhibits of the Zaraisk State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisk Kremlin" there are: furniture from the manor house in Sennitsy, objects of decorative and applied art, a weapons collection, a service, photographs, paintings. One of the most attractive exhibits is a 230x90 cm portrait of Countess Maria Alexandrovna Keller by Lev Bakst (see Fig. 7). An orphanage was opened in the Keller mansion in the 1920s. The director and the caretaker of the institution, in order to hide the theft, set fire to the Keller manor house before the inspection, which burned to the ground in a few days of fire. The gradual destruction of the Sennitsa estate began.

 

экспонаты Зарайского музея

Fig. 7. Household items and art from the manor house in Sennitsy: a bookcase, ebony, inlaid with bronze and a tortoise with bronze decoration, with a marble plaque; a bookcase in the style of "Bul"; carved oak panels and a cassone chest, decorated with carvings, inlays, paintings; a dessert service of the counts of Vielgorsky; portrait of Countess M. A. Keller by L. S. Bakst. Exhibits of the Zaraisk Kremlin State Museum-ReserveIn the late 1970s - 1980s, restoration work was attempted.

 

Extensive scientific and technical documentation was prepared by the organization, which nowadays is called the "Central Scientific and Restoration Design Workshops of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation": plans and dimensional drawings of the preserved buildings were made, maps of the area were created, even archaeological excavations of the foundation of the main house were carried out. But later the restoration work was stopped. In 1992, it was decided to restore the estate by the staff of the Moscow Kremlin museums, but at the stage of restoration of the buildings of the economic yard (the manager's house and the stable), the work was completed.

Nowadays, the outhouse, laundry, power plant and the greenhouse tomb are in an extremely ruined state, and only the outlines of the foundation have remained of the manor house (see Figure 8). However, in recent years, interest in the Sennitsa estate has noticeably increased from museums, local historians, historians and independent researchers. Today, the Kolomenskaya Pastila Museum is showing great initiative in the promising process of restoration of the Sennitsa estate. A colorful restaurant "Green Woodpecker" has already been opened on the territory of the village, and there is also a project to create a "Memorial ensemble in honor of General F. E. Keller, who fell in battle for the Fatherland." In this context, the relevance of this work increases.

 

Сенницы сегодня

Fig. 8A. The ruined buildings of the Sennitsa estate. November 2022. Pictures of the author of the articleFig. 8B. An outbuilding in the Sennitsa estate.

 

5 мая 2005  г.

2005 Photo provided by the researcher of the museum "Kolomenskaya pastila" M. M. MuromskySources of virtual reconstruction

 

The source base of the work was formed based on which period in the construction history of the Sennitsa estate was chosen as the main one for reconstruction.

The task of the study is to recreate the appearance of the Sennitsa estate of the late XIX – early XX centuries, when these possessions in the Zaraisk district of the Ryazan province belonged to the Keller family. This article discusses the sources necessary for the virtual reconstruction of the wing – a building with complex architectural forms and forming a common stylistic composition with the manor house. The sources include: floor plans, building facade drawings, building plans of the Sennitsa estate, cartographic materials, photographic documents and descriptive sources.

The available drawings of the wing were created in 1980 by the Scientific Research design workshop (NIPM) All-Union Production Scientific and Restoration Combine of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR (now the Central Committee of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation) in preparation for restoration work [4]. On the detailed plans of the 1st and 2nd floors of the wing, you can determine the size of the building, the location of walls, windows and entrance doors; understand how some of the rooms where the main entrance to the wing was located were operated (see Fig. 9). Drawings of the four facades of the building have been preserved in excellent condition (see Fig. 10). The overall dimensions of the wing can be restored thanks to the scale ruler available in the drawings, but there are no marks on the sizes of smaller architectural elements. Accurate data on the height of the structure was obtained during a field study of the Sennitsa estate: measurements of rusticated stone intended for decorating the corners of the house were made on the ruins of the wing, thanks to which, when relying on the drawings of the facades, the height of the first and second floors of the wing was set (see Fig. 11).

