This bizarre, and sometimes strange style, dominating the architecture and art of Europe from the late sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth centuries, was established in the era of intensive creation of states on a national basis. He was closely associated with the church and aristocratic circles. Baroque style glorified and promoted their power. Therefore, he is primarily characterized by splendor, grandeur and a pathetic addiction to spectacular shows. In this style, illusory and reality are combined, there are strong contrasts of scales and rhythms, as well as textures and materials, shadow and light.
Description of baroque
As soon as at first they did not call this style: strange, prone to excesses, ridiculous, artsy, unnatural ... These characteristics in the era of its inception sounded like ridicule. And all because the baroque did not correspond to the then canons of ancient art and architecture.
But gradually, architecture began to acquire new priorities and quality. Baroque originated in Italy. It was this country that at that time was the center of culture, from where this style began its triumphal march through Europe. And in each state, baroque acquired its national features.
Baroque architecture, including in Russia, is primarily striking in its scope and complexity. It is characterized by an abundance of complex, usually curvilinear forms, large-scale colonnades. On the facades of buildings of that time and in their interiors there is an abundance of sculptures. There are also multi-tiered domes with complex shapes. A striking example of baroque architecture is the Cathedral of St. Petra at the Vatican. Distinctive details of the style are atlantes, caryatids, supporting arches and playing the role of a column, as well as mascarons - sculptural decorations in the shape of a human head or animal face in full face.
It is in architecture, according to experts, that Baroque was represented in all its diversity and completeness. It is difficult to list all the architects creating their work in this style. These are Italians Bernini, Maderna and Borromini, Pole Jan Glaubitz and many others. In Russia, the architect, whose creations can be classified as baroque, is considered primarily B. Rastrelli. I must say that in our country it developed along a special path.
The origin of Russian baroque
The beginning of the eighteenth century in Russia was marked by major events. As a result of the successfully completed Northern War and numerous Petrine reforms, the country began to develop both culturally and economically. The emergence of St. Petersburg was also an important event, it laid the foundation for a new stage in the history of not only ours, but also world architecture. It was from this that, in fact, the spread of Baroque in the architecture of the 18th century began. In Russia, not only domestic but also architects from Western Europe gathered to build the capital and its suburbs. The solution of the grandiose tasks of urban development was carried out on the basis of the traditions of Russian architecture.
West European trends
Nevertheless, the Petersburg architecture of the times of Peter I, and this is the first quarter of the eighteenth century, although it developed as truly national, meeting local peculiarities, at the same time reflected the results of the development of many styles of Western European construction. A certain monolithic and very organic alloy of our and foreign architectural styles arose. Thus began the Baroque era in Russia.
At the same time, the process of assimilation and creative processing of Western European styles, in essence, began in the fifteenth century, when the Italians arrived in Moscow under Ivan III. In the second half of the seventeenth century, the influence of foreigners increased when decorative columns and entablages, pediments, platbands, and sculptural motifs began to spread in Russian architecture.
Baroque style in Russia
In our country, he could not establish himself for a long time. Despite the fact that critics overthrew classicism in architecture, they nevertheless did not see an alternative to “columns and domes”. The merits of neo-Gothic and “neo-Renaissance” were vehemently discussed, but the term “baroque” was avoided in Russia. The famous architect Bryullov during a trip to Italy was outraged by the "perverted taste" and the absurdity of Borromini's creations.
And only in the eighties of the nineteenth century, the researcher of ancient Russian architecture N. Sultanov introduced the term "Russian Baroque". In Russia they designated the pre-Petrine architecture of the seventeenth century. Since then, a stable concept has emerged, according to which the first phase of this style took shape in the 1640s.
According to Likhachev's definition, baroque in Russia took on some of the features of the Renaissance, which could not fully manifest itself. Nevertheless, the term "Russian Baroque" in Russia and generally in the world is not accepted by all experts. Therefore, it is considered conditional, and the name is taken in quotation marks.
Formally, in its qualities, this style is close to mannerism. Several stages are distinguished in it: the Naryshkinsky, Golitsynsky, Peter's Baroque in Russia (18th century, first quarter) and mature, dating back to Elizabethan time. The latter style is most vividly embodied in the work of F. Rastrelli the Younger in many buildings of St. Petersburg.
Naryshkinsky, or Moscow Baroque
This style means a group of temples built by this famous noble family. The Naryshkinsky Baroque style in Russia is represented by such works of architecture of the late seventeenth - early eighteenth centuries as the churches in Fili and Trinity-Lykov, in Ubory and Dubrovitsy, as well as the Assumption, erected on Maroseyka.
To some extent, experts call it the subsequent stage in which the transformed forms from Western European architecture appeared, such as orders with and their elements, decorative motifs of baroque origin, etc.
Features of the Naryshkin style in architecture
It arose at a turning point in our architecture. It was then that trends from Europe began to gradually penetrate the Russian patriarchal style. From the architecture of the sixteenth century it is distinguished by vertical piercing energy, which glides along the faces on the walls and throws out lush patterned waves.
The buildings of this era of Russian architecture are characterized by a mixture of contradictory trends, in the buildings there is a heterogeneity of structures and decorative finishes. The buildings of the "Naryshkinsky" baroque in Russia, especially in Moscow, have obvious features of European mannerism and echoes of the Gothic, there is a bit of renaissance and romanