{short description of image}  
 

RUSSIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
THROUGH THE CENTURIES

 
 

Ivan I. Shuvalov

 
 

Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, 1727-1797, trustee and founder of the Moscow University, started to work on the problem. He was genuinely interested in art and the education of his people, to which he dedicated all his life. He was a close friend of many Russian scholars, particularly Lomonosov, whom he assisted several times n his cultural projects and undertakings. It is very possible that they also discussed the idea of establishing the academy. Shuvalov's relations with other intellectuals, were not only domestic. He corresponded with Voltaire, and sent him the material for his History of Peter the Great. In 1756 or 1757 Shuvalov submitted to the Senate a proposal for the establishment of "The Academy of the Three Fine Arts." His intimate friendship with Elizabeth, whom Shuvalov's family helped climb to the Russian throne, secured favorable consideration of the project. In 1758 the Academy was formally established as part of Moscow University, though it actually operated independently in Saint Petersburg. The aim of the Academy was to promote the arts and become their highest authority in the country, and Shuvalov did much to get it off to a good start. He attracted young, talented men to enlist and offered them a free education. Most of the best Russian architects and painters were trained a the Academy.

 
 

GO BACK
NEXT

 

Return to Xenophon. Return to Ruscity. Return to Rushistory. Return to Ukraine.