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Russian Patrons and Italian Artists in the
18th Century Sergey Androsov’s book deals with a broad group of issues relating to the history of art collecting in Russia. Its distinguishing feature is to put into scholarly circulation a large amount of material previously unknown to researchers. This consists firstly of unpublished documents about Russian orders and the purchase of paintings and sculptures in Italy, as well as the little known paintings which one way or another are linked to Russian buyers of art. Several works are given a new interpretation and dating. The period under examination is between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. The book allows us to follow the development of tastes and also of Russian society itself over the course of a century, from Peter the Great to Alexander I. The first three chapters are devoted to the Petrine period and deal with little known aspects of the history of Peter’s activities as art patron. In chapter one there is an attempt to create a generalized image of the Russian tsar as a collector of works of fine art and to analyze his interests and tastes. Chapter two sheds light on and tat tsar as a collector of works of fine art and to analyze heer the couseulptures in Italy the activities of the first sculptors in Russia who arrived from Western Europe in the 1690’s and remained here for a long time. The author uses archival documents to trace in detail the work in Moscow and Petersburg of Franz Ludwig Ziegler (died in 1727) from Switzerland and Giovanni Francesco Rossi (died in 1725) from Italy, and he attempts for the first time to link their names with specific sculptures. He attributes to Ziegler an excellent bust in wood that is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and which is considered by published sources to be a portrait of the young Prince A.D. Menshikov. Rossi appears to be the author of the well known bas reliefs and stucco statues which decorate the Church of the Omen in Dubrovtsy, as well as the stylistically similar heir names with concrete sclreliefs in the Church of the Apparition of God Monastery and the Church of Archangel Gabriel in Moscow. Chapter three examines the history of the invitation to Russia of the Italian painters Alessandro Grevenbruck and Tommaso Redi. It is quite remarkable that the correspondence of the Russian agent with Redi finds confirmation in a biography of the artist compiled shortly after his death. Unfortunately, the negotiations both times ended in failure. The subsequent chapters tell of contacts between Russian patrons and outstanding Italian artists who never came to Russia but made works to order for their Russian clients. At the earliest stage one can speak of the interest in Italian masters on the part of a specific private art lover. Such were the relations between Prince Antioch Kantemir and Giacopo Amigoni. The two met in England. The artist executed a number of portraits for the Russian ambassador and they were dispatched to Petersburg. The correspondence between Kantemir and Amigoni is especially interesting. It reflects the theatrical and musical life of London during the years 1737-1739. Count Mikhail Vorontsov not only ordered from Giovanni Batista Tiepolo painted ceilings for his palace (which have not survived to our day but are known to us from engravings), but he also tried to induce the painter to work on the decoration of the Winter Palace, which was being built at the time. This project was not implemented due to bureaucratic procrastination from the side of the Chancellery for Construction. Until now there was almost no information available about the Russian patrons of Francesco Guardi. A recently published series of engravings showing scenes of Petersburg is signed by Francesco Guardi. It is possible that they were commissioned by Count Kirill Razumovsky and that the intermediary was the court musician Domenico dall’ Olio. Androsov takes a fresh look at the history of the sojourn in Venice in January 1782 of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and his spouse Maria Fedorovna. The two traveled under the name of the Count and Countess Severny (North). As we know, Guardi dedicated a series of paintings to the Grand Duke and they were dispersed among various collections. It is believed that the client was the Marquis Panno Maruzzi, Russian consul in Venice. Finally, in the last chapter, Androsov makes use of Antonio Canova’s correspondence to study his relations with his Russian patrons - Prince Nikolai Yusupov and Count Nikolai Rumiantsev. New materials make it possible to reconstruct more accurately the history of the creation of the sculptural group Cupid and Psyche and of the statue Winged Cupid (Hermitage) |
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