Chapter “Art of Russia. Architecture". Section "Art of the 18th century". General History of Art. Volume IV. Art of the 17th-18th centuries. Author: I.M. Schmidt; edited by Yu.D. Kolpinsky and E.I. Rotenberg (Moscow, State Publishing House "Art", 1963)
The eighteenth century is a time of remarkable flourishing of Russian architecture. Continuing; on the one hand, their national traditions, Russian masters during this period began to actively master the experience of contemporary Western European architecture, reworking its principles in relation to the specific historical needs and conditions of their country. They have enriched the world architecture in many ways, introducing unique features into its development.
For Russian architecture of the 18th century. characterized by a decisive predominance of secular architecture over religious, the breadth of urban plans and decisions. A new capital was erected - Petersburg, as the state was strengthened, the old cities were expanded and rebuilt.
The decrees of Peter I contained specific orders regarding architecture and construction. So, by his special order, it was ordered to bring the facades of newly built buildings to the red line of streets, while in ancient Russian cities houses were often located in the depths of courtyards, behind various outbuildings.
For a number of its style features, Russian architecture of the first half of the 18th century. undoubtedly can be compared with the baroque style prevailing in Europe.
Nevertheless, a direct analogy cannot be drawn here. Russian architecture, especially of the time of Peter the Great, had a much greater simplicity of forms than was characteristic of the late Baroque style in the West. In its ideological content, it affirmed the patriotic ideas of the greatness of the Russian state.
One of the most remarkable buildings of the early 18th century is the Arsenal building in the Moscow Kremlin (1702-1736; architects Dmitry Ivanov, Mikhail Choglokov and Christoph Konrad). The large length of the building, the calm smooth surface of the walls with sparsely spaced windows and the solemn and monumental design of the main gate clearly indicate a new direction in architecture. The solution of the small twin windows of the Arsenal is absolutely unique, with a semicircular end and huge outer slopes like deep niches.
New trends penetrated the cult architecture as well. A striking example of this is the Church of the Archangel Gabriel, better known as the Menshikov Tower. It was built in 1704-1707. in Moscow, on the territory of A.D. Menshikov's estate near Chistye Prudy, by architect Ivan Petrovich Zarudny (died in 1727). Before the fire of 1723 (caused by a lightning strike), the Menshikov Tower - like the soon-to-be-built bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg - was crowned with a high wooden spire, at the end of which was a gilded copper figure of the archangel. In height, this church surpassed the bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Kremlin (The light, elongated head of this church, which is now of a peculiar shape, was made already in the early 19th century. The restoration of the church dates back to 1780.).
The Menshikov Tower is a typical Russian church architecture of the late 17th century. a composition of several tiers - "eight" on the "four". At the same time, compared with the 17th century. here new trends are clearly outlined and new architectural techniques are used. Particularly bold and innovative was the use of a high spire in the church building, which was then so successfully used by St. Petersburg architects. Zarudny's appeal to the classical methods of the order system is characteristic. In particular, columns with Corinthian capitals, unusual for ancient Russian architecture, were introduced with great artistic tact. And already quite boldly - powerful volutes flanking the main entrance to the temple and giving it a special monumentality, originality and solemnity.
Zarudnyi also created a wooden triumphal gate in Moscow - in honor of the Poltava victory (1709) and the conclusion of the Nystadt Peace (1721). Since the time of Peter the Great, the erection of triumphal arches has become a frequent occurrence in the history of Russian architecture. Both wooden and permanent (stone) triumphal gates were usually richly decorated with sculpture. These buildings were monuments to the military glory of the Russian people and in many ways contributed to the decorative design of the city.
With the greatest clarity and completeness, the new qualities of Russian architecture of the 18th century. manifested themselves in the architecture of St. Petersburg. The new Russian capital was founded in 1703 and was built unusually quickly.
From an architectural point of view, St. Petersburg is of particular interest. It is the only capital city in Europe that arose entirely in the 18th century. In its appearance, not only the peculiar directions, styles and individual talents of the architects of the 18th century were vividly reflected, but also the progressive principles of urban planning skills of that time, in particular planning. In addition to the brilliantly resolved "three-beam" layout of the center of St. Petersburg, high urban planning art manifested itself in the creation of complete ensembles, in the magnificent development of the embankments. The indissoluble architectural and artistic unity of the city and its waterways from the very beginning was one of the most important advantages and the most peculiar beauty of St. Petersburg. The formation of the architectural appearance of St. Petersburg in the first half of the 18th century. is associated mainly with the activities of architects D. Trezzini, M. Zemtsov, I. Korobov and P. Eropkin.
Domenico Trezzini (c. 1670-1734) was one of those foreign architects who, having arrived in Russia at the invitation of Peter I, remained here for many years, or even until the end of their lives. Trezzini's name is associated with many structures in early Petersburg; he owns "exemplary", that is, standard designs of residential buildings, palaces, temples, various civil structures.
Trezzini did not work alone. Together with him worked a group of Russian architects, whose role in the creation of a number of structures was extremely responsible. Trezzini's best and most significant creation is the famous Peter and Paul Cathedral, built in 1712-1733. The building is based on the plan of a three-nave basilica. The most remarkable part of the cathedral is its bell tower directed upwards. Just like the Menshikov tower of Zarudny in its original form, the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral is crowned with a high spire, completed with the figure of an angel. The proud, light takeoff of the spire is prepared by all the proportions and architectural forms of the bell tower; the gradual transition from the actual bell tower to the “needle” of the cathedral has been thought out. The bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was conceived and implemented as an architectural dominant in the ensemble of St. Petersburg under construction, as the embodiment of the greatness of the Russian state, which established its new capital on the shores of the Gulf of Finland.
In 1722-1733. another well-known building of Trezzini is created - the building of the Twelve Collegia. Strongly elongated in length, the building has twelve sections, each of which is designed as a relatively small but independent house with its own ceiling, pediment and entrance. Trezzini's favorite austere pilasters in this case are used to unite the two upper floors of the building and emphasize the measured, calm rhythm of the façade articulations.The proud, rapid rise of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Fortress Cathedral and the calm length of the building of the Twelve Collegia - these beautiful architectural contrasts were made by Trezzini with the impeccable tact of an outstanding master.
Most of Trezzini's works are characterized by restraint and even austerity in the architectural design of buildings. This is especially noticeable next to the decorative splendor and rich design of buildings from the middle of the 18th century.
The activity of Mikhail Grigorievich Zemtsov (1686-1743), who worked at the beginning with Trezzini and with his talent attracted the attention of Peter I. Zemtsov, apparently participated in all major works of Trezzini, was diverse. He completed the construction of the Kunstkamera building, begun by architects Georg Johannes Mattarnovi and Gaetano Chiaveri, built the churches of Simeon and Anna, Isaac of Dalmatsky and a number of other structures in St. Petersburg.
Peter I attached great importance to the regular building of the city. The famous French architect Jean Baptiste Leblond was invited to Russia to develop the master plan for St. Petersburg. However, the general plan of St. Petersburg drawn up by Leblond had a number of very significant shortcomings. The architect did not take into account the natural development of the city, and his plan suffered largely from abstractness. Leblon's project was only partially implemented in the layout of the streets of Vasilievsky Island. Russian architects have made many significant adjustments to its layout of St. Petersburg.
A prominent urban planner of the early 18th century was the architect Pyotr Mikhailovich Eropkin (c. 1698-1740), who gave a wonderful solution to the three-beam layout of the Admiralty part of St. Petersburg (including Nevsky Prospect). Carrying out a great deal of work in the “Commission on the St. Petersburg Construction” formed in 1737, Eropkin was in charge of the development of other areas of the city. His activity was cut short in the most tragic way. The architect was associated with the Volynsky group that opposed Biron. Among other prominent members of this group, Eropkin was arrested and executed in 1740.
Yeropkin is known not only as a practicing architect, but also as a theoretician. He translated into Russian the works of Palladio, and also began work on the scientific treatise "The Position of an Architectural Expedition." The last work, concerning the basic questions of Russian architecture, was not completed by him; after his execution, this work was completed by Zemtsov and IK Korobov (1700-1747) - the creator of the first stone building of the Admiralty. Crowned with a tall thin spire, echoing the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Admiralty tower built by Korobov in 1732-1738 has become one of the most important architectural landmarks of St. Petersburg.
