Table of contents:
- The emergence of secular sculpture in Russia
- The first Russian sculptors
- Roots and sources of Russian sculpture
- Form - antique, content - Russian
Video: Roots and sources of Russian sculpture
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
Before Peter I, secular sculpture practically did not exist in Russia.
The emergence of secular sculpture in Russia
Sculptural monuments existed in Russia long before the reformer Tsar Peter I, but they were all related to religious art. These were magnificent examples of wooden figures of saints and decorative reliefs on the facades of churches. And secular sculpture can be called the same age as St. Petersburg, because when Peter began to build a new city, he needed it to exalt the triumphs of the Northern War, to decorate palaces, buildings and even ships.
He invited foreign masters who were fluent in the art of sculpting, and among them - Carlo Rastrelli, Andreas Schlüter, Konrad Osner and Nicola Pino. Peter I bought some sculptural works for the Venice of the North. For example, statues were purchased in Italy to decorate the Summer Garden.
The first Russian sculptors
The birth of Russian sculpture is associated with the founding in St. Petersburg of the Academy of the three most distinguished arts, the idea of creating which dates back to the reforms of Peter, but was carried out only by his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna in 1757. The first president of the academy was Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, one of the most enlightened people of his time, patron, friend and ally of Mikhail Lomonosov.
Ivan Shuvalov was also the founder and curator of Moscow University, where in 1758 sixteen of the most talented young men were selected for training in the "noble arts" and brought to St. Petersburg, where 20 more people were recruited, mainly from "soldiers' children."
The academy was divided into painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving classes. The pedagogical system was strictly regulated and, in accordance with the principles of classicism, focused on the study and creative rethinking of ancient aesthetic norms.
Roots and sources of Russian sculpture
Foreign artists taught at the academy. Sculptural class in 1758-1778 headed by Nicolas François Gillet (1712−1791) - a famous French sculptor, master of portrait and decorative plastic. In Russia, his pedagogical talent was revealed - almost all Russian sculptors of that time were his students.
Fedot Shubin became the first and oldest student of the French master. The son of a Pomor peasant, he in many ways (including in the literal sense) repeated the path of his great compatriot Mikhail Lomonosov, under whose patronage he ended up at the Academy of Arts. He, as well as Theodosius Shchedrin, Mikhail Kozlovsky, Fedor Gordeev and Ivan Prokofiev belong to the first "Shuvalov" generation of the Academy's students.
Russian sculpture was undoubtedly influenced primarily by the art of Italy and France. This was partly due to the fact that it was to these countries that graduates who had earned the Great Gold Medal for their diploma work were sent on retirement trips.
Form - antique, content - Russian
To receive the Big Gold Medal, a sculptor in the 18th century had to carve a bas-relief on a plot from Russian history to glorify the fatherland. Poet and playwright Alexander Sumarokov wrote about the need to depict "the history of his fatherland and the faces of great people in it."
For example, in 1772, it was necessary to create a relief on the plot “Izyaslav Mstislavovich wanted to kill his beloved soldiers without knowing”, about how Izyaslav Mstislavovich, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, waging numerous wars, was almost killed in one of the battles by his own soldiers who did not recognize his.
Theodosius Shchedrin was awarded a large gold medal.
Mikhail Kozlovsky, who had already competed with Shchedrin in 1771 in the competition on the theme "The Baptism of Vladimir", received a small gold medal.
During the period of his search for ways to develop Russian art and to renew the artistic language, Alexander Matveev strove to harmoniously combine in a plastic form the classical tradition and strict constructiveness with clarity and laconicism. The result of his many years of teaching activity was the emergence of the "Leningrad school".
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