Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Explained

Francesco Rastrelli
Birth Date:Paris, Kingdom of France
Birth Place:1700
Death Date:1771
Death Place:Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Nationality:Italian
Known For:Palace architecture

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg and the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, are famed for extravagant luxury and opulence of decoration.

Biography

Rastrelli was born in 1700 in Paris, where his father, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675–1744), a Florentine sculptor and architect who had trained in Rome, was active.[1] Nothing is known about Francesco's Parisian years, but it seems certain that the young man trained and worked in his father's workshop.[1] In 1716, Bartolomeo moved to Saint Petersburg, which became a new Russian capital just a four years before, accompanying his father. His ambition was to combine the latest Italian architectural fashion with traditions of the Muscovite Baroque style. The first important commission came in 1721 when he was asked to build a palace for Prince Demetre Cantemir, former ruler of Moldavia.

He was appointed to the post of senior court architect in 1730. His works found favour with female monarchs of his time, and he retained this post throughout the reigns of Empresses Anna (1730–1740) and Elizabeth (1741–1762).

Rastrelli's last and most ambitious project was the Smolny Convent in St. Petersburg where Empress Elizabeth was to spend the rest of her life. The projected bell-tower was to become the tallest building in St Petersburg and all of Russia. Elizabeth's death in 1762 prevented Rastrelli from completing this grand design.

The new empress, Catherine II, dismissed Baroque architecture as an old-fashioned "whipped cream", and the aged architect retired to Courland, where he supervised the completion and decoration of the ducal palaces.

His last years were spent in obscure commerce with Italian art-dealers. He was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts several months before his death.

Family

He lived with his father and mother, and married Baroness Maria Anna von Walles, born in Berlin in 1710.[1] She bore three children (one son and two daughters) according to the 1737 census.[2]

While Rastrelli's son Giuseppe Iacopo died in December 1737 of cholera, and his daughter Eleonora died in January 1738,[3] [1] his daughter Elisabetta Caterina, born in 1734, married architect Francesco Bertogliati, her father's assistant.[1]

Empress Elizabeth of Russia (1741–1761)

Peter I's daughter was suspicious of all those who served the court of her predecessors. After going through all the architects in St. Petersburg, the Empress was convinced that Francesco Rastrelli is the best. Therefore, Francesco started serving to the Empress only in 1744.

In the period 1744–1760 he built all his famous buildings:

Ten extant buildings by Rastrelli

width=3%width=20%Imagewidth=40%Namewidth=24%Locationwidth=14%Date
1Rundāle PalacePilsrundāle near Bauska
1736–1740
1764–1767
2Jelgava PalaceJelgava
1738–1740
1763–1772
3Peterhof PalacePeterhof near St. Petersburg
1747–1755
Peterhof Palace chapelsPeterhof near St. Petersburg
1747–1751
4Saint Andrew's ChurchKyiv
1748–1767
5Smolny ConventSt. Petersburg
1748–1764
6Vorontsov PalaceSt. Petersburg
1749–1757
7Catherine PalaceTsarskoe Selo (Pushkin)
1752–1756
Hermitage PavilionTsarskoe Selo (Pushkin)
1749
8Mariinskyi PalaceKyiv
1752
1870
9Stroganov PalaceSt. Petersburg
1753–1754
10Winter PalaceSt. Petersburg
1754–1762[4]

Boris Vipper has speculated that Rastrelli's last (and unfinished) design was for the Neoclassical Zaļenieki Manor near Mitava.

Demolished buildings

width=3%width=20%Imagewidth=20%Namewidth=20%Noteswidth=24%Locationwidth=14%Date
1AnnenhofBuilt of wood, replaced by Catherine Palace (Moscow)Lefortovo District, Moscow
1731
displaced 1736
burnt down 1746
2Anna's Winter PalaceReplaced by Winter PalaceSaint Petersburg
1732–1735
demolished 1754
3Summer PalaceBuilt of wood, replaced by Saint Michael's CastleSaint Petersburg
1741–1744
demolished 1797
4Winter Kremlin PalaceReplaced by Grand Kremlin PalaceMoscow Kremlin
1747–1756
rebuilt 1798
demolished 1837

Posthumous glory

Rastrelli is a cult figure of the Russian Baroque. His engravings with landscapes of Tsarskoe Selo were spread throughout Europe during Rastrelli's lifetime, and there are some examples in the collections of Ukraine and Germany.

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Rastrelli, Francesco. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani . Federica. Rossi. 86. 2016. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. it.
  2. Book: Yu. Denisov, A. Petrov. Architect Rastrelli – P. 192.
  3. Book: Yu. M. Ovsyannikov. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
  4. Book: Northern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places. 978-1136639449. Ring. Trudy. Watson. Noelle. Schellinger. Paul. 2013.