RASTELLI, BARTOLOMEO FRANCESCO(Bartholomew Varfolomeevich) (Rastrelli, Bartolomeo Francesco) (1700–1771), architect, the largest representative of Baroque architecture in Russia.

Born in Paris, in the family of the Italian sculptor B.K. Rastrelli ( Cm. RASTELLI, BARTOLOMEO CARLO). In 1716, together with his father, who was invited to Russian service, he came to St. Petersburg. In 1725–1730 he studied abroad, most likely in Italy.

The young architect’s first independent work (before that he had completed a project for the park development of the Strelna manor entrusted to his father) was the house of the Moldavian ruler A. Cantemir in St. Petersburg (1721–1727). Appointed in 1730 as the court architect of Empress Anna Ivanovna, he designed for her a wooden palace on the banks of the Yauza (Annengof in Lefortovo; not preserved), as well as a new one, the so-called. third Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (1732–1736). In 1736–1740 he built palaces for Count Biron in Rundale (Ruentale) and Mitava (Jelgava) in Courland (now Latvia). The most significant among Rastrelli's early works was the wooden Summer Palace in St. Petersburg (main works 1741–1744), which was subsequently dismantled during the construction of the Engineering Castle. All these buildings are characterized by a very restrained baroque style with fairly flat facades and a moderate use of sculpture; Without departing too far from the architecture of Peter the Great's time in the sense of moderate decoration, Rastrelli at the same time preserves and even enhances (especially in the Summer Palace) its inherent spatial scope. His ability to think spatially and spatially, in a wide landscape, was facilitated by his gift as a graphic artist (Rastrelli’s drawings and sketches belong to the masterpieces of European architectural drawing of the 18th century).

The highest flowering of the master's creativity comes in the middle of the century. In 1745–1757, he led the reconstruction of the royal residences in Peterhof (now Petrodvorets) and Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin). Having connected the previous buildings into integral ensembles, he unites them with a common rhythm using facades of enormous length and internal ceremonial enfilades, to which the entire layout is subordinated - according to the “gallery-block” principle. In Peterhof, the architect transformed and significantly increased Grand Palace, re-creating almost the entire interior decoration. The Tsarskoe Selo Grand Palace, also practically created anew, is particularly grandiose and splendid; Baroque here reaches its utmost plastic splendor in the complex alternation of columns, window openings, sculptures and architectural decoration; A major role, which is generally typical for the master’s work, is played by the coloring of the walls (in this case, intense turquoise). In all cases, the striking luxury of the interior design (with an abundance of mirrors, gilded carvings, decorative paintings, etc.) is combined with an extraordinary - and at the same time thoughtful - scale. Sophistication and scale merge together in the arrangement of the main entrances to buildings and park areas (in Tsarskoye Selo Park, Rastrelli, in particular, completed the Hermitage pavilion begun by S.I. Chevakinsky and built the Grotto). In 1754–1762, according to Rastrelli’s designs, a new Winter Palace was erected, which also amazes with the union of picturesque luxury of façade plasticity and general silhouette with the logical rigor of the layout, visibly subordinating the vast urban area.

Among Rastrelli's other works are the Vorontsovsky (1749–1757) and Stroganovsky (1752–1754) palaces in St. Petersburg. In addition to palace architecture, the master radically updated Russian church architecture: in 1747–1750 he created a project for recreating the collapsed tent of the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow (later decorating the interior of the cathedral with rich stucco decoration), as well as a project for St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Kyiv, which was built in 1748–1767 conducted by I.F. Michurin. The largest of his church buildings, as well as his last great work, was the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg (1748–1764) with residential buildings and churches arranged in an ensemble around the central Resurrection Cathedral; the latter, like St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv, is centric in plan, combining Western Baroque innovations with traditional Russian five-domes.

With the coming to power of Catherine II, the fashion for baroque went away, and the Smolny Monastery, although already established as an ensemble, remained unfinished (in particular, the giant bell tower planned by Rastrelli was not erected). Having ceased receiving orders, the master retired from the post of chief architect in 1763. In 1764 he decorated the Bironovsky palaces in Mitau and Ruenthal. In 1762 and 1767 he traveled to Italy in the hope of improving his affairs (including by exporting paintings by Italian artists for sale in Russia).

