Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli is the creator of many amazing, beautiful buildings. Its palaces and religious buildings amaze with its solemnity and magnificence, pride and regality. And this is not surprising. After all, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, whose biography interests many modern architecture lovers, created and created for emperors.
Briefly about childhood
Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli was born in Paris in the family of the talented and famous Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. This happened back in 1700, when France was ruled by Louis XIV. The king greatly appreciated his court sculptor, so the childhood of little Francesco passed in contentment and carelessness.
The boy grew up very inquisitive and diligent. He liked to do something with his own hands, he liked to imitate his father and hone his skills.
Relocation to Russia
After the death of the “Sun King”, Carlo Rastrelli received an invitation from the Russian court for a three-year work in the Northern Kingdom. At that time, it was common for talented craftsmen to go to work in Russia, so Rastrelli Sr., without thinking twice, gathered his family and went to St. Petersburg.
The capital met foreigners favorably. The family settled in their own home, enjoyed respect and honor. Peter I, busy arranging a new city, treated talented artisans kindly and courteously. He, seeing their skill and mastery, supplied specialists with orders, followed by a good, truly royal reward.
The beginning of creativity
From a young age, Bartolomeo Rastrelli was engaged in serious architectural work under the guidance and supervision of his father. For example, he participated in the completion of some of the palaces of Prince Menshikov, an energetic and power-hungry ally of Emperor Peter.
The first relatively independent work of Bartolomeo Rastrelli (by the way, in Russia the young architect was called Bartholomew Varfolomeevich) was the construction of a three-story palace made of natural stone for the most distinguished prince, statesman and scientist Dmitry Kanteminovich.
The architect did not endow his first construction with any distinctive features and properties. No, the palace was erected in accordance with the generally recognized style of Peter I, it was characterized by volumetric completeness, clarity of division and flatness of the facades. Rastrelli will choose his own style a little later.
In 1720, a novice architect traveled several times to France and Italy to get acquainted with new fashion trends and trends in building art.
Political upheaval
In the early 1930s, at the dawn of the reign of Anna Ivanovna, Rastrelli the father decided to establish relations with the new empress and went to her audience, taking his son and drawing drafts with him.
The young queen, gravitating to pomp and sophistication, favorably received talented architects and showed them the honor of starting the construction of her own palace. So the young architect had the opportunity to distinguish himself before the empress. All of his projects have been approved and implemented.
Winter Palace
With the coming to power of Anna Ioannovna, the gifted architect begins the work of his whole life - he is entrusted with completing the main royal palace in St. Petersburg. What does Bartolomeo Rastrelli do? The winter palace, built in the early 1700s, seemed to the Empress small and ordinary, so she happily approved the grandiose plan of an inspired architect, according to which it was necessary to buy four houses standing next to them and erect a magnificent building complex in their place.
A few years later the construction was completed, and before the eyes of Petersburgers a solid four-story building appeared, facing its facades to the Neva and containing almost seventy front rooms and more than a hundred bedrooms, as well as a theater, gallery, chapel and many office and guard rooms.
The palace was skillfully and richly decorated, had round rusticated columns and sculptures of the pediment, and the entire first floor of the house was occupied by huge galleries with arches.
It is noteworthy that Rastrelli had to redo the Winter Palace once again. It happened twenty years later, in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna.
The new empress found the main residence of the Romanovs dirty and not corresponding to her status. She wanted to increase the building in height and length. To do this, it was necessary to demolish the building, and in its place to build a new one, more appropriate for the reception of foreign ministers and celebrations.
What is remarkable about the structure of the new Winter Palace, erected under the supervision of Bartolomeo Rastrelli? The building totaled one and a half thousand rooms and occupied an area equal to sixty thousand cubic meters.
The palace, which has the shape of a huge rectangle, had an internal ceremonial block and a massive, beautifully decorated facade, which was equipped with widely spaced columns and spacious windows, various forms of window frames and numerous vases and statues placed above the parapets.
It is noteworthy that the modern look of the Winter Palace, also called the Hermitage, is almost entirely consistent with the latest project of the great architect.
Architect for Biron
In 1730, Bartolomeo Rastrelli began to communicate closely with Biron, the favorite of Anna Ioannovna. Under the patronage of the uncrowned emperor, the architect becomes the royal architect of the current empress. By the way, Elizaveta Petrovna, who came to power in fifteen years through a palace coup, also used the services of Rastrelli as the chief architect.
For Biron, the architect develops and implements projects for the construction of the Mitava and Rundale palaces. Here, the master creates large-scale buildings, gravitating to a closed structure, where the elongated central building is the dominant element.