Definition of the architectural style of the first half of the 18th century. usually causes a lot of controversy among researchers of Russian art. Indeed, the style of the first decades of the 18th century. evolved difficult and often very contradictory. In its formation he participated in a somewhat modified and more restrained in form style of Western European Baroque; the impact of Dutch architecture also affected. To one degree or another, the influence of the traditions of ancient Russian architecture made itself felt. A distinctive feature of many of the first buildings in St. Petersburg was severe utility and simplicity of architectural forms. The unique originality of Russian architecture of the first decades of the 18th century. lies, however, not in the complex and sometimes contradictory interweaving of architectural styles, but primarily in the city-planning scale, in the life-affirming power and in the greatness of the structures erected during this most important period for the Russian nation.
After the death of Peter I (1725), the extensive civil and industrial construction undertaken on his instructions faded into the background. A new period began in the development of Russian architecture. The best forces of the architects were now directed at palace construction, which took on an extraordinary scale. Since about 1740s. the distinctly expressed style of the Russian baroque was established.
In the middle of the 18th century, the extensive activities of Bartholomew Varfolomeevich Rastrelli (1700-1771), the son of the famous sculptor K.-B. Rastrelli. The work of Rastrelli the son belongs entirely to Russian art. His work reflected the increased power of the Russian Empire, the wealth of the highest court circles, who were the main customers of the magnificent palaces created by Rastrelli and the team headed by him.
Rastrelli's work on rebuilding the palace and park ensemble of Peterhof was of great importance. The site for the palace and the vast garden and park ensemble, which later received the name Peterhof (now Petrodvorets), was outlined in 1704 by Peter I. himself. In 1714-1717. Monplaisir and the stone Peterhof Palace were built according to the designs of Andreas Schlüter. In the future, several architects were involved in the work, including Jean Baptiste Leblond - the main author of the layout of the park and the fountains of Peterhof and I. Braunstein - the builder of the Marly and Hermitage pavilions.
From the very beginning, the Peterhof ensemble was conceived as one of the world's largest ensembles of garden and park structures, sculptures and fountains, competing with Versailles. The concept, magnificent in its integrity, united the Grand Cascade and the grandiose staircases that frame it, with the Big grotto in the center and towering over the entire palace into one inseparable whole.
Without touching upon in this case the complex issue of authorship and the history of construction, which was carried out after the sudden death of Leblond, it should be noted that in 1735 the central role in composition and ideological concept sculptural group "Samson tearing the mouth of a lion" (authorship is not exactly established), which ended the first stage of the creation of the largest of the regular park ensembles of the 18th century.
In the 1740s. the second stage of construction began in Peterhof, when a grandiose reconstruction of the Great Peterhof Palace was undertaken by the architect Rastrelli. Having retained some restraint in the design of the old Peterhof Palace, characteristic of the style of Peter the Great, Rastrelli nevertheless significantly enhanced its decorative design in the Baroque style. This was especially pronounced in the design of the left wing with the church and the right wing (the so-called Corps under the coat of arms), newly built to the palace. The final of the main stages of the construction of Peterhof dates back to the end of the 18th - the very beginning of the 19th century, when the architect A.N. Voronikhin and a whole galaxy of outstanding masters of Russian sculpture, including Kozlovsky, Martos, Shubin, Shchedrin, Prokofiev, were involved in the business.
In general, the first projects of Rastrelli, dating back to the 1730s, are still largely close to the style of Peter's time and do not amaze with that luxury
and the pomp that manifests itself in his most famous creations - the Big (Catherine) Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (now Pushkin), the Winter Palace and the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg.
Having started the creation of the Catherine Palace (1752-1756), Rastrelli did not rebuild it entirely. In the composition of his grandiose building, he skillfully included the already existing palace structures of architects Kvasov and Chevakinsky. These relatively small buildings, interconnected by one-storey galleries, Rastrelli united into one magnificent building of a new palace, the facade of which reached three hundred meters in length. Low one-story galleries were built on and thereby raised to the total height of the horizontal divisions of the palace, the old side buildings were included in the new building as protruding projections.
Both inside and outside the Catherine Palace Rastrelli was distinguished by an exceptional richness of decorative design, inexhaustible invention and a variety of motives. The roof of the palace was gilded, sculptural (also gilded) figures and decorative compositions towered over the balustrade that encircled it. The façade was decorated with mighty figures of Atlanteans and intricate stucco moldings depicting garlands of flowers. The white color of the columns stood out clearly against the blue color of the walls of the building.
The interior of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace was designed by Rastrelli along the longitudinal axis. The numerous halls of the palace, intended for ceremonial receptions, formed a solemn, beautiful enfilade. The main color combination of interior decoration is gold and white. Abundant gold carving, images of frolicking cupids, exquisite forms of cartouches and volutes - all this was reflected in the mirrors, and in the evenings, especially on the days of solemn receptions and ceremonies, it was brightly lit by countless candles (This rare beauty palace was barbarously plundered and set on fire by the German -fascist troops during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Through the efforts of the masters of Soviet art, the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace has now been restored as far as possible.).
In 1754-1762. Rastrelli is building another large building - the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which became the basis for the future Palace Square ensemble.
Unlike the highly elongated Tsarskoye Selo Palace, the Winter Palace is designed in terms of a huge closed rectangle. The main entrance to the palace was at that time in a spacious courtyard.
Considering the location of the Winter Palace, Rastrelli designed the facades of the building differently. For example, the south-facing facade of the Palace Square that was subsequently formed is designed with a strong plastic accent on the central part (where the main entrance to the courtyard is located). On the contrary, the facade of the Winter Palace, facing the Neva, is sustained in a calmer rhythm of volumes and colonnade, due to which the length of the building is better perceived.
Rastrelli's activities were mainly aimed at creating palace structures. But in church architecture, he left an extremely valuable work - the project of the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg. The construction of the Smolny Monastery, begun in 1748, stretched out over many decades and was completed by the architect V.P. Stasov in the first third of the 19th century. In addition, such an important part of the entire ensemble, as the nine-tiered bell tower of the cathedral, was never completed. In the composition of the five-domed cathedral and in a number of general principles for solving the ensemble of the monastery, Rastrelli directly proceeded from the traditions of ancient Russian architecture. At the same time we see here and character traits architecture of the mid-18th century: splendor of architectural forms, inexhaustible richness of decor.
Among the outstanding creations of Rastrelli are the wonderful Stroganov Palace in St. Petersburg (1750-1754), St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kiev, the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow, rebuilt according to his project, the wooden two-story Annenhof Palace in Moscow, which has not survived to our time, and others.
If Rastrelli's activity took place mainly in St. Petersburg, then another outstanding Russian architect, Korobov's student Dmitry Vasilyevich Ukhtomsky (1719-1775), lived and worked in Moscow. Two remarkable monuments of Russian architecture of the mid-18th century are associated with his name: the bell tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1740-1770) and the stone Red Gate in Moscow (1753-1757).
By the nature of his work, Ukhtomsky is quite close to Rastrelli. Both the bell tower of the Lavra and the triumphal gate are rich in external design, monumental and festive. Ukhtomsky's valuable quality is his striving to develop ensemble solutions. And although his most significant plans were not implemented (the project of the Invalidny and Hospital houses ensemble in Moscow), progressive tendencies in Ukhtomsky's work were picked up and developed by his great students - Bazhenov and Kazakov.
A prominent place in the architecture of this period was occupied by the work of Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky (1713-1774 / 80). A disciple and successor of Korobov, Chevakinsky participated in the development and implementation of a number of architectural projects in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo. The talent of Chevakinsky was especially fully manifested in the Nikolsky Naval Cathedral he created (Petersburg, 1753 - 1762). The slender four-tiered bell tower of the cathedral, enchanting with its festive elegance and impeccable proportions, is remarkably designed.
Second half of the 18th century marks new stage in the history of architecture. Just like other types of art, Russian architecture testifies to the strengthening of the Russian state and the growth of culture, reflects a new, more sublime idea of \u200b\u200bman. The ideas of civic consciousness, proclaimed by the enlighteners, the idea of \u200b\u200ban ideal, built on a reasonable basis, a noble state find a peculiar expression in the aesthetics of 18th century classicism, and are reflected in ever clearer, classically restrained forms of architecture.
Since the 18th century. and up to the middle of the 19th century, Russian architecture occupies one of the leading places in world architecture. Moscow, Petersburg and a number of other cities of Russia are enriched at this time with first-class ensembles.