The formation and development of secular sculpture in Russia is associated with the work of Rastrelli Sr. Rastrelli Jr. left a rich architectural heritage.

Thanks to the sculptor Carlo Rastrelli, new types of sculpture appeared for Russian art: an equestrian monument, sculptural groups. Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli had no sculptor students; only Russian apprentices worked with him and learned from him. But he did have one student - his son, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675-1744)

Italian sculptor Carlo Rastrelli worked in the Baroque style. He was also a metal foundry worker and a trained architect. He lived and worked in Rome, but at the invitation of Peter I in 1716 he arrived in Russia to cast cannons, as well as for artistic work to decorate the new Russian capital. And he stayed in Russia forever. Soon after his arrival in St. Petersburg, Rastrelli began work on the first monument in Russia - the equestrian sculpture of Peter I. But this monument took a very long time to be created, several decades, and in the meantime Carlo Rastrelli took up sculpture. And the first work was a bust of A. D. Menshikov in bronze.

Carlo Rastrelli. Bust of A.D. Menshikov (1716-1717). State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)
HELL. Menshikov- an associate of Peter I. This portrait, kept by Menshikov’s descendants, was seen by the artist V.I. Surikov. In his painting “Menshikov in Berezovo” he borrowed many of Menshikov’s characteristic features from this portrait of Rastrelli.

The bust of Peter I by B. K. Rastrelli is one of the most significant works of Russian sculpture of the 18th century. The character of Peter I is clearly visible in it: intelligence, energy, will. The work is considered completely reliable, because Rastrelli used a wax cast of Peter's face, taken in 1719. The bust was cast in 1723, but only 6 years later the engraver Semange completed work on chasing the details of the clothing.

Carlo Rastrelli. Bronze bust of Peter I. State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)

By 1747, the bronze equestrian monument of Peter I in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg was finally completed, although the sculptor Carlo Rastrelli made a model of the monument during the life of Peter I. For about 50 years, different places for installing the monument were considered. And all this time he himself remained under a wooden canopy near the Trinity Bridge.
The monument was finally erected on a pedestal only in 1800. The pedestal was made according to a drawing by the Russian architect Fyodor Volkov. The granite pedestal is lined with Olonets marble in white, pink and greenish shades and decorated with two bronze bas-reliefs: “Battle of Poltava” and “Battle of Gangut”, as well as an allegorical composition with trophies. The bas-reliefs were executed by sculptors I. I. Terebenev, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, I. E. Moiseev under the direction of M. I. Kozlovsky. By order of Emperor Paul I, the inscription “For great-grandfather - great-grandson” was made on the pedestal.

Carlo Rastrelli. Monument to Peter the Great near Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg
Another wonderful work by Carlo Rastrelli is a group sculpture.

Carlo Rastrelli “Anna Ioannovna with a Little Little Arab” (1741). State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg)
In 1741-3174. Rastrelli made ceremonial medallions with chest-length portraits of Emperor Peter I and his daughter, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Initially they were cast in tin, but later they were often replicated in bronze, cast iron and painted papier-mâché.

Carlo Rastrelli. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1740s). Tin. Moscow Kremlin Museums
But, as we remember, Rastrelli Sr. was an architect by training. He participated in the design of the Strelninsky Palace for Peter the Great. They had already begun to dig canals and plant trees under his leadership in the park, but the architect J.-B. arrived in Russia. Leblond with his project, and the tsar liked his project better, so further work was carried out without Rastrelli’s participation. The French architect and master of landscape architecture Jean-Baptiste Leblond was the chief architect of St. Petersburg from 1716 until his death in 1719.