With each new drawing, the art of Bartolomeo Rastrelli develops and improves, the lines and techniques are becoming more plastic and relief.
Work on perestroika. Anichkov Palace
With the arrival of the next mistress, a talented architect began to receive interesting and amazing orders, one of which was the completion of construction on the embankment of the Fontanka River, begun by architect Zemtsov.
The magnificent building, erected in the Baroque style, went down in history as Anichkov Palace. Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli supervised the construction and design of an unusual structure, a shape reminiscent of the letter “H”.
Work on perestroika. Peterhof
Rastrelli's next order was the reorganization of Peterhof.
Elizaveta Petrovna wholeheartedly wanted to improve and enrich the residence of her dead father. To do this, she ordered to preserve the Peter's style and atmosphere of that time in the appearance of the building, however, she ordered the building to be given modern splendor and scale.
Bartolomeo Rastrelli managed to expand and modify the palace complex, leaving its expressive central building virtually unchanged. On each side he added buildings and erected new pavilions, connecting them with colorful galleries, and also built on the third floor and developed a picturesque park system.
The most spectacular element of the Peterhof interior is the square front hall with a two-color staircase, decorated with luxurious decoration.
Everything is present here - expensive gilding of objects and chic wall paintings, as well as stucco molding, wood carving and forging.
Work on perestroika. Tsarskoye Selo
Another important construction object that needed to be redone was the summer royal residence, located in Tsarskoye Selo. Her empress considered too old-fashioned and small.
What changes needed to be made in order to improve the Catherine Palace? Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, to satisfy the wishes of the empress, makes perestroika in the Russian Baroque style, sparing neither money nor any other means. The decoration of facades and statues takes more than a hundred kilograms of gold.
In the process of perestroika, the architect moved the front staircase to the southwest side of the palace, exposing the length of the parallel, adjoining front rooms; deepened the hollows of the windows, forming a rich play of chiaroscuro; decorated the facades with stucco and sculpture, decorating them in soft blue and rich golden colors. All this gave the beloved palace of the Empress a festive solemn appearance and rich emotional expression.
New projects
However, the architectural work of Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli was not limited to the restructuring of other people's projects. The architect created his own talented and original drawings, according to which he erected magnificent and solemn buildings. One of these structures was the Smolny Cathedral. Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli performed it in the lush and pretentious style of the Elizabethan baroque, decorated with lucarnes and pediments and painted in a soft light blue color.
The complex of the religious building is made in an unusual and special way. The cathedral was erected by a five-domed one, however, only one single dome (having the largest size) directly relates to the temple, the other four are bell towers.
Another talented creation of the architect is the Stroganov Palace. Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli combined the three buildings into one common facade, in the center of which he installed a portico with a coat of arms, and also made a large main staircase decorated with rich stucco molding and gilded forged railings, and a spacious gallery decorated with a gilded sculpture and huge mirrors.
Inside the building was a grand hall with an area of one hundred twenty-eight square meters.
Sunset creativity
With the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the pompous and expensive baroque style sunk into oblivion, so Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli was out of work. He was replaced by new masters, more knowledgeable in modern art. Having no orders and experiencing financial difficulties, the aging architect decides to ask for a vacation and goes to Italy, supposedly for treatment.
Here, the architect is intensely looking for customers, but he does not succeed. In parallel, the talented Rastrelli learns that Empress Catherine uses the services of another architect. So the great Italian gets a sad resignation and a decent pension of a thousand rubles.
Together with his family (the architect had a beloved wife and two children), Rastrelli leaves Russia. On the way, he meets with his former patron Biron and goes to his homeland in order to rebuild and improve the Courland property of the former regent of the Russian Empire.
They say that the last work of the talented master was the project of the church of St. Simeon and St. Anna, which was presented by the gifted craftsman personally to Count Panin with a request for a reward of twelve thousand rubles. However, the count did not consider it necessary to answer the request of Rastrelli, although he built the church in accordance with the drawings after the death of the architect.
Last days
The last years before his death, the great architect spent in oblivion and loneliness. World art no longer required his new creations, no one asked him about new projects and buildings. A talented master passed his days sadly and gloomily. Especially sad was his existence after the death of his wife.
Historians and art historians do not fully know the exact date of Rastrelli's death. Presumably, he died in March-April 1771. The place of his burial is still unknown.
However, after him there remained a huge, priceless and magnificent heritage - his great creations that have passed through centuries and adversities. They still cause admiration and delight among tourists from all over the world.