The formation of early Russian classicism in architecture is inextricably linked with the names of A.F. Kokorinov, Wallen Delamot, A. Rinaldi, Yu.M. Felten.
Alexander Filippovich Kokorinov (1726-1772) was among the direct assistants of one of the most prominent Russian architects of the mid-18th century. Ukhtomsky. As the latest research shows, the young Kokorinov built the palace ensemble in Petrovsky-Razumovsky (1752-1753), famous by his contemporaries, which has survived to this day modified and rebuilt. From the point of view of the architectural style, this ensemble was undoubtedly close to the magnificent palace buildings of the middle of the 18th century, erected by Rastrelli and Ukhtomsky. New, foreshadowing the style of Russian classicism, was, in particular, the use of a severe Doric order in the design of the entrance gates of the Razumovsky palace.
From about 1760, Kokorinov began a long-term collaboration with Wallen Delamot (1729-1800) who came to Russia. Originally from France, Delamot came from a family of renowned architects Blondel. Such significant buildings of St. Petersburg as the Great Guest House (1761-1785), the plan of which was developed by Rastrelli, and the Small Hermitage (1764-1767) are associated with the name of Wallen Delamot. Delamot's structure, known as New Holland - the building of the admiralty warehouses, where special attention is drawn to the arch thrown over the channel made of simple dark red brick with decorative use of white stone, is executed with a subtle harmony of architectural forms, solemnly stately simplicity.
Vallene Delamot participated in the creation of one of the most distinctive structures of the 18th century. - The Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg (1764-1788). The austere, monumental building of the Academy, built on Vasilievsky Island, has acquired an important role in the urban ensemble. The main facade overlooking the Neva has been majestically and calmly designed. The general design of this building testifies to the predominance of the early classicism style over baroque elements.
The most striking is the plan of this structure, which, apparently, was mainly developed by Kokorinov. Behind the seemingly calm facades of the building, which occupies an entire city block, there is a complex internal system of educational, residential and utility rooms, staircases and corridors, courtyards and passages. Particularly noteworthy is the layout of the courtyards of the Academy, which included one huge circular courtyard in the center and four smaller courtyards in the shape of a rectangle, in each of which two corners are rounded.
A building close to the art of early classicism is the Marble Palace (1768-1785). Its author was the Yang architect Antonio Rinaldi (c. 1710-1794), who was invited to Russia. In the earlier buildings of Rinaldi, the features of the late Baroque and Rococo style were clearly manifested (the latter is especially noticeable in the refined decoration of the apartments of the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum).
Along with large palace and park ensembles in Russia, estate architecture is being developed more and more. Especially lively construction of estates developed in the second half of the 18th century, when the decree of Peter III was issued on the release of nobles from compulsory public service. Having dispersed to their ancestral and newly received estates, the Russian nobles began to intensively build and improve themselves, inviting the most prominent architects for this, and also widely using the labor of talented serf architects. Estate building reaches its peak in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The master of early classicism was Yuri Matveyevich Felten (1730-1801), one of the founders of the remarkable embankments of the Neva, associated with the implementation of urban planning work in the 1760s-1770s. Closely connected with the ensemble of the Neva embankments is the construction of the Summer Garden grating, striking in its nobleness, in the design of which Felten participated. Among Felten's buildings, the Old Hermitage building should be mentioned.
In the second half of the 18th century. lived and worked one of the greatest Russian architects - Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov (1738-1799). Bazhenov was born into the family of a sexton near Moscow, near Maloyaroslavets. At the age of fifteen, Bazhenov was in an artel of painters on the construction of one of the palaces, where the architect Ukhtomsky drew attention to him, who accepted the gifted young man into his "architectural team." After organizing the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Bazhenov was sent there from Moscow, where he studied at the gymnasium at Moscow University. In 1760 Bazhenov went abroad as a pensioner of the Academy, to France and Italy. The outstanding natural talent of the young architect already in those years received high recognition, 28-year-old Bazhenov comes from abroad with the title of professor of the Roman Academy and the title of academician of the Florentine and Bologna Academies.
Bazhenov's exceptional talent as an architect, his great creative scope, manifested itself with particular clarity in the project of the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on which he began to work in 1767, actually conceiving the creation of a new Kremlin ensemble.
According to Bazhenov's project, the Kremlin was to become, in the full sense of the word, a new center of the ancient Russian capital, moreover, in the most direct way connected with the city. In counting on this project, Bazhenov even proposed to tear down part of the Kremlin wall from the side of the Moskva River and Red Square. Thus, the newly created ensemble of several squares in the Kremlin and, first of all, the new Kremlin Palace would be no longer separated from the city.
The facade of the Bazhenov Kremlin Palace was supposed to face the Moscow River, to which from above, from the Kremlin hill, there were solemn staircase descents, decorated with monumental and decorative sculpture.
The building of the palace was designed as a four-story building, with the first two floors serving a service purpose, and the third and fourth were the palace apartments proper with large two-story halls.
In the architectural design of the Kremlin Palace, new squares, as well as the most significant internal premises, an exceptionally large role was assigned to colonnades (mainly Ionic and Corinthian orders). In particular, a whole line of colonnades surrounded the main square in the Kremlin designed by Bazhenov. This square, which had an oval shape, the architect intended to surround with buildings with strongly protruding basement parts, forming, as it were, stepped stands for accommodating the people.
Extensive preparatory work began; a wonderful (preserved to this day) model of the future structure was made in a specially built house; the interior decoration and decoration of the palace were carefully developed and designed by Bazhenov ...
A cruel blow awaited the unsuspecting architect: as it turned out later, Catherine II was not going to bring this grandiose construction to the end, it was started by her mainly in order to demonstrate the power and wealth of the state during the Russian-Turkish war. Already in 1775 the construction was completely stopped.
In subsequent years, Bazhenov's largest work was the design and construction of the ensemble in Tsaritsyn near Moscow, which was supposed to be the summer residence of Catherine II. The ensemble in Tsaritsyn is a country estate with an asymmetric arrangement of buildings, executed in a distinctive style, sometimes called "Russian Gothic", but to a certain extent based on the use of motives of Russian architecture of the 17th century.
It was in the traditions of ancient Russian architecture that Bazhenov gave combinations of red brick walls of Tsaritsyn buildings with details of white stone.
The surviving Bazhenov buildings in Tsaritsyn - the Opera House, the Figured Gate, the bridge across the road - give only a partial idea of \u200b\u200bthe general idea. Bazhenov's project was not only not implemented, but even the palace that was almost completed by him was rejected by the arriving empress and was broken by her order.
Bazhenov paid tribute to the emerging pre-romantic tendencies in the project of the Mikhailovsky (Engineer) castle, which, with some changes, was carried out by the architect V.F.Brenna. Built by order of Paul I in St. Petersburg, Mikhailovsky Castle (1797-1800) was at that time a structure surrounded, like a fortress, by moats; draw bridges were thrown over them. The tectonic clarity of the general architectural concept and, at the same time, the complexity of the layout were combined in a peculiar way.
In most of his projects and structures, Bazhenov acted as the greatest master of early Russian classicism. A remarkable creation of Bazhenov is the Pashkov house in Moscow (now the old building of the V.I.Lenin State Library). This building was built in the years 1784-1787. The palace-type structure, the Pashkov house (named after the name of the first owner) turned out to be so completely resolved that both from the point of view of the urban ensemble and due to its high artistic merits it took one of the first places among the monuments of Russian architecture.
The main entrance to the building was arranged from the side of the front yard, where there were several service buildings of the manor-palace. Situated on a hill rising from Mokhovaya Street, Pashkov's house faces the Kremlin with its main facade. The main architectural array of the palace is its central three-storey building, crowned with a light belvedere. On both sides of the building there are two side two-storey buildings. The central building of the Pashkov house is decorated with a Corinthian colonnade that unites the second and third floors. The side pavilions have smooth Ionic columns. The delicate thoughtfulness of the overall composition and all the details imparts to this building an extraordinary lightness and at the same time significance, monumentality. The genuine harmony of the whole, the graceful elaboration of the details eloquently testify to the genius of its creator.
Another great Russian architect who worked at one time with Bazhenov was Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov (1738-1812). A native of Moscow, Kazakov even more closely than Bazhenov linked his creative activity with Moscow architecture. When he was thirteen years old at the Ukhtomsky school, Kazakov learned the art of architecture in practice. He was neither at the Academy of Arts, nor abroad. From the first half of the 1760s. young Kazakov had already worked in Tver, where a number of buildings, both residential and public, were built according to his project.