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-1771)

Lucas Conrad Pfandzelt. Portrait of Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli
Francesco Rastrelli is a Russian architect of Italian origin, academician of architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1771). The most prominent representative of the so-called Elizabethan Baroque. He is the author of the most famous monuments Petersburg and its environs. Art critics believe that Rastrelli Jr. owes his successful career to his father. Francesco Rastrelli built the Winter Palace, Smolny Cathedral, and the Great Palaces in Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo. Francesco's son Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Joseph Yakov) died of cholera very young, and the creative Rastrelli dynasty was interrupted.
So, the initial professional education Francesco received his education under the guidance of his father, then traveled to Europe several times to study. His first early works were not distinguished by originality and were in line with Peter the Great's Baroque. In the early 1740s, Francesco Rastrelli became the chief architect of Empress Anna Ioannovna, and then of her successor Elizabeth. He is looking for his own style: he travels to Moscow twice and gets acquainted with traditional Russian architecture.
The period of the architect's creative heyday began with the construction of a wooden summer palace for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg (not preserved). From 1747 to 1752 he worked on the Great Palace in Peterhof.

Grand Palace (Peterhof)

The central part of the southern facade of the palace. Architect Francesco Rastrelli

The building was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War and restored in 1952. The palace has approximately 30 rooms, including richly decorated state rooms, plastered to resemble marble, with painted ceilings, inlaid parquet and gilded walls.

Main staircase. Allegories of Summer and Spring
The dance hall was created in 1751-1752. and completely preserved Rastrelli's plan. The abundance of mirrors creates the effect of multiplied space.

Dance hall

The decoration is dominated by gilded wood carvings. The ornamental pattern of inlaid parquet made of maple, walnut, light and dark oak complements the interior.

Picture hall
In 1747, Rastrelli created a sketch of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kyiv. The cathedral was built by Russian architect I.F. Michurin.

St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kyiv
In 1752-1757 Francesco Rastrelli rebuilt Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin)

Winter Palace

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Winter Palace
This palace building (the fifth) was designed and built in 1754-1762. Francesco Rastrelli in the Elizabethan Baroque style with elements of French Rococo in the interiors. Since Soviet times, the main exhibition of the State Hermitage has been housed within the walls of the palace.
The building has about 1,500 rooms. The total area of ​​the palace is about 60,000 m². Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the completion of construction, which was accepted by Peter III in 1762. By this time, the decoration of the facades was completed, but many of the interior spaces were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne, construction was completed Winter Palace already under Catherine II. She removed Rastrelli from his work. The interior decoration of the palace was carried out by the architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi under the direction of I. I. Betsky, Catherine's personal secretary.

Smolny Monastery

The Smolny Monastery was built under the personal supervision of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who wished to retire here at the end of her life. The project was created by Francesco Rastrelli.
The monastery complex was to include a temple with house churches and a high bell tower, as well as an institute for girls from noble families.
In 1764, Catherine II established an institute for noble maidens at the monastery.
The outbreak of war with Prussia prevented construction - there were not enough funds. Construction progressed slowly. In 1797 the monastery was abolished. The cathedral of the former monastery was completed by the architect Vasily Stasov only in 1835.
On October 24, 1763, by imperial decree, Francesco Rastrelli was dismissed “due to old age and poor health.” At the beginning of August 1764, he and his family left St. Petersburg.
The date of death and burial place of Rastrelli are unknown. There is an assumption that he died in Courland, in Mitava (now Jelgava), and was buried next to his wife Maria near the Reformed Church. His grave was destroyed during World War II.
According to the design of Francesco Rastrelli, the Mitava (or Jelgava) Palace, the largest Baroque palace in the Baltic states, was built in Mitau. It was built as a ceremonial city residence of the Dukes of Courland and Semigallia in their capital Mitau.

Mitava (Jelgava) Palace
The Mitavsky Palace is not considered one of Rastrelli’s artistic successes due to the monotony of the facade design, the absence of a palace park, etc.
Since 1961, the building has housed the Latvian University of Agriculture.