 

Флигель_51_план_1го_этажа_page-0002

Fig. 9. Sennitsa Manor. The wing. The plan of the 1st floor. Archive of TSNRPM. Inv. No. 283/51. 1980Fig. 10. Sennitsa Manor.

 

Флигель_53_север_фасад_page-0002

The wing of the main house. The northern facade. Archive of TSNRPM. Inv. No. 283/53. 1980Fig. 11. Measurement of rustication intended for decorating the corners of the house.

 

Замер рустового камня

November 2022. Pictures of the author of the article.Of significant importance for reconstruction are the preserved schematic plans of the buildings of the Sennitsa estate in 1895 [6, l. 24ob.-25] and 1911 [17], as well as the master plan of the Sennitsa estate created by the NIPM in 1979 [5].

 

On the schematic plans, which are stored in the GARO and the Central State Administration of Moscow, respectively, it is possible to estimate the location of the wing relative to other buildings on the estate, to trace the changes in the estate over a 16-year period. The general plan of the Sennitsa estate in 1979 helps to recreate the spatial environment of the wing: the document shows the location of vegetation growing on the estate; the names of trees and shrubs; the designation of areas of natural grass cover, floodplain meadows and lawn (see Fig. 12). On the Master Plan of 1979, the paths connecting the buildings to each other are carefully drawn, and the height above sea level of different areas of the terrain is indicated, which makes it possible to reconstruct the complex landscape of Sennits. The plan has detailed symbols.

 

Генлпан 1979 г

Fig. 12. Sennitsa Manor. The general plan of the estate. Fragment. *The number #4 marks the wing. Archive of TSNRPM. Inv. No. 283/71. 1979Photographs of the wing taken in various periods (from the 1900s to 1980) are the most important source of research.

 

The son of Fyodor Eduardovich and Maria Alexandrovna, the young Count Alexander Fedorovich Keller was very fond of photography. The State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisky Kremlin" has preserved most of his personal collection, in which a negative photograph of the wing of the Sennitsa estate was found. There is also a photograph of the northern facade, probably belonging to A.F. Keller, which was then in the personal collection of E.L. Minina (see Fig. 6). Both of these photographs were taken at the beginning of the XX century, they trace the complex structure of the roof, which collapsed during the Soviet years, as well as the now lost wooden balcony.

Photographs of the Soviet period are also of great interest, thanks to which it is possible to assess how the state of the wing changed, to trace the stages of its destruction. A detailed photo report was made in 1980 by the NIPM as part of preliminary work on the restoration of the estate [3]. You can see fragments of the original kitchen floor of the wing, wall tiles, preserved stucco. These elements are lost nowadays. 

Descriptive sources are a necessary component. In numerous reports on the Sennitsky estate of Countess M.A. Keller, stored in the fund No. 189 of the RGVIA, less is mentioned about the wing than about the main house; this trend is also characteristic of the documents of the Ryazan branch of the State Noble Land Bank on the Sennitsa estate. However, useful information is found. For example, from the materials of the case on the issuance of a loan to Maria Alexandrovna, [6] are established: the dimensions of the wing (length – 8 fathoms, width – 6.5 fathoms, height of the kitchen – 1.7 fathoms) [6, l. 22ob.]; materials from which the building was built (stone foundation, wooden interior walls upholstered with a cleaver, iron roof, plank floors, wooden porch covered with iron) [6, l. 22ob., 38]; belonging to the wing (used as a kitchen, dairy and servants' quarters) [6, l. 23, 38]; the principle of heating the house (was carried out at the expense of 2 stoves and a stove) [6, l. 23].

