The article exposes the importance of L.N. Tolstoy’s creative personality for the Russian cultural consciousness in the late 19th – first third of the 20th century. It discusses artistic interpretations of his image created by the Russian painter Mikhail Nesterov and sculptors A.S. Golubkina, V.N. Domogatsky, K.F. Kracht, P.P. Troubetzkoy during this period. Emphasis is laid on the perception of Tolstoy by the sculptor S.D. Erzia. The article analyzes well known, little unknown, and non-preserved images of the great Russian writer created by the sculptor in plaster, cement, and wood during his stay in Europe (1907–1914) and Argentina (1927–1950). The paper introduces new archival documents, inaccessible materials from the Italian and Argentinian press of the early-mid 20^th century.