The architect Francesco Rastrelli was also an outstanding civil engineer. He understood perfectly well how it was necessary to erect buildings on soft soils in the conditions of St. Petersburg.
In the religious buildings of B.F. Rastrelli combined elements of European Baroque, which he acquired in his youth during trips to Europe, with Russian architectural traditions.
In total, 12 Rastrelli buildings have survived: Rundāle Palace (present-day Latvia), Mitavsky Palace, Great Peterhof Palace and the Church of the Great Peterhof Palace, St. Andrew's Church (Kiev), Smolny Cathedral (St. Petersburg), Vorontsov Palace (St. Petersburg), Great Catherine Palace, Grotto Pavilion "(Tsarskoe Selo), the Hermitage pavilion (Tsarskoe Selo), the Tsar's Palace (Kyiv), the Stroganov Palace (St. Petersburg), the Winter Palace.

Vorontsov Palace. Architect Francesco Rastrelli (Baroque style)
Unfortunately, for various reasons, not all of Carlo Rastrelli’s works have survived: 6 buildings have been lost.

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was born in Paris in 1700 in the family of the famous architect and sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli and a Spanish noblewoman. Francesco's father, Bartolomeo Carlo, at the end of 1715 accepted an offer from the Russian ambassador to go to Russia for three years to serve under Peter I. Already in February 1716, Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg with his sixteen-year-old son, his closest assistant. Francesco Bartolomeo found himself in his youth at a huge construction site of the new Russian capital, which was growing with amazing speed on the islands of the Neva delta. Rastrelli saw nothing like this grandiose construction either in his homeland or in other countries of Western Europe, and nowhere in the world at that time was there any construction even remotely similar in scale and boldness of design to the development of St. Petersburg.

The young architect’s first independent work in St. Petersburg was the construction from 1721 to 1727 of a palace on Millionnaya Street for the Moldavian ruler Antioch Cantemir. As researchers of Francesco’s work note, this was still student work. Nevertheless, the student’s talent was felt in the arrangement of the volumes. Between 1727 and 1730, Rastrelli created a project for a stone palace with a garden for Prince Ivan Dolgoruky and a project for a new Arsenal building in Moscow. In 1730, Rastrelli began building a wooden palace in the Moscow Kremlin, which was later moved to a new royal residence on the banks of the Yauza.

Rastrelli's talent as a skilled architect truly revealed itself during the reign of Anna Ioannovna. Rastrelli received his first order from the all-powerful favorite of the Empress Biron in the spring of 1732: to build a spacious and comfortable arena on the vacant lot between Nevsky and Bolshaya Morskaya. He successfully copes with this task. In the autumn of 1734, Biron again called upon the architect to instruct him to build a castle in Courland in Ruenthal - the day of the foundation of the palace - May 24, 1736.

After the coup of 1740, which was carried out by Minich in favor of Anna Leopoldovna, mother of John VI, Rastrelli was ordered to stop all work in Courland and urgently report to St. Petersburg. Minich, who had now become the first minister, instructed him to build the Russian Versailles in the Summer Garden for the new ruler Anna Leopoldovna. At the end of February 1741, Rastrelli prepared a project for the new Summer Palace, and in June of the same year, its foundation stone took place in a solemn ceremony.

In November 1741, another palace coup took place, which brought the daughter of Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna, to the royal throne. At first, the new reign for Rastrelli did not bode well. For the first two months, no one remembered him. Then he was demanded to explain why he was listed as chief architect. In addition to all the troubles, a verbal order followed: not to give any orders to the Italian. Zemtsov, who knew Rastrelli well and tried in every possible way to attract him to work, began to run all architectural affairs.

Elizaveta Petrovna longed to have her own luxurious palaces and was forced to turn to Rastrelli. In the spring of 1744, she instructs him to complete the construction and interior decoration of the Summer Palace, and a few months later - to continue the construction of the Anichkov Palace, begun by Zemtsov.

In 1749, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on the construction of the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg and entrusted it to Rastrelli. Rastrelli did not have to finish the cathedral building: in 1757 construction (started in 1748) was suspended due to the Seven Years' War. Despite the incompleteness of construction, the Smolny Monastery, not only in design, but also in execution, remains one of the most significant and integral works of Rastrelli, one of the remarkable architectural ensembles XVIII century. While working on the construction of the Smolny Monastery in December 1745, Rastrelli received a new order from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to begin construction of the Upper Chambers in Peterhof.