The materials of the RGVIA Foundation No. 189 indicate that the Kellers not only had a large staff of servants, but also kept a detailed list of them: documents of this nature are rarely found among the reports on other estates in the Moscow region. Based on the list of employees of the Sennitsa estate for 1909, M.A. Keller paid a monthly salary to 42 persons. Among them: the estate manager R.U. Obrecht; the head gardener, his assistant, as well as 9 garden workers; the machinist and the stoker who serviced the steam power plant; the watchman of the manor house and 6 others; the housekeeper, kitchen staff, laundresses; the coachman and 4 workers with horses; stoves, carpenters, janitors; the clerk [15, L. 15-16]. The highest salary (100 rubles per month) was received by the manager Obrecht, also good money was paid to the machinist (35 rubles), the gardener (35 rubles), the clerk (30 rubles), the housekeeper (30 rubles) [15, L. 15-16]. The staff of employees also included deacons, teachers of a rural school opened with the money of M.A. Keller, children engaged in part-time work. Of course, all the servants could not fit in one wing, some of them lived on the territory of the household yard. As for the tenants of the wing, probably the main gardener, the housekeeper and possibly 4 cooks lived in it; and 3 laundresses and some other servants lived in the neighboring service wing [15, l. 1-2]. Among the staff of employees, it is in the countess's house, and not throughout the estate, that the housekeeper, cooks, laundresses, and groom stand out [15, l. 1-2].

 

3 D-modeling methods in the task of virtual reconstruction of the Sennitsa estateIn the process of creating a virtual reconstruction of the Sennitsa estate, SketchUp and Twinmotion programs were used.

It was also necessary to use Adobe Photoshop and some other software components: URL: https://www.sketchuptextureclub.com / (Accessed: 03/25/2023); URL: https://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online / (Accessed: 03/25/2023).

3D modeling of the wing was carried out in the SketchUp program. The functionality of this software is quite high, and the interface is simple and clear. The building model was created sequentially using various SketchUp tools: groups, components, layers, etc. The accuracy of the dimensions was achieved through the use of the "Measurements" field. The program has a built-in library of textures/materials. However, it is quite scarce, so in combination with SketchUp, an electronic resource was actively used https://www.sketchuptextureclub.com / , which has a wide library of textures. The necessary materials were found on it, analogues used in construction at the beginning of the XX century.

Rendering was carried out in the Twinmotion program, which has a wide user library. It was necessary to use an electronic resource https://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online / to create a normal map of each individual texture. This increased the efficiency of using Twinmotion tools designed to create a realistic relief of the surface of materials, the quality of their light reflection. In Twinmotion, you can adjust the level of transparency, gloss, contrast; work with light, shadow, weather conditions. Some of the packages of texture normals obtained were processed separately in Adobe Photoshop; this combination allows for better realism. A great advantage of the Twinmotion program is a diverse library of vegetation and the ability to create the necessary terrain. Thus, at the visualization stage, the Twinmotion software was used, in which the realism of the textures of the wing structure was increased and the surrounding landscape was created (based on the 1979 Master Plan [5]).

 

Virtual reconstruction of the outbuilding of the Sennitsa estatelate XIX – early XX centuries .

The first stage of creating a virtual reconstruction of the wing was associated with some preparatory work.

Firstly, a field study of the Sennitsa estate was conducted, within the framework of which the current state of the building was assessed; measurements of rustication, red brick, and the height of the ground floor were made. Secondly, the drawings found in the CSRPM archive were scanned [4], their quality was improved in the Dropbox program. Then the dimensions obtained during the field study were compared with the dimensions of the wing in the drawings according to the scale ruler. The indicators converged, their error was 1-2 cm. There was also a comparison with the materials of the inventory of the Sennitsa estate in 1895 [6, l. 22ob.-23], in which the dimensions of the wing are indicated in fathoms (length – 8 fathoms, width – 6.5 fathoms). The figures were converted to the metric system: the indicators of the inventory of 1895 also agreed with the dimensions in the drawings and the results of the field study. However, in this case, the measurement error increased to 4-5 cm: this is explained by rounded values in fathoms, as well as by the fact that the drawings of 1980 are dimensional, i.e. they display the state of the wing 85 years after the inventory was compiled – during this time the building could have sunk.