In 1767, Kazakov was invited by Bazhenov as his direct assistant for the design of the ensemble of the new Kremlin Palace.
One of the earliest and at the same time the most significant and famous buildings of Kazakov is the Senate building in Moscow (1776-1787). The Senate building (currently the Supreme Soviet of the USSR is located here) is located inside the Kremlin not far from the Arsenal. It is triangular in plan (with courtyards), one of the facades faces Red Square. The central compositional node of the building is the Senate Hall, which has a huge domed ceiling for that time, the diameter of which reaches almost 25 m. The relatively modest design of the building from the outside is contrasted with the magnificent solution of a round ceremonial hall with three tiers of windows, a Corinthian colonnade, a coffered dome and a rich stucco molding.
The next widely known creation of Kazakov is the building of Moscow University (1786-1793). This time Kazakov turned to the widespread plan of a city estate in the shape of the letter P. In the center of the building is an assembly hall in the form of a semi-rotunda with a domed ceiling. The original appearance of the university, built by Kazakov, differs significantly from the exterior design given to it by D.I.Gilardi, who restored the university after the fire of Moscow in 1812. Doric colonnade, reliefs and pediment over the portico, aedicules at the ends of the side wings, etc. - none of this was in the Kazakov building. It looked taller and less deformed in front. The main facade of the university in the 18th century. had a slender and lighter colonnade of the portico (Ionic order), the walls of the building were dissected with shoulder blades and panels, the ends of the side wings of the building had Ionic porticoes with four pilasters and a pediment.
Just like Bazhenov, Kazakov sometimes turned in his work to the traditions of architecture Ancient Rus, for example, in the Petrovsky Palace, built in 1775-1782. Pitcher-shaped columns, arches, window decoration, hanging weights, etc., together with red brick walls and ornaments made of white stone, clearly echoed pre-Petrine architecture.
However, most of Kazakov's church buildings - the Church of Philip the Metropolitan, the Church of the Ascension on Gorokhovskaya Street (now Kazakov Street) in Moscow, the Baryshnikov Church-Mausoleum (in the village of Nikolo-Pogorel, Smolensk Region) - were solved not so much in terms of ancient Russian churches as in the spirit classically solemn secular structures - rotunda. A special place among the church buildings of Kazakov is occupied by the church of Kosma and Damian in Moscow, which is peculiar in its plan.
Sculptural decoration plays an important role in Kazakov's works. A variety of stucco decorations, thematic bas-reliefs, round statues, etc., in many ways contributed to the high degree of decoration of buildings, their festive solemnity and monumentality. Interest in the synthesis of architecture and sculpture manifested itself in the last significant construction of Kazakov - the building of the Golitsyn Hospital (now the 1st Gradskaya Hospital) in Moscow, the construction of which dates back to 1796-1801. Here Kazakov is already close to the architectural principles of classicism of the first third of the 19th century, as evidenced by the calm surfaces of the wall surfaces, the composition of the building and its wings stretched along the street, the severity and restraint of the general architectural concept.
Kazakov made a great contribution to the development of manor architecture and architecture of the city residential mansion. Such are the house in Petrovsky-Alabin (completed in 1785) and the beautiful house of Gubin in Moscow (1790s), distinguished by a clear simplicity of composition.
One of the most gifted and renowned masters of architecture of the second half of the 18th century was Ivan Yegorovich Staroi (1745-1808), whose name is associated with many buildings in St. Petersburg and the province. The largest work of Starov, if we talk about the constructions of the master that have come down to us, is the Tauride Palace, built in 1783-1789. In Petersburg.
Even Starov's contemporaries highly valued this palace as meeting the high requirements of true art - it is as simple and clear in its decision as it is majestic and solemn. According to the decision of the internal premises, this is not only a residential palace-manor, but also a residence intended for solemn receptions, celebrations and amusements. The central part of the palace is highlighted by a dome and a six-column Roman-Doric portico located in the depths of the ceremonial courtyard wide open to the outside. The significance of the central part of the building is emphasized by the low one-story side wings of the palace, the design of which, like the side buildings, is very strict. The interior of the palace was solemnly resolved. The granite and jasper columns located directly opposite the entrance make up the whole appearance of an internal triumphal arch. From the vestibule, those who entered entered the monumental domed hall of the palace, and then into the so-called Great Gallery with a solemn colonnade, consisting of thirty-six columns of the Ionic order, placed in two rows on both sides of the hall.
Even after repeated reconstructions and changes inside the Tavricheskiy Palace, made in the following time, the grandiosity of the architect's plan leaves an indelible impression. In the early 1770s. Starov was appointed chief architect of the "Commission on the stone structure of St. Petersburg and Moscow." Under his leadership, planning projects for many cities in Russia were also developed.
In addition to Bazhenov, Kazakov and Starov, at the same time, many other outstanding architects are working in Russia - both Russians and those who came from abroad. The wide construction opportunities available in Russia attract large foreign craftsmen who did not find such opportunities in their homeland.
An outstanding master of architecture, especially of palace and park structures, was a Scotsman by birth, Charles Cameron (1740s - 1812).
In 1780-1786. Cameron is building a complex of garden and park structures in Tsarskoye Selo, which includes a two-storey building of Cold Baths with Agate Rooms, a hanging garden and, finally, a magnificent open gallery named after its creator. Cameron Gallery is one of the most perfect works of the architect. Its extraordinary lightness and grace of proportions amazes; The staircase descent, flanked by copies from the antique statues of Hercules and Flora, is majestically and uniquely designed.
Cameron was a master of interior decoration. With impeccable taste and sophistication, he develops the decoration of several rooms of the Great Catherine Palace (the bedroom of Catherine II, see illustration, the "Snuffbox" study), the "Agate Rooms" pavilion, as well as the Pavlovsk Palace (1782-1786) (Italian and Greek halls, billiard room and others).
Not only the palace in Pavlovsk created by Cameron is of great value, but also the entire garden and park ensemble. In contrast to the more regular planning and development of the famous Peterhof Park, the ensemble in Pavlovsk is the best example of a "natural" park with freely scattered pavilions. In a picturesque landscape, among groves and meadows, near the Slavyanka river curving around the hills, there is a pavilion - the Temple of Friendship, an open rotunda - the Colonnade of Apollo, the Pavilion of the Three Graces, an obelisk, bridges, etc.
End of the 18th century in the architecture of Russia, the next stage of development is already largely anticipated - the mature classicism of the first third of the 19th century, also known as the "Russian Empire". New trends are noticeable in the work of Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817). Even at home, in Italy, Quarenghi is fond of Palladianism and becomes an ardent defender of classicism. Not finding the proper use of his forces in Italy, Quarenghi came to Russia (1780), where he remained for the rest of his life.
Having started his activity with work in Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, Quarenghi moved on to the construction of the largest capital buildings. The Hermitage Theater (1783-1787), the building of the Academy of Sciences (1783-1789) and the Assignation Bank (1783-1790) in St. Petersburg, as well as the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (1792-1796) are austere, classical buildings , which in many ways already herald the next stage in the development of Russian architecture. As a matter of fact, the creative activity of Quarenghi in Russia is almost equally divided in time between the 18th and 19th centuries. Of the most famous structures of Quarenghi in the early 19th century. the hospital building on Liteiny Prospect, the Anichkov Palace, the Horse Guards Manege and the wooden Narva Triumphal Gates of 1814 stand out.
The most outstanding creation of Quarenghi of the early 19th century. is the Smolny Institute (1806-1808). This work shows the characteristic features of Quarenghi as a representative of mature classicism in architecture: the desire for large and laconic architectural forms, the use of monumental porticoes, the accentuation of the powerful basement part of the building, processed with large rustication, the utmost clarity and simplicity of the layout.
Introduction 2
1. Architectural styles of the 18th century 3
2. The main features of the architectural ensembles of the city 4
3. Monuments of architecture of the XVIII century. 6
4. Stylistic metamorphoses in the architecture of the city 8
5. The history of some architectural monuments of the city 10
Menshikov Palace 10
Sheremetev Palace 11
Academy of Arts 13
6. Personalities 15
Conclusion 18
Bibliography 20
Introduction
The topic of the proposed work is "Architecture of St. Petersburg in the 18th century." The choice of this topic is due to several reasons. First of all, it is its relevance. In 2003, a significant event will take place in the life of the northern capital - the city will be exactly 300 years old. In connection with the proximity of this event, the views of many people turn to the history of this wonderful city.