After a trip to Peterhof and a thorough study of the condition of the palace, Rastrelli presented his project to the queen, which was approved in March 1746. Rastrelli's final project was approved on April 7, 1747. The architect completed all major work on the reconstruction of the Great Peterhof Palace in three years. Rastrelli also completed interior decorative projects. It took another five years.

Best of the day

On June 15, 1752, Elizaveta Petrovna held a reception for the first time in the renovated Peterhof Palace. The courtiers and invited guests who attended were delighted with the external splendor and interior decoration of the palace.

But the Peterhof Palace served as a preparation for a much more significant and integral work of the architect - the Great (Catherine) Palace of Tsarskoe Selo. Rastrelli's work in Tsarskoe Selo began in 1748. Initially, they consisted mainly of alterations to the old palace. In 1752, Rastrelli began a new reconstruction of the entire building. The Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo is one of the most grandiose palace compositions of the 18th century. In terms of its scale, the integrity of its spatial structure, the unity of façade motifs and interior decoration, and the unusual saturation of architectural forms with plasticity and color, this work by Rastrelli is a one-of-a-kind phenomenon.

In terms of its interior decoration, the Catherine Palace was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable palace buildings in the world. On February 16, 1753, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on the construction of a new Winter Palace. However, it passed more than a year, before the fourth project of the Winter Palace was finally approved. According to Rastrelli, the Winter Palace is built on Palace Meadow. The square in front of the palace will be surrounded by a gallery with a wide gap opposite it.

In July 1754, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a personal decree on the start of construction, while the Empress expected a period of two years. On December 25, 1761, Elizaveta Petrovna died without ever moving to the Winter Palace. The new Emperor Peter III ordered the palace to be quickly finished military-style by April 6, 1762. Surprisingly, in such a short period of time they managed to finish about a hundred rooms, a theater, a church and a gallery.

The palace is the pinnacle of the Russian Baroque of the mid-18th century, its completion and the beginning of the end. It was in the Winter Palace that Rastrelli perfected the compositional and architectural techniques that he had used in all previous years. Paradoxical as it may seem, it was Peter III who was the only one of all the sovereigns and empresses under whom Rastrelli worked who awarded the architect for his work. He awarded Rastrelli the rank of major general and the Order of St. Anne. This was the last favor of fortune for the Italian.

On June 28, 1762, Catherine II came to power. From that time on, clouds began to gather over Rastrelli's head. They stopped giving him orders, believing that his Baroque style had become unfashionable. The chief architect asked to be given leave, and on August 10, 1762, Catherine II signed a corresponding decree. Rastrelli and his family go to his homeland, Italy. A year later he returns with the secret hope that he will return to work again. But during his absence the situation worsened. Rastrelli learns, in particular, that the architect Wallen-Delamot is remodeling the inner chambers of the Winter Palace. He submits his resignation. On October 23, 1763, Catherine II decided to dismiss the chief architect Francesco Bartolomeo de Rastrelli and assign him a pension of one thousand rubles a year.

In 1764, Rastrelli went to Mitava, the capital of Courland, to his old patron and well-wisher Ernst Johann Biron. He worked for almost a year in Mitau and Ruenthal. But soon the son of Ernst Johann Biron, Peter, who now managed all affairs, made it clear that he wanted to take on the young architect. This meant nothing more than a polite refusal of Rastrelli's services.

In February 1769, Rastrelli again went to Italy with a commercial goal - to buy paintings by Italian painters there in order to then resell them in St. Petersburg. There is no news of how successful this commercial action was, but something else is known - Rastrelli’s request to be accepted as a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts was granted on January 9, 1771. Seventy-nine days later, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli died.

I'm thinking about what to come back here with. There are now ten photo travelers per megabyte, so everyone has long been gorging themselves on travel reports. I offer those who are a little more interested in architecture a new idea. Let's post architectural graphics here - projects, plans, measurements. There is clearly a lack of this material on Russian architecture on the Internet. Graphics have been published a lot, but not everyone has these particular books, or, better said, there are some, but not others. It would be nice to collect such an online collection of beautiful drawings. In concept, any architecture is always better than its implementation, it is more imaginative and more expensive. And then everything is as usual. depends on the budget. It makes sense to create a visual series of architectural graphics, which would include not only those buildings that have been built, but also those plans that remain on paper. Something here has often been posted on this topic, but in fragments or in addition to photographs of monuments or stories about their history. I propose to introduce a special genre of posts into the community - a selection of architectural graphics on any topic. It can be by author, it can be by building or complex. Or something else. Naturally, they will be shared in hundreds of shares, and that’s good. Let the Internet be filled with high-quality and in-demand content, otherwise there is not a fountain of such materials yet.