After the preparatory work, the plans and drawings of the wing were transferred to SketchUp. In the program, they were stretched to a scale ratio of 1:1, a scale ruler served as a guideline. Each document in the program represents a separate "layer", the display of which can be disabled for convenience; the drawings were placed on the 4th facades, the plans of the 1st and 2nd floors perpendicular to them (see Fig. 13).

 

photo_2023-03-27_13-21-55

Fig. 13. Location of plans and drawings transferred to the SketchUp program (screenshot of the author of the article)Modeling of the wing began with tracing the outline of the 1st floor plan, taking into account the error.

 

The outer and inner walls were circled, as a result of which a closed figure was created. Next, using the "Push in" tool/Pull out" the structure was raised to the level of the first floor. Then the ground floor was decorated taking into account the frames and decorative elements; stairs leading to three high-placed entrance doors were constructed (see Fig. 14). At this stage, it was important to create a landscape platform on which the wing stands. This is due to the difficult terrain: the service building was placed on a hill, so the height of the ground floor of the southern and northern facades are noticeably different.

 

photo_2023-03-28_19-11-24

Fig. 14. Modeling of the ground floor of the wing in the SketchUp program (screenshot of the author of the article)After the design of the ground floor, the external and internal walls of the wing with the "Push In" function/

 

Pull" rose to the ceiling level of the 1st floor. Then, according to the plan of the 2nd floor, the walls of the western part of the house were outlined along the contour (see Fig. 15). In the wing, which was complex in its architectural design, there was a second floor only in the western part of the house; the eastern part, in which the kitchen was located, was limited to high ceilings and an attic room. The exact dimensions of the height of the walls of the wing were established thanks to the measurement of the rustication framing the corners of the house. During the field study, it was revealed that the rustication consisted of blocks of 3 bricks (see Fig. 11). Accordingly, knowing the size of the bricks, by the number of blocks in the corners of the house, it was possible to determine the ceiling level of the 1st floor and confirm the measurements in the drawings according to the scale ruler.

 

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Fig. 15. Creating the walls of the wing in the SketchUp program (screenshot of the author of the article)The next stage of the simulation was the creation of a roof and furnaces.

 

A characteristic feature of the bright architectural buildings in the Sennitsa estate from the time of the Kellers is the complex roof structure. The example of an outhouse is no exception. To reconstruct the roof, it was necessary to refer to archival photographs. The ceilings of the eastern part of the house collapsed in the 1960s-70s. Comparison of measurement drawings of 1980 and photographs of the beginning of the XX century from the collection of A.F. Keller leads to the conclusion that in the NIPM project the roof, which previously collapsed, is not reflected in accordance with historical reality. Therefore, when modeling the roof of the eastern part of the house, first of all, we had to be guided by photographic materials. Moreover, the three towers of the building have separate coverings, which also complicates the overall design.

The outhouse furnaces were modeled using the familiar "Push In" tool./Pull it out." Their location inside the house was noted on the floor plans of the building in 1980 [4, Inv. No. 283/51, 52], and the shape can be traced both in drawings and in photographs of recent years.

When creating massive structures in the SketchUp program, the "groups" tool was actively used. The most important elements of the structure were combined as follows: ground floor, walls of the 1st floor, walls of the 2nd floor, ceiling of the 1st floor, attic floor, roof, roof of the north tower. The software toolkit allows you to create "layers" from "groups". Layers, in turn, can be hidden, which makes it easier to work with the interior of the house. For example, making thorough changes to the design of the walls can be done only with the temporary concealment of the roof. Therefore, the work on the reconstruction of the wing building could not do without the use of such tools as "groups" and "layers".