The first chapter of this work is devoted to the consideration of this issue. In addition, new tendencies, trends and styles observed in architecture and influenced the formation of the appearance of St. Petersburg were considered in it.
The next chapter is devoted to the consideration of the main features of the architectural ensembles of St. Petersburg.
In the third chapter, the features of the styles used by architects to create their creations were considered. The last chapter explores the history of the city's main architectural monuments.
The conclusion summarizes the results and accumulates general conclusions.
In preparing this work, various sources were used: both popular science literature and monographs by authors who dealt with the issues of the architecture of St. Petersburg of the period under consideration. Especially I would like to note the monographs of Evsina E.I., devoted to the consideration of architectural styles and ensembles of St. Petersburg.
1. Architectural styles of the 18th century
In the course of considering the issue indicated in the title of the work, it is necessary to outline the main features of the architectural styles that were used in the development of the city.
The new Baroque style that took shape in Russian art in the first half of the 18th century, which tended to create heroic images, to glorify the power of the Russian Empire, was most clearly manifested in the middle of the 18th century in the architectural structures of one of the greatest architects, V.V. Rastrelli. His creative genius belongs to projects of majestic palace ensembles in St. Petersburg (Winter, 1754-1762; Stroganov Palace, 1752-1754) and in Peterhof (1746-1775), in Tsarskoe Selo (Catherine Palace, 1747-1757). The grandiose scale of the buildings, the extraordinary richness and splendor of the decoration, the two- and three-color painting of the facades with the use of gold - all this amazed the imagination of the audience, causing their sincere admiration. The solemn, festive nature of Rastrelli's architecture left an imprint on all art of the mid-18th century. A galaxy of remarkable Russian architects worked in St. Petersburg and Moscow in the same years - the serf architect F.S. Argunov, S.I. Chevansky, A.V. Kvasov, and others.
In the second half of the 18th century, classicism became predominant in Russian art - a style that originated in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. Called to express high civic ideals, responding to the progressive aspirations of the progressive part of Russian society, classicism drew its plots and artistic forms from art Ancient Greece and Rome. Monuments of antiquity have become permanent models for study and, in a sense, imitation. The influence of classicism with its pathos of civic spirit was extremely fruitful for the development of architecture. This style was most vividly reflected in the work of such architects as V.M. Bazhenov, M.F. Kazakov, V.E. Starov, who created such major buildings as the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg (1783-1789), the palace in Pella near St. Petersburg (1785-1789), architect D. Quarenghi, author of the building of the Academy of Sciences, the Assignation Bank in St. Petersburg and other buildings.
Through the efforts of these and other architects in the 18th century, many Russian cities (not only St. Petersburg) were built up with civil buildings of classical architecture. A wide creative appeal to the classical architectural heritage allowed Russian masters to develop new methods of interior and exterior decoration of buildings.
The 18th century in the architecture and urban planning of Russia is considered important and significant. It is characterized by three directions - baroque, rococo and classicism, which manifested themselves consistently over the century. During this period, newer cities appear, objects are created, which in our time are considered recognized historical and architectural monuments.
First third of the 18th century. Baroque
In the first third of the century, all architectural transformations are inextricably linked with the name of Peter the Great. During this period, Russian cities have undergone significant changes both in socio-economic terms and in architectural planning. It was at this time that industry developed, which led to the construction of many industrial cities and towns. The political situation in the country and abroad created the prerequisites for the fact that the nobility and merchants that dominated this period were drawn into the construction of public facilities. If before this period the most magnificent and beautiful were mainly churches and royal residences (chambers), then at the beginning of the 18th century in cities great importance is attached to the appearance of ordinary residential buildings, as well as emerging theaters, embankments, there is a massive construction of town halls, schools, hospitals (so-called hospitals), orphanages. Since 1710, brick has been actively used in construction instead of wooden buildings. True, initially this innovation concerned, first of all, the capitals, while for the periphery stone and brick remained banned for a long time.
Peter I created a special commission, which in the future will become the main body of state design of both the capital and other cities. Civil construction already prevails over church construction. Great importance is attached not only to the facades, but also to the appearance of the entire city - houses are being built with facades along the streets, buildings are being decompressed for fire-prevention purposes, streets are being improved, roads are being paved, the issue of street lighting is being resolved, trees are being planted on the sides. In all this, one can feel the visible influence of the West and the firm hand of Peter, who, by his decrees, practically revolutionized urban planning in those years. Therefore, it is not surprising that in a short time Russia manages to practically catch up with Europe, reaching a decent level in terms of urban planning and urban improvement.
The main architectural event of the beginning of the century is the construction of St. Petersburg. It is from this city and the Moscow Lefortovo Sloboda that serious transformations in the architectural appearance of other cities begin. West-oriented Peter the Great invites foreign architects and sends Russian specialists to study in Europe.
Trezzini, Leblon, Michetti, Schedel, Rastrelli (father) and other eminent architects who are destined to make a great contribution to Russian architecture in the first quarter of the 18th century come to Russia. What is interesting if at the beginning of your creative path in Russia, they clearly followed their principles and Western architectural thinking, then after a certain period of time, historians note the influence of our culture and identity, which can be traced in their later works.
In the first third of the 18th century, the predominant direction in architecture and construction was the baroque. This direction is characterized by a combination of reality and illusion, pomp and contrast. The construction of St. Petersburg begins with the founding of the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1703 and the Admiralty in 1704. Peter set serious tasks for the architects of that period in terms of compliance of the new city with the advanced European principles of urban planning. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of Russian architects and their foreign colleagues, the northern capital has acquired formally western features in merging with traditionally Russians. The style in which numerous pompous palaces, churches, state institutions, museums and theaters are now often called the Russian baroque or the baroque of the Peter the Great era.
During this period, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the summer palace of Peter the Great, the Kunstkamera, the Menshikov palace, the building of the Twelve Collegia in St. Petersburg were created. The ensembles of the Winter Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof, Smolny Monastery, and the Stroganovs' palace are decorated in the Baroque style, created in this and later period. In Moscow, these are the churches of the Archangel Gabriel and John the Warrior on Yakimanka, the main entrance to the Kremlin's Arsenal yard is decorated with characteristic elements characteristic of this period. Among the important objects of provincial cities is the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Kazan.
Mid 18th century. Baroque and Rococo
Despite the fact that the death of Peter I was a great loss for the state, it no longer had a significant impact on the development of urban planning and architecture of that period. Russian architects working in St. Petersburg under the supervision of foreigners adopted their experience, returned to their homeland and those who were sent to study abroad. The country at that time had a strong staff. The leading Russian architects of that period were Eropkin, Usov, Korobov, Zemtsov, Michurin, Blank and others.
The style characteristic of this period is called rococo and is a combination of baroque and emerging classicism. Gallantry and confidence are manifested in him. Rococo is more typical for interior solutions of that time. In the construction of buildings, the splendor and pomp of the baroque is still noted, and the strict and simple features of classicism begin to appear.
This period, which coincided with the reign of Peter's daughter Elizabeth, was marked by the work of Rastrelli the son. Brought up in Russian culture, in his works he demonstrated not only the brilliance and luxury of palace architecture, but also an understanding of the Russian character, Russian nature. His projects, together with the works of contemporaries Kvasov, Chevakinsky, Ukhtomsky, organically fit into the history of Russian architecture of the 18th century. With the light hand of Rastrelli, domed compositions began to appear not only in the capital, but also in other Russian cities, gradually replacing the spire-like ones. The pomp and scale of its palace ensembles are unparalleled in Russian history. But with all the recognition and luxury, the art of Rastrelli and his contemporaries did not last long, and in the second half of the 18th century a wave of classicism came to replace it. During this period, the most ambitious projects were created - a new master plan for St. Petersburg and a redevelopment project for Moscow.
End of the 18th century. Classicism
In Russian architecture in the last third of the 18th century, the features of a new direction began to appear, which was later called Russian classicism. By the end of the century, classicism was firmly established as the main direction of art and architecture. This trend is characterized by the severity of antique forms, simplicity and rationality of designs. Unlike the baroque buildings that filled St. Petersburg and its environs, classicism manifested itself most in the Moscow buildings of that time. Among many, it is worth noting the Pashkov house, the Senate building, the Tsaritsyno complex, the Golitsyn house, the Razumovsky palace, which are considered the most striking examples of the manifestation of classicism in architecture. In St. Petersburg at this time, the Tauride Palace, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the Marble Palace, the Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater, and the Academy of Sciences were being built. Kazakov, Bazhenov, Ukhtomsky and many others are considered to be outstanding architects of that time.
