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Catherine's tireless ambition to match the
European splendor led her to invite more foreign architects. One of them was
Giacomo Guarenghi, 1744-1817. He was more an artist than an architect, and was
particularly fond of the old architecture of Rome and Pompeii, which he often
studied and liked to draw in his sketch book. Catherine was taken by his
drawings and soon Guarenghi was busy building small churches and country-homes
in and around Tsarskoe Selo, followed by the home of the Academy of Science. In
1782-1785, he built the Hermitage Theater, located on the opposite side of the
Winter Canal. He decorated it outside with many columns and statues. The
English Palace and the park in Peterhof, 1784-1790, was another important
accomplishment of Guarenghi. His major work was the new palace, later renamed
Alexander's Palace, in Tsarskoe Selo, (Pushkin) which Catherine erected in
1792-1796 for her grand-son, the future Emperor Alexander I.
Russians usually divide their neo-classical style into two periods:
"Classicism," which appeared in the last quarter of the 18th century.
Alexander's palace is somewhere in between the two, but mostly a Palladian
countryside composition with outbuildings, one on each side, and double
colonnades that connect them with the palace. Some Soviet art students consider
the palace one of the best in the world's architecture. Guarenghi was kept busy
most of the time. His important works (after the palace) are the Chapel for the
Knights of Malta, 1800, the manege for the guard of the imperial cavalry,
1880-1804; Maria's (presently Kuibishev's) Hospital, built on the initiative of
Empress Maria, wife of Paul I, to be used for the poor only; and a new building
for the Smolnii Institute for young girls. Smolnii served as Lenin"s
headquarters during the revolution, and presently it serves as the Saint
Petersburg city hall.
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