Significantly, the Palace of Sovietsnwas never built (an enormous publicnswimming pool was constructed on thenspot instead), but the endless series ofnmonuments to Stalin erected after thenwar all over the country was crownednby his truly cyclopean image on thenVolga-Don Canal which, in all respects,nmatched the scale of the projectednstatue of Lenin atop the Palacenof Soviets.nThe construction of such monumentsnrequires time and substantialnfinancial resources. In the USSR, theynbegan to be erected only in the mid-n1930’s; in Germany the main projectsnof this magnitude were not realizedndue to the war. Circumstances dictatednthat in both countries the cult of thenleader be created through more flexiblenmediums, mainly painting andngraphics.nIn the art of National Socialism andnSocialist Realism, “Leader Depiction”ncan be defined as a separate genre.nAlthough a strict canon prevails in thisngenre, the depiction of the dictator isnnot at all one dimensional. He isnusually portrayed in certain hypostases,neach requiring a specific emotionalninterpretation and compositionalnscheme. All these arrangements cannbe summarized as follows:nI. “The leader as father of the peoplenand symbol of the nation.” Herenthe concrete personality of the dictatornis presented in the most abstract, symbolicnsense, which requires monumentalitynof design, grandeur of treatment,nsomber, generalized forms, allnof which express his above-human,nsuprapersonal character. This schemenwas best realized in such monumentsnto Stalin as his memorial museum innErevan, inside a sculpted monument,nor his cyclopean image on the Volga-nDon Canal. This scheme was alsonrealized in painted portraits of Hitler,nin which the determined will ofn”Hitler-the-leader” was emphasized bynthe energy of his frontal posture, hisnintense look, as well as by some externalndetails: romantically charged landscapesn(in the portraits by H. Knirr andnC. Hommel), symbolic sculpture innthe background (in the portraits by F.nErler), the map spread out, and sonforth. The portraits fulfilled the characterizationnof Hitier offered by DernVolkische Beobachter. “He rises up likena statue, surpassing all measures ofnearthly man.”n2. “The leader as the inspirer andnorganizer of victories.” This schemenrequires expressions, powerful gestures,nemotions, colors, or contrastsnwhich transmit his determined energynand inspire and lead the viewer. In thenSoviet Union such qualities were attributednmore to Lenin than to Stalinnand were presented in innumerablenportraits of Lenin in which he isnshown leaning forward, his right handnoutstretched, or holding the lapel ofnhis jacket—in this case his powerfulnthrust forward is emphasized by thenposition of his head—while his leftnhand is clenching his cap, just removednfrom his head. In NationalnSocialist art this idea was expressed innmultifigured compositions, with Hitlernat the center of action.n3. “The leader as the wise teacher.”nHere, an element of psychologicalnsubtlety is introduced, emphasizingnthe intellect, the incisiveness, thenmodesty, the simplicity, the humanitynattributed to the dictator. Such arennumerous depictions of Lenin andnStalin in their offices hard at work, ornchatting with representatives of thenNovorossiysk: No Man’s Land; D. Nalbandiannnpeople.n4. And, finally, “The leader asnhuman being,” or as “the friend” ofnchildren, athletes, collective farmers,nscientists, journalists, and so on. Thisnscheme requires genre details shiftingnthe emotional accent from ecstatic admirationnfor the dictator to tendernlove.nThe depictions of Lenin and Stalinnwent through all of these schemes andnwere developed in detail on a widenscale from gigantic monuments tonsmall genre paintings. Hitler’s iconographynessentially falls within thenframework of only the first with somenoverlap into the second.nHitier came to power legitimately,nafter having received the majority ofnvotes in the 1933 elections. He sincerelynbelieved (and often said so) thatnProvidence had chosen him.—a simplenboy from Linz — to draw thenGerman people up behind him innGermany’s fateful hour. He believednhimself to be the voice of the people,nthe embodiment of the nation’s will,nthe emanation of its soul, and henstrove to create his image in accordancenwith the abstract categories of thisnSEPTEMBER 1986 / 43n