The period of the 18th century also includes changes that affected many provincial cities of that time - Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Odoev Bogoroditsk, Oranienbaum, now Lomonosov, Tsarskoye Selo, now Pushkin and so on. Petrozavodsk, Taganrog, Yekaterinburg and many other cities, which at that time and subsequently became important industrial and economic centers of the Russian state, originated from the 18th century.
In Western European art of the 17th-18th centuries. the main artistic directions and trends were baroque and classicism. In many European countries, the Academy of Arts and Architecture was created. But none of these styles existed in the art of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. in its pure form, because they came to English soil much later than to other countries.
English art of this period is characterized by attention to the emotional life of people, especially in portraiture. In addition, the English Enlightenment paid special attention to the ideas of moral education of the individual, the problems of ethics and morality. Another leading genre of English painting of this period was the genre of genre. We have told about the most famous artists (T. Gainsborough, D. Reynolds, W. Hogarth) on our website.
Architecture
In the XVII and XVIII centuries. England was one of the largest centers of European architecture. But different architectural styles and trends sometimes existed here simultaneously.
The origin of the British architectural tradition was Inigo Jones (1573-1652), English architect, designer and artist.
Posthumous portrait of Inigo Jones by William Hogarth (based on Van Dyck's lifetime portrait)
Inigo Jones was born in London in 1573 into a cloth maker's family. In 1603-1605 Jones studied drawing and decoration in Italy. Returning to his homeland, he was engaged in the creation of scenery for theatrical performances, he played a significant role in the development of European theater.
In the years 1613-1615. Jones is back in Italy, studying the works of Andrea Palladio, antique and Renaissance architecture. In 1615, Jones became the chief caretaker of the royal buildings, in Greenwich he soon began construction of the country mansion of Queen Anne, wife of James I.
Queens house
The two-story Queens House is a monolithic cube, completely white and almost devoid of architectural decorations. There is a loggia in the center of the park facade. Queens House was the first English classicism building.
Tulip Staircase of Queens House in Greenwich
The next work of the architect - Banquet House in London (1619-1622). Its two-storey facade is almost entirely covered with architectural decoration. In the interior, the two-tiered colonnade reproduces the appearance of an ancient temple. Jones' buildings corresponded to the tastes of the English court of the time. But Jones's work was appreciated only in the 18th century: it was rediscovered by Palladian admirers, and his works became models for the buildings of English Palladianism.
Banquet house
At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. theatrical performances ("masks") played an important role in the history of the palace. Particularly famous were the sets and costumes created by Inigo Jones, a talented theater artist.
The banquet house is 34 m long, 17 m wide and the same height. Two floors rise above the high plinth. Wide windows are arranged rhythmically along the facade. The center of the building is highlighted by 8 columns of the Ionic order in the lower row, Corinthian - in the upper. A frieze in the form of garlands carved in stone has been created above the windows of the upper floor. A graceful balustrade completes the entire composition. The only hall of this building was decorated by Rubens.
At the end of the XIX century. the building housed the exposition of the military history museum.
A new stage in the history of English architecture began in the second half of the 17th century, when the first buildings appeared sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), one of the most famous and respected English architects.
Gottfried Kneller "Portrait of Christopher Wren" (1711)
Sir Christopher Wren, architect and mathematician, rebuilt the center of London after the great fire of 1666. He created the national style of English architecture - Rena classicism.
Ren was a scientist, engaged in mathematics and astronomy, turned to architecture when he was already over thirty. Over the course of a long and fruitful activity, he managed to realize almost all of his plans. He built palaces and temples, libraries and theaters, hospitals and town halls, and equipped residential areas in London. Taken together, Rena's numerous buildings could make up a medium-sized city. After the "Great Fire" of 1666, Wren took an active part in the reconstruction of London: he rebuilt over 50 of the 87 burnt churches. The culmination of this activity was the grandiose and majestic Cathedral of St. Paul, which became the greatest religious building of the Protestant world.
Located on the banks of the Thames, the Royal Hospital in Greenwich is Christopher Wren's last major building. The large hospital complex consists of 4 buildings, forming rectangular courtyards with a spacious area between the front buildings, facing the river with porticoes of facades. Wide steps, on either side of which are located majestic domed buildings, lead to the second square between the second pair of courtyards. The twin-column colonnades flanking the square form a very dramatic vista ending with Inigo Jones' Queens House. The architect also took part in the construction of the Greenwich Hospital Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736). He began work during Ren's lifetime and continued after the architect's death.
Ren followed the path of Inigo Jones. But Jones absorbed the spirit of the Italian Renaissance, and Ren worked in the style of classicism.
Christopher Wren's traditions continued James Gibbs (1682-1754) - the most striking and distinctive figure of English architecture of the first half of the 18th century, one of the few representatives of the Baroque style in British architecture. He also built in the Palladian style, borrowing individual elements from him.
A. Soldi "Portrait of James Gibbs"
The greatest influence on the work of Gibbs was the work of Christopher Wren, but Gibbs gradually developed his own style. Its renowned Radcliffe Library at Oxford, austere and monumental, ranks among the finest pieces of English architecture.
The Library is the most significant of Gibbs' buildings in scale and artistic merit. This kind of centric structure consists of a 16-sided base, a cylindrical main part and a dome. The plinth is cut through by large arched door and window openings; the round main part is divided by paired columns into 16 piers, in which windows and niches arranged in two tiers alternate. A dome crowned with a lantern rises above the balustrade.
The library is one of the finest monuments of English architecture.
Another masterpiece by Gibbs is the Church of St. Martin in the Fields.
Church of St. Martin in the Fields
She adorns Trafalgar Square in London. In St. Martin in the Fields, the influence of Christopher Wren can be traced, but the bell tower is not separated into a separate building, it forms a single whole with the church building. Initially, this decision of the architect was criticized by contemporaries, but later the church became a model for numerous Anglican churches in England itself and beyond.
English Palladianism
English Palladianism associated with the name William Kent (c. 1684-1748), architect, archaeologist, painter and publisher.
Villa in Chiswick (1723-1729)
The villa was built by Lord Burlington with the direct participation of William Kent... This is the most famous building of English Palladianism. It almost literally repeats the Villa Rotonda by Andrea Palladio, with the exception of the facades.
Villa Park in Chiswick
The park façade is adorned with a portico with a pediment; a sophisticated and sophisticated staircase leads to the portico. The villa was not intended for living, it has no bedrooms, no kitchen, only premises for Burlington's art collections.
Thanks to the patronage of Lord Burlington, Kent received orders for the construction of public buildings in London, such as Horse Guards.
Horse guards
Horse Guards - Horse Guards barracks in London. This is the most mature work of William Kent.
William Kent built several palaces in London. He carried out orders for the design of the interiors of the country residences of the English nobility. The main work of Kent was the Holkem Hall Estate in Norfolk.
Holkham Hall, Norfolk
It was intended for the art collection of Lord Leicester. Particularly famous are the interiors of Holkem Hall, full of silk, velvet and gilding. Furniture was also made according to Kent's drawings.
English park
The English landscape park is an important achievement of 18th century English architecture. In the landscape park, the illusion of real, untouched nature was created; the presence of man and modern civilization was not felt here.
The first landscape park was arranged in the Palladian era at the estate of the poet Alexander Pop in Twickenham (a suburb of London). The French regular park seemed to him the personification of the state tyranny, which even conquered nature (the Park of Versailles). The poet considered England a free country. An innovator in the art of landscape gardening in England was William Kent... He created the finest landscape parks of that era: Villa Chiswick House Park, Champs Elysees Park in Stowe in Central England.
Park "Champs Elysees"
Especially impressive were the artificial, purpose-built ruins called the Temple of Modern Virtue. Apparently, the ruins symbolized the decline of morals in modern society and were contrasted with the magnificent Temple of Ancient Virtue, built by W. Kent in the antique style.
The Temple of Ancient Virtue, built by W. Kent in the antique style, is a round domed structure surrounded by a colonnade of 16 smooth Ionic columns, set on a low podium. The temple has two entrances in the form of arched openings, to each of which a 12-step staircase leads. Inside the temple there are 4 niches, in which are installed performed in human's height statues of ancient greek celebrities.
Already in the middle of the XVIII century. landscape parks were common in England, France, Germany, Russia.