Let's start with Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-1771) . The main figure of the Russian Baroque, the court architect of two empresses, Anna Ioannovna and especially Elizabeth, for whom he built all her luxurious palaces. Rastrelli's drawings are now kept in various collections, and much has been published. Of the Russian collections, the largest are in the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg and the Hermitage. From foreign ones - in the People's Library in Warsaw and the Vienna Albertina. Scans of varying quality from literature about Rastrelli’s work and museum catalogues.

Graphics of the early period of the 1730s. Palace of the Duke of Courland Biron in Rundale, founded in 1736, completed and completed after the Duke returned from exile in 1762. The tower with passage to the inner courtyard was never built.








Plan of the entire palace and park ensemble in Rundale


Second Biron Palace(and in terms of status even the first) since 1738 it was built in the capital of Courland Mitava, present-day Jelgava. The palace was unlucky; it was never finished off with all its pomp, and what was there was repeatedly burned in fires. Now there is an agricultural academy there.






Further drawings wooden Summer Palace of Elizabeth, which was built in 1741-1744 and dismantled by order of Paul I to make way for his Mikhailovsky Castle (in which the emperor was killed).




Moscow Elizabeth Palace, also wooden, in Perov, which then belonged to the Empress’s favorite Alexei Razumovsky. The palace also has not existed for a long time.


Another Moscow Imperial Palace, in the village of Pokrovskoye. It has been preserved, although rebuilt beyond recognition as an almshouse, and is located on Gastello Street.


Srednerogatsky Palace of Elizabeth, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, built in 1751-1754. Recently demolished. in 1971.


One of early versions reconstruction and expansion Great Peterhof Palace, 1746.


Below are design drawings for the reconstruction of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. 1749-1756.






And the last of the Elizabethan residences - Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, 1753-1762






Next are Rastrelli's interiors, mainly for the Winter and Catherine Palaces. In general, there are few Rastrelli interiors left, and most of those are restoration remodels after war destruction. In Winter, almost everything was redone under Catherine in classicism, and then burned down in a big fire in 1837 and was partially recreated by Stasov, such as the Jordan Staircase.




Rastrelli's stoves are like independent architectural forms, either church bell towers or park pavilions.




Triumphal niche for Elizabeth's throne.




Hermitage Pavilion in Tsarskoe Selo. 1748 Excellently preserved and recently restored.


The Grotto Pavilion is also for Tsarskoye Selo. 1749-1761. Preserved, but partially lost decoration


Monbijou hunting pavilion in Tsarskoye Selo. 1754, reconstruction of the original building of S.I. Chevakinsky. Then Adam Menelas rebuilt the pavilion again, resulting in it becoming the Arsenal on the edge of the park. Now abandoned, but still standing. First version of the project.

Second final version

Roller coaster in Tsarskoe Selo, built in 1754. Dismantled due to disrepair in 1795.




Orthodox Church in Mitau(Jelgava), rebuilt beyond recognition at the end of the 19th century

Recreation Project rotunda tent in the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow. The project was implemented under the leadership of Karl Blank. Destroyed during the war, it is now being rebuilt for the second time.

Smolny Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg. Laid down in 1748. An early project where the corner bell towers of the cathedral are widely spaced, and a completely different bell tower than the one that they ultimately decided to build. This project influenced the appearance of the bell tower of the cathedral complex in Kostroma, built by Vorotilov. And that, in turn, influenced the spread of the characteristic type of bell towers with a recognizable curved ending throughout the Kostroma province and neighboring Volga territories.


Plan for this project option


Side façade of the approved design option Smolny Cathedral. But during construction, they decided to connect the chapters together, which was done.


