Eugène Alexandrovich LANCERAY (1848-1886) "Sviatoslav on horseback in 970 in Constantinople". An important bronze print with a golden-brown patina Signed on the terrace and with the founder's mark on the back Presenting a base with a banner captioned: "Let us not dishonour Russian soil, let us lie here with our bones, for the dead are not ashamed" / "Sviatoslav in 970 at Constantinople". Height 55 cm - Width: 59 cm - Depth: 25 cm (some dents on the tongue and the end of the muzzle, spear with the beginnings of an accident) Provenance : * Collection of Joseph de BIGAULT DE CAZANOVE then by descent Bibliography: * The Russo-Byzantine War was a conflict that began in 967 or 968 and ended in 971, during which Sviatoslav, ruler of Kiev, invaded Bulgaria at the instigation of Byzantium. In 927, a peace treaty was signed between Byzantium and Bulgaria, putting an end to many years of war. A similar treaty had been signed with the Rus' in 945, prohibiting them from invading Chersonese. In 965 or 966, the soldier-emperor Nicephorus II Phokas, who had succeeded Roman II, refused to pay Bulgaria the tribute agreed by his predecessor and razed several fortresses on the Bulgarian border to the ground. But, more preoccupied with the wars in the East, he suggested to Rus' Prince Sviatoslav that he invade Bulgaria. Over the next two years, Sviatoslav took Tsar Boris II prisoner, seized almost all of Bulgaria and threatened to continue towards Constantinople. Realising his mistake, Nicephorus sought to ally himself with the Bulgarians against the Rus'. That same year, he was overthrown by John Tzimisces, who in turn invaded Bulgaria and, in 971, took Preslav. Locked in the town of Silistria (Dorostolon) on the Danube, Sviatoslav had to surrender to the Byzantines after a three-month siege (July 971) and immediately evacuate Bulgaria; he promised to refrain in future from attacking Chersonese, which belonged to the Byzantines, and undertook to take Byzantium's side against its enemies.