The last major representative of Palladianism in English architecture was William Chambers (1723-1796) - Scottish architect, representative of classicism in architecture.
F. Cotes "Portrait of W. Chambers"
Chambers made a significant contribution to the development of gardening art. Thanks to Chambers, exotic (Chinese) motives have appeared in a traditional English landscape park.
Great weather - the first building in the spirit of Chinese architecture in Europe. Built in Richmond Kew Gardens, 1761-1762. designed by the court architect William Chambers in accordance with the wishes of the mother of King George III, Augusta. Height 50 m, diameter of the lower tier 15 m. Inside the pagoda there is a staircase of 243 steps, the roof is tiled with tiles.
Imitations of the Kew Pagoda have appeared in the English Gardens in Munich and elsewhere in Europe. At the whim of Catherine II, Chambers' compatriot, Charles Cameron, designed a similar structure in the center of the Chinese village of Tsarskoye Selo, but the project was never implemented. But the Chinese houses were still built.
Chinese houses. Chinese village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoe Selo
Neoclassical architecture
When in the middle of the XVIII century. the first archaeological excavations of ancient monuments began in Italy, all the largest representatives of English neoclassicism went to Rome to see the ruins of ancient buildings. Other English architects traveled to Greece to study ancient Greek buildings. In England, neoclassicism was distinguished by the fact that it took lightness and elegance from antiquity, especially in English neoclassical interiors. on the contrary, all the buildings were lighter and more elegant.
G. Willison "Portrait of Robert Adam"
A special role in the architecture of English neoclassicism was played by Robert Adam (1728-1792), Scottish architect from the Palladian Adam dynasty, the largest representative of British classicism of the 18th century. Adam relied on the study of ancient architecture and used strict classical forms. Adam's architectural activity was very wide. Together with brothers James, John and William, he erected manor houses and public buildings, built up entire streets, squares, city blocks of London. His creative method is rationalism, clothed in the forms of Greek antiquity.
House at the Cion House in London. Arch. R. Adam (1762-1764). Reception room. London, Great Britain)
The Reception Room at Sayon House is one of Adam's most famous interiors. The room is adorned with twelve blue marble columns with gilded capitals and sculptures at the top. The trunks of these columns are truly antique - they were found at the bottom of the Tiber River in Rome, while the capitals and sculptures were made according to the drawings of Adam himself. The pillars here do not support the ceiling, but simply against the wall, but they give the room a majestic look.
During the lifetime of the master, many considered the interiors of Adam to be the highest achievement of English architecture. The traditions of their art have long retained their significance in English architecture.
But in the neoclassicism of the 18th century. there were two architects whose style differed from the "style of Adam": George Dance the Younger (1741-1825) and sir John Soun (1753-1837). Dance's most famous building was Newgate Prison in London (not preserved). John Soun followed the dance style in many ways, was the chief architect of the Bank of England building (1795-1827) and devoted much of his life to its construction.
"Gothic Revival" (neo-gothic)
In the middle of the XVIII century. in England, buildings appeared in which motifs of Gothic architecture were used: pointed arches, high roofs with steep slopes, stained glass windows. This period of enthusiasm for Gothic is commonly called "Gothic Revival" (neo-Gothic). It lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. and has become a popular style to this day: in England, buildings in the Gothic style are often built).
The founder of the "Gothic Revival" was Count Horace Walpole (1717-1797) - writer, author of the first horror novel "Castle of Otranto". In 1746-1790. he rebuilt his villa in Gothic style at Strawberry Hill (Twickham, a suburb of London).
Villa
Font Hill Abbey in Central England was built between 1796 and 1807. architect James Wyeth (1746-1813).
Font Hill Abbey (not preserved to this day)
Already in the 19th century. gothic style became state-owned. In this style in the middle of the 19th century. the Parliament building was under construction in London (architect Charles Barry) - one of the main buildings of English architecture of that time.
A.I. Venediktov
The largest phenomena of English architecture of the period under review date back to the last thirty years of the 17th century. The successor of the classic of English architecture Inigo Jones was Christopher Wren (1632-1723), who remained the leading master of English architecture during the first quarter of the 18th century.
Ren received a very broad education: before he completely turned to architecture, he studied mathematics and astronomy. Having made a trip to France in 1665, he met Jules Hardouin-Mansart and other French architects and their works, as well as Bernini, who brought the Louvre project to Paris.
After the "Great Fire" of 1666, which destroyed most of London, Wren creates a project for a radical redevelopment of the city, which, however, was rejected by the reactionary authorities. At the same time, Wren received the largest order for the construction of the new Cathedral of St. Paul and the drafting of a hundred burnt-down parish churches, of which he built more than fifty.
Cathedral of st. Paul in London, built by Ren over thirty-six years (1675-1710), became the greatest religious building of the Protestant world (it is longer than Cologne Cathedral in length, the height of the dome is the Florentine Cathedral Sanga Maria del Fiore). Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Peter, built by many architects for more than a century and a half, was, as it were, deliberately opposed to the London Protestant Cathedral, built by one master in one construction period, in just three and a half decades. Wren's first project with a centric plan in the form of an equilateral cross with a vestibule was rejected by the conservative clergy. The second completed project had a more traditional elongated shape with a main room divided by pillars and arches into three naves and a spacious domed space at the intersection of the naves with the transept.
Wren's mathematical knowledge was useful to him in the difficult task of erecting a dome, which he solved brilliantly, with a subtle and deep calculation. The design of the triple dome resting on eight pillars is complex and unusual: above the inner brick shell of a hemispherical shape, there is a brick truncated cone, which bears the lantern and cross crowning the cathedral, as well as the third, wooden, lead-covered outer shell of the dome.
The appearance of the cathedral is spectacular. Two marches of wide steps lead from the west to six pairs of Corinthian columns of the entrance portico, above which there are four more pairs of columns with composite capitals, carrying a pediment with a sculptural group in the tympanum. More modest semicircular porticoes are placed at both ends of the transept. Slender towers are erected on the sides of the main facade (one for the bells, the other for the clock), behind them, above the middle cross of the cathedral, a huge majestic dome rises. The domed drum, surrounded by columns, seems especially powerful because every fourth intercolumn of the colonnade (the so-called Stone Gallery) is laid with stone. Above the hemisphere of the dome itself, the second, the so-called Golden Gallery, forms a detour around the lantern with a cross. The group of domes and towers overlooking London is undoubtedly the most successful part of the cathedral, the main body of which was difficult to comprehend in its entirety, since it remained hidden by the disorderly urban development (badly destroyed by bombing during the Second World War).
Ren's creative individuality is revealed no less vividly in those of him. works such as London parish churches. The variety and ingenuity of the square, rectangular, oval plans of these buildings, usually small in size, is amazing, the very configuration of which was often explained by the skillful use of cramped, inconvenient areas allocated for their construction. The architecture of the churches themselves and their bell towers, either close in shape to the Gothic or strictly classical, are extremely diverse. Suffice it to name the domed church of Saint Stephen (1672-1679), original in terms of the composition of the interior space, or the Church of Saint Mary le Bou (1671-1680) with its slender bell tower, remarkable for its beauty.
Wren's civilian structure is one of the most brilliant - the new parts of Hampton Court Palace. In 1689-1694 they built buildings around the so-called courtyard with a fountain and a facade overlooking the park. In this original work, the architect showed high skill, strict taste and the ability to effectively use materials - brick and white Portland stone.
A prolific craftsman, Wren built more than just palaces and churches. He finally developed the plan for the Greenwich Hospital (the original idea of \u200b\u200bwhich belongs, apparently, to Inigo Jones), and also built another hospital in Chelsea. He built up the Temple area in London, built a town hall in Windsor. In Cambridge, he owns the Trinity College Library (Trinity College), which was inspired by the library of St. Mark in Venice. In Oxford, where Wren taught astronomy in his youth, he built the so-called Sheldon Theater - a large round room for lectures and reports, which uses the motives of the architecture of the ancient Roman theater of Marcellus; there he also built a library at Queens College and a courtyard at Trinity College. The motifs of Venetian and Roman architecture used in these buildings received an original interpretation from Wren and went down in the history of English architecture as the creation of a national genius.
In residential country and city houses at this time, a type of brick building with white stone trim was created, which became a model for later English construction. Examples include the Groombridge Place estates in Kent attributed to Wren and the Swan House in Chichester.