Section of the cathedral. You can see how Rastrelli intended the interior. His plan was never fully realized. Elizabeth died, and Catherine was not going to continue the costly construction in accordance with the project. The interior was made much more modest and in a different era, according to Stasov’s design.

Also, the tall 140-meter high Bell tower, the top of which transparently hinted at the bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Moscow Kremlin.

Among Rastrelli's projects there is such an original drawing churches triangular configuration. The project is close to similar designs for triangular churches (usually dedicated to the Holy Trinity), common in the Italian and German Baroque. It is unknown for which place this particular drawing was intended. It was never implemented.

Rastrelli’s plan was not fully realized either. Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt, 1757. Due to cost savings, Elizabeth handed over the construction to J.B., who arrived from France. Vallin-Delamot, who greatly expanded Rastrelli's project, abandoning all the magnificent details of the Baroque. The drawing shows how Rastrelli wanted the clock tower above the central entrance to the building to look.

This is how he was, the chief architect of Her Majesty’s Court, Count Rastrelli of the Italian nation...

Rastrelli's projects included in the selection were published in books:
Denisov Yu, Petrov A. Architect Rastrelli. Materials for the study of creativity. L., 1963
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Architectural projects from the collection of the State Museum of History of St. Petersburg. Catalog. St. Petersburg, 2000
Three centuries of Russian estate. Painting, graphics, photography. Fine chronicle of the 17th - early 20th centuries. Album catalog. M., 2004
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and Tsarskoe Selo. St. Petersburg, 2010
Lancmanis Imants. Jelgavas pils. 2006

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was the court architect of Peter I and all the monarchs of the era of palace coups. He designed and built the Grand Palace in Peterhof, the Winter and Vorontsov Palaces, Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg, Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. And at the end of his career, Rastrelli became a major general, holder of the Order of St. Anne and academician of architecture.

Early work under Peter I and his heirs

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was born in Paris in 1700. His father, the court sculptor and architect Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, taught his son the craft from an early age.

In 1716, after the death of King Louis XIV of France, the Rastrelli family moved to St. Petersburg. The head of the family entered the service of the court of Peter I and in the city under construction on the Neva he cast cannons and sculptures for interiors. Francesco helped his father design palaces and continued to study - he traveled to Italy, Germany, and France.

Great Catherine Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1752-1756. Photo: Alexander Shchepin / Lori Photobank

Vorontsov Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1749-1757. Photo: A.Savin / Wikipedia

Four years later, Rastrelli began the first independent project- a palace on Millionnaya Street for the Moldovan statesman Dmitry Cantemir. The exterior of the palace was designed in the Baroque style, fashionable in Europe in those years. Rastrelli planned the building so that there were reception halls along the embankment, and on the other side there were rest rooms. On the ground floor there is a spacious lobby, above it there is a high main hall with stucco moldings and carved fireplaces, which were made by Rastrelli the father. The palace was completed after the death of Peter I during the reign of Catherine I.

After a successful debut project, representatives of the Russian nobility began to approach Rastrelli with orders. In 1730, the architect built a palace for Prince Ivan Dolgoruky.

Unfinished palaces under Anna Ioannovna and Anna Leopoldovna

In 1730, Anna Ioannovna ascended the throne. The Baroque style was still in fashion, and Rastrelli received more and more orders. In the same year, he built for the empress the wooden Winter and Summer Palaces in Moscow, and the Manege between Nevsky Prospekt and Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg. And a little later he took on the Rundāle Castle of Ernst Johann Biron’s favorite in Courland (a region of modern Latvia).

Rastrelli not only designed the Courland Palace and the regular park in front of it, but also supervised the construction himself: he entered into contracts with suppliers of labor and materials.