The "components" tool has a similar principle to "groups". The difference is that when working with "groups", each duplicated element requires an individual approach, while when making changes to the "component", its neighbors follow it synchronously. This tool was rationally used at the stage of creating windows and outdoor decor. "Components" were used in the process of creating standard elements. 14 identical windows of the wing measuring 1 m x 1.5 m, most of which were located on the southern and western facades, were made in accordance with the principle of operation of this tool. Narrow, elongated window frames, which have no analogues, were modeled individually.

The platbands of the standard windows were also made using the components tool. Together with it, a combination of the "arc on two points" and "Follow me" tools was actively used to create three-dimensional planes. Some of the platbands had to be compressed, reducing their size with the "scale" tool. The "two-point arc" with the set radius of the circle was also used in combination with the available "Split" function in order to create a symmetrical arc-shaped exterior decor (see Fig. 16). Finally, the components tool was also used to create a rustication designed to decorate the corners of the house. Three entrance doors were created individually, as their sizes and decorative shapes differed from each other.

 

наличники + декор наруж

Fig. 16. Platbands and exterior decoration of the wing. Using the tools "components", "arc by two points", "Follow me", "Split" in the SketchUp program (screenshots of the author of the article)

 

At the final stage of 3D modeling in the SketchUp program, according to the drawings of 1980 [4], window and door openings were made using the "Push In" tool/Pull it out." Windows, doors, platbands, exterior decor and rustication elements were placed on the facades of the wing based on scientific and technical documentation and photo sources. In the photo of the wing from the personal archive of E. L. Minina (see Fig. 6) a luxurious wooden balcony was noticed on the northern facade of the building; on the dimensional drawings it is depicted in its later variation – Soviet times. The balcony was restored solely from photographs; when modeling its railings, the rich functionality of the "group" tool was actively used (see Appendix 17). In the final stage of work in SketchUp, textures downloaded from an Internet resource were uploaded to the "fill" section [20]. The program has the ability to scale the material through the "textures – position" tool. This feature was actively used in order to achieve the exact dimensions of the red brick. The question of the color of the metal roof of the wing remained open, since today it has not been preserved on the ruins of the building. On the MyHeritage website [19], the photo of the wing of the beginning of the XX century was colorized using a neural network, thereby the problem was solved. Then a fragment of the 1979 Master Plan was added to the finished model file . [5] on a scale of 1:1, trails and paths were outlined along it (see Appendix 18).

 

photo_2023-03-27_13-22-29

Fig. 17. The balcony of the northern facade of the wing (screenshot of the author of the article)Fig. 18. Completion of work in the SketchUp program (screenshot of the author of the article)

 

Готовый вариант Скетчап

The finished 3D model of the wing was imported into the Twinmotion program.

 

This software is equipped with great opportunities to work with materials. Through the Internet resource [18], a Normal Map was made for each of the "primary" textures that were superimposed on the surface of the model back in SketchUp. Further, in Twinmotion, the properties of each building material were separately improved: their relief, contrast, light reflection, shine were adjusted. This increased the realism of visualization.

Twinmotion has a large library of objects and materials, as well as large resources for terrain customization. From the section "Vegetation and landscape" the landscape was based on the plain. Then, with the help of the "Sculpt terrain" tool, natural hills and lowlands were formed, and with the help of the "Paint terrain" tool, the material of trails and paths was revived. Then the "Paint grass" tool was used to create a grass cover.

On the detailed Master Plan of 1979 [5] trees and shrubs planted around the wing are indicated. Among them: lime trees, birches, oaks, elms, firs, pines, etc. The rich library of vegetation in Twinmotion allowed to recreate the landscape of the Sennitsa estate.

It is worth noting the great potential of using neural networks to colorize photos of the early XX century. With the help of MyHeritage tools [19], the images of the wing were obtained in color, which helped both at the stage of texture selection in working with the SketchUp program and at the stage of improving their realism in the Twinmotion program.