Unlike Inigo Jones, Ren, during his long and fruitful career, managed to realize almost all of his plans. As a true humanist, Ren worked for education and the people, he built not only churches, but also hospitals, libraries, not only palaces, but also modest residential buildings. Wren followed the path foreseen by Jones, but, unlike Jones, who absorbed the spirit of the Renaissance in Italy, in the classicism of Wren, who survived the era of Puritanism, the rational principle is more clearly expressed.
In English architecture of the 18th century. of great importance was the newly awakened passion for the work of Palladio. By 1742, three editions of Palladio's architectural treatise had already been published. From the middle of the century, the publication of independent studies on ancient architecture began. Robert Wood 1753-1757 published an uvrazh dedicated to the ruins of Palmyra and Baalbek, Robert Adam published in 1764 sketches and measurements of Diocletian's palace in Split in Dalmatia. All of these publications contributed to the development of architectural theory and influenced the architectural practice of the time. New ideas were reflected in major urban planning events, for example, in the planning and development of the city of Bath (1725-1780), the areas of which represent the most complete classicist ensembles in England. Architects of the 18th century are already in most cases professionals and theorists.
John Vanbruh (1664-1726) occupies an intermediate position between the versatile and educated masters of the 17th century and the narrow specialists of the 18th century. A brilliant officer, court wit, fashionable playwright, he remained a gifted dilettante in architecture too.
His main and largest works are those built in the first years of the 18th century. Howard palaces (1699-1712) and Blenheim (1705-1724).
Already in the first of them, trying to combine Versailles scope with English comfort, he struck his contemporaries primarily by the size of his building, the length of which was 200 m, the depth was almost 130 m, the height of the central dome exceeded 70 m. In the even more grandiose in size Blenheim Palace built for the famous general Duke of Marlborough (259 X 155 m), the architect tried to improve the somewhat awkward plan of the first building. Observing strict symmetry, he placed two more courtyards on both sides of the huge courtyard, which are connected to the main building by galleries decorated with a colonnade. In the external architecture of the Blenheim Palace, neither the heavy portico of the main entrance, nor the triumphal arch of the park facade, nor the corner towers, which seem to be built on, are pleasing to the eye: the forms here are heavy and rough. The interiors of the palace are inconvenient and uncomfortable. The striving for strict splendor, characteristic of classicism, is rather mechanically combined in Vanbruh with superficial splendor dating back to the Baroque. In its architecture, in the words of one of his contemporaries, "heavy in form and lightweight in essence", it is easy to find clear signs of eclecticism.
Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) was a more modest but more worthy successor to Wren. He led the construction of London churches, of which the most interesting is St. Mary Woolnos Church (1716-1719) with a rustic facade and a rectangular bell tower surrounded by columns, topped with two balustraded turrets. Hawksmoor worked after his teacher in Oxford, where he built a new building of Queens College with a monumental courtyard facade and a peculiar entrance (1710-1719). Finally, even during Wren's life and after his death Hawksmoor in 1705-1715. continued construction of the Greenwich Hospital. Situated on the banks of the Thames, this one of the most significant monuments of English architecture in terms of size and artistic merit took on its final form at Hawksmoor.
The large hospital complex, where the naval school is now located, consists of four buildings that form rectangular courtyards with a spacious area between the front buildings, facing the river with porticoes of facades. Wide steps, on either side of which are located majestic domed buildings, lead to the second square between the second pair of courtyards. Hawksmoor completed the work begun by Jones and continued by Wren with dignity.
William Kent (1684-1748) was the most prominent English Palladian of the first half of the 18th century. Together with Lord Burlington, who fancied himself an architect, he designed and built a villa at Chiswick (1729), the most successful of the many English versions of the Palladium Rotunda villa. Kent felt more at ease during the construction of Holkham Hall Castle (1734), where four wings organically connected with the central building (with a chapel, library, kitchen and guest rooms) overlook the surrounding park. Especially great are the merits of Kent in gardening art, where he is known as the "father of the modern garden."
The most mature work of the architect is the poorly shaped, orderless facade of the barracks of the Horse Guards Regiment (Horses Gards, 1742-1751) in London.
Architect and architectural theorist James Gibbs (1682-1765) is the most prominent personality in English architecture of the first half of the 18th century. After going to school with Philippe Juvara in Turin, he also learned the order and proportional system of Palladio. The most significant of its buildings, both in scale and in artistic merit, is the so-called Redcliffe Library in Oxford (1737-1749), an exceptional centric structure, consisting of a sixteen-sided base, a cylindrical main part and a dome. The massive rusticated plinth is cut through by large arched door and window openings; the round part is dismembered by paired three-quarter columns into sixteen piers with two tiers of alternating windows and niches. A dome crowned with a lantern rises above the balustrade that completes the main cylindrical volume. Fully expressing its purpose, austere and monumental university library is undoubtedly one of the first places among the best monuments of English architecture.
The London churches of Gibbs, the construction of which he continued after Wren and Hawksmoor, are also peculiar - the two-story St. Mary le Strand church (1714-1717) with a semicircular entrance portico and a slender bell tower and the St. Martin in de Fields church (1721-1726) with an impressive Corinthian portico.
William Chambers (1723-1796) was a consistent representative of Palladianism in England in the second half of the 18th century, when lesser English architects had already abandoned their unsuccessful attempts to adapt plans for Palladian villas to the conditions of the English climate and the requirements of English comfort.
Chambers summed up the passed stage of English architecture in his architectural treatise and his largest building, known as the Somerset House in London (1776-1786). This monumental building, built on arcades of substructures, faces the Strand and the Thames with its rusticated facades (the facade facing the river was completed later, in the 19th century). The premises of Somerset House in 1780 housed the Royal Academy.
The last Palladian, Chambers was the first representative of the academic movement in English architecture.
But Somerset House, especially the façade with the three-arch entrance from the Strand and the stately courtyard of the building, completes a great and brilliant era in the history of English architecture.
The merits of Chambers in the field of landscape architecture are undeniable, where he promoted the English landscape park. After Kent, he worked in Kew Park, where, in addition to classical pavilions, he built a Chinese pagoda as a tribute to the European fashion for the "Chinese" and as a memory of his journey to the Far East in his youth.
Robert Adam (1728-1792), another prominent English architect of the second half of the 18th century, is often contrasted with Chambers. While the Conservative Chambers was a strict guardian of the Palladian traditions in architecture, Adam, the evangelist of "new tastes", was to some extent an innovator in English art. Perceiving antiquity in a new way, paying particular attention to decorative motives, he, in his own words, "revolutionized ornament." The leading English architects of this time, headed by him, did much to ensure that the new artistic trends he pursued spread from interior decoration (their example is the vestibule of Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, created by the architect James Payne, see illustration) to furniture, fabrics, and porcelain.
A typical example of Adam's work is Kedleston Hall Castle (1765-1770), built and decorated by him inside according to the Palladian plan drawn up by other architects (with semicircular wings adjacent to the central building). But located along the main axis, the largest ceremonial rooms of the castle belong, undoubtedly, to Adam. The idea of \u200b\u200ba large hall, where antique statues stand in the niches of the walls behind Corinthian columns made of imitation marble behind the stucco ceiling, and the saloon covered with a dome, the walls of which are dissected by niches and tabernacles, were probably inspired by the ancient monuments that Adam got acquainted with during his trip to Dalmatia where he studied Diocletian's palace in Split. Methods of decorating other, smaller rooms - stucco ceilings and walls, decorating fireplaces - met new refined tastes even more. The graceful façade of the Boodle Club in London (1765) gives an insight into how Adam designed the exterior of the building.
The architectural activity of Robert Adam was extremely broad. Together with his brothers James, John and William, his permanent employees, he built entire streets, squares, and neighborhoods of London. Having overcome the former Palladian isolation, isolation of the architectural volume, the Adam brothers developed methods of forming integral urban quarters (mainly residential buildings) on the basis of a single architectural ensemble. These are Fitzroy Square, the Adelphi quarter, named after the Adam brothers themselves ("adelfos" is Greek for "brother"). As a result of later redevelopments and rebuilding of the city (as well as after the aerial bombardment during the Second World War), little has survived from the extensive construction activities of the Adam brothers. But the traditions of their art have long retained their significance in English architecture. The already heavily Hellenized style of the brothers Adam found its continuation in the so-called "Greek revival", the beginning of which dates back to the end of the 18th century - a direction that was not creatively enough original and to a large extent eclectic. This trend reached its full development in English architecture in the first decades of the next, 19th century.