Great Peterhof Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli and others 1745-1755. Photo: Alexander Tarasenkov / Lori Photobank

Smolny Cathedral. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1748-1764. Photo: Igor Litvyak / Lori Photobank

The central part of the castle was built first. Instead of strip foundations, Rastrelli built pile foundations with grillage platforms made of natural stone. So he managed to distribute the load on the ground under parts of buildings of different heights. He used the same type of foundation in other projects. The walls of the palace were built of brick, and the roof was made of a new material - tinned tin. It was expensive and looked like silver. Rastrelli did not have time to complete the side blocks: Ernst Biron became the Duke of Courland and commissioned the Italian to build a residence in Mitau. By this time, Rastrelli's style had changed: the architect stopped using cladding of facades with crushed stone, and moved from pilasters - rectangular projections - to semi-columns, which he grouped in triplets or pairs. He designed the windows with a semicircular top and an abundance of carved elements and stucco on the frames typical of the Baroque.

Mitau Castle was also not completed. After the palace coup in favor of Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna, Rastrelli returned to St. Petersburg. Here, by order of the first minister Burchard Christoph von Münnich, he began to build the Summer Palace in the Summer Garden. The next change of monarch in November 1741 prevented the completion of this project.

Rastrelli's projects under Elizaveta Petrovna

Elizabeth I became the founder of Gallomania in Russia: during her reign, a fashion for everything French appeared. Rastrelli, who had collaborated with the Germans Biron and Minich for a long time, fell out of favor with the Empress for almost three years. Mikhail Zemtsov became the court architect, who knew Rastrelli and involved him in various projects, and after Zemtsov’s death, Elizaveta Petrovna reinstated Rastrelli himself in his position. As chief architect, he completed both the Anichkov Palace according to Zemtsov’s design and his own Summer Palace in the Summer Garden.

Winter Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1754-1762. Photo: Vitas / Photobank Lori

Stroganov Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1753-1754. Photo: Alexander Alekseev / Lori Photobank

During the reign of Elizabeth I, Rastrelli created his most large-scale buildings: the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery, the Great Peterhof Palace, the Great Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. About Rastrelli’s project, Ivan Michurin built St. Andrew’s Church and the royal residence in Kyiv. Simultaneously with imperial commissions, Rastrelli continued to carry out orders from the nobility, for example, he built the palaces of Count Mikhail Vorontsov and Baron Sergei Stroganov. Private buildings were built similar to imperial residences, but were smaller and distinguished by restrained design.

In 1754, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on the construction of a new Winter Palace according to the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The Winter Palace was built on the banks of the Neva, the area in front of the palace was surrounded by galleries, and the Jordan Stairs led to the water, along which on Epiphany they descended to the ice hole-Jordan. The Empress expected that the palace would be ready within two years. However, in 1761, Elizabeth I died, and the palace was completed under Emperor Peter III.

For the first time in his long service, Francesco Rastrelli received a reward for his work from the hands of the monarch - he became a Knight of the Order of St. Anne. Peter III awarded the Italian the rank of major general.

Resignation under Catherine II

The rise to power of Catherine II in 1762 coincided with the decline of the Baroque style in architecture. In addition, the empress did not approve of excessive spending on gilded decor and other excesses. Rastrelli was left without orders. When the architect was on vacation in Italy, Catherine II commissioned Jean-Baptiste-Michel Vallin-Delamote, a professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, to remodel the interior of the Winter Palace. Having learned about this, Rastrelli returned to St. Petersburg and resigned.

Rundāle Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1736-1768. Photo: Joanna Malesa / Lori Photobank

Mitavsky Palace. Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 1738-1772. Photo: Boris Suntsov / Lori Photobank

Soon Ernst Biron returned from exile and hired an architect to complete the construction of the Rundale and Mitau castles in Courland. But even here Rastrelli did not stay long: Biron’s son replaced him with a young Danish architect. In 1766, Rastrelli went to Berlin and tried to get an appointment with the Prussian King Frederick II, a connoisseur of Baroque and Rococo. However, the king did not accept him and advised him to make engravings based on the sketches and organize an exhibition. In January 1771, three months before the death of the architect, academicians of the Imperial Academy of Arts decided to accept Rastrelli "among the most eminent members of the Imperial Academy of Arts as an honorary free associate".

When and where the master of Russian Baroque died is unknown. The date of death is considered to be April 29, 1771, when Catherine II, by decree, ordered the payment of Rastrelli’s pension to his heir, Francesco Bartoliati.