Fig. 19-22 shows the results of visualization of the outbuilding of the Sennitsa estate in the Twinmotion program. The video material can be found on the author's Youtube channel at the link [21]:

https://youtu.be/kq2ei-e9vCM 

 

1_1

Fig. 19. Visualization of the wing of the Sennitsa estate (con. XIX – beginning. XX century): northern facade (in the Twinmotion program)

 

 

1_2

Fig. 20. Visualization of the wing of the Sennitsa estate (con. XIX – beginning. XX century): view from the north (in the Twinmotion program)

 

1_3

Fig. 21. Visualization of the wing of the Sennitsa estate (con. XIX – beginning. XX century): view from the east (in the Twinmotion program)

1_4

Fig. 22. Visualization of the wing of the Sennitsa estate (con. XIX – beginning. XX century): western facade (in the Twinmotion program)

 

* * *

The article briefly highlights the rich history of the Sennitsa estate near Moscow. The analysis of the identified sources demonstrates their great informational potential for the virtual reconstruction of this object of cultural heritage of federal significance. Plans, dimensional drawings, cartographic materials, photographic documents, descriptive sources – all this allows you to restore the appearance of the Sennitsa estate (kon. XIX – beginning. XX centuries) with a high degree of reliability. This paper presents methods and technologies of 3D modeling of the main wing of the estate, which is only the initial stage on the way to the development of a larger project. In the near future, it is planned to provide a virtual reconstruction of the main house of the family of Count F. E. Keller. In the future, the task is to recreate the appearance of the entire estate complex with its complex landscape and numerous buildings that fit into the unified architectural style of the Sennitsa estate.

The author expresses gratitude for the useful advice and assistance in the work of the director of the State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisky Kremlin" Kirill Vyacheslavovich Kondratiev, researcher of the State Museum-Reserve "Zaraisky Kremlin" Nikolai Viktorovich Nevsky, director of the Museum "Kolomenskaya Pastila" Elena Nikolaevna Dmitrieva, researcher of the Museum "Kolomenskaya Pastila" Maxim Mikhailovich Muromsky, employee of the Central scientific and restoration design workshops of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation to Alexey Pavlovich Zaikin, local historian Sergey Mikhailovich Rogov.

References
1. Avchinnikov A. G. In memory of Count F.E. Keller. Ekaterinoslav, 1906. – 54 p.
2. Act of the state historical and cultural expertise of the object of cultural heritage of federal significance 'Sennitsy estate, XVIII-XIX centuries', at the address: Moscow region, Ozery urban district, v. Sennitsy // Main Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow Region / expert. Batalov A. L. Moscow, 2019. – 151 p.
3. Archive of the CNRPM. Inv. № 283/49. 1980. The Sennitsy estate. Preliminary works.
4. Archive of the CNRPM. Inv. № 283/51-56. 1980. The Sennitsy estate. Outbuilding.
5. Archives of the CNRPM. Inv. № 283/71. 1979. The Sennitsy estate. A master plan of the estate.
6. GARO. Fund 150. Inventory 2. File 601. 1895-1915. List 22-38. The case of granting a loan to Maria Alexandrovna Fon Flot.
7. GIM. Department of Fine Arts. Folder № 30. "Cities of Russia. View of Zaraisky district of the village Sennitsy. The ownership of Major-General Prince Matvei Alekseevich Gagarin.
8. Demidov S. V., Zubarev V. V. Investigation of Sennitsy estate // Restoration and study of monuments of culture. Ed. 11. SPb., 2021. – P. 21-35.
9. Kiselev A. And lived and died as a hero! To the 100-th anniversary of death of Lieutenant-General Count F. E. Keller. Zaraisk, 2004 / URL: http://veszarajsk.narod.ru/page48a.html (accessed: 09.02.2023)
10. Prince B. A. Shchetinin. In memory of count F. E. Keller // Historical messenger. Vol. 97. September. 1904. – P. 918-923.
11. Lyalin S. P., Minina E. L. History of Sennitsy estate // Russian homestead. Collection of OIRU. М., 2003. Vol. 9 (25). – P. 498-507.
12. Inventory of the estate of Prince Matvei Gagarin in the village of Sennitsy, Ryazan county (Case of the Provincial Office, 1724, № 6) // Proceedings of the Supreme Scientific Archival Commission of Ryazan for 1887. Vol. 2. № 1-8. / ed. by A. V. Selivanov. Ryazan, 1888. – P. 73-76. – 200 p.
13. OP RNB. Fund 757. N. V. Sultanov. File 5. Diary of 1894, 8/20 July 1894.
14. RGVIA. Fund 189. F. E. Keller. Inventory 1. File 873. 1874-1904. List 1-9. Reports, estimates and accounts of buildings: church, nursery, chapel, etc. in the Sennitsky estate of gr. Keller M. A.
15. RGVIA. Found 189. F. E. Keller. Inventory 1. File 908. 1891-1910. List 2, 15-16. Lists of staff of the house of Sennitsky estate of gr. Keller M. A.
16. Saveliev Y. R. Sennitsy estate and unknown project of N. V. Sultanov // Russian manor. Collection of OIRU. М., 2001. Vol. 7 (23). – P. 538-544.
17. Central State Archive of Moscow. Found 311. Inventory 1. File 3614. Plan of the buildings Countess Keller M. A. in the Sennitsy estate Zaraisky district Ryazan province of 10 February 1911.
18. [Electronic resource] URL: https://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/ (accessed: 25.03.2023)
19. [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.myheritage.com/ (accessed: 28.03.2023)
20. [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.sketchuptextureclub.com/ (accessed: 25.03.2023)
21. [Electronic resource] URL: https://youtu.be/kq2ei-e9vCM (accessed: 29.03.2023)

Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The reviewed article is devoted to the scientific virtual reconstruction and recreation of the appearance of the Sennitsa estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries. At the same time, the sources and methods of research are considered in detail, which is important for scientific reconstructions. The methodology of the article is based on generally accepted approaches, principles and methods of scientific reconstructions of historical and cultural heritage sites that have developed in recent decades and have already produced a solid number of good-level results. Well-tested software has already been used. The relevance of the research is related to the ongoing digital turn in historical science. Digital transformation in the field of reconstruction of material historical objects makes it possible to create a virtual historical space not only in descriptions, but also in the visual field, which is important for museum business, education, etc. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the virtual reconstruction of a new object and its introduction into the general virtual historical and cultural environment of the past. The article is based on a rich source material analyzed by scientific methods and determined the historical reliability of the results. The text of the article itself makes a good impression. Based on a wide range of sources and literature, the history of the Sennitsa estate and the history of its owners are reconstructed. The construction of the estate, its reconstruction and other changes have been considered for almost 300 years. From a historical and architectural point of view, the most interesting period in the history of the estate was the period of the late XIX – early XX centuries. The latest, modern period is also described in detail. The partial restoration of the estate and a number of existing projects for the future are noted. The main focus of the article is on the virtual reconstruction of the wing. The sources for this are plans and drawings, as well as photographs and descriptive materials. A field study and corresponding measurements were also carried out. During the reconstruction process, well-known and frequently used software was used, first of all, we are talking about the SketchUp program. The reconstruction technique is described in detail and its visualized results are presented. In conclusion, the great information potential of the sources used is noted. The article is written in a competent scientific language, while it is quite easy to read, the author's style is conducive to this. The article is very well illustrated, it contains 22 drawings. At the same time, there is some redundancy in the text, for example, the function of the introduction to the article is not very clear, in fact, it is its abstract. The bibliography of the article is quite complete and complements the text well. The only remark is the lack of names of electronic resources available in the bibliography. In general, the text of the reviewed article makes a good impression. The article, of course, has scientific value, it is written on the topic of virtual historical reconstructions of historical and cultural heritage sites, which is very popular today. It seems that the article fully corresponds to the format of the journal "Historical Informatics" and, of course, will find its readers. As for the noted shortcomings, they do not affect the general recommendation of the article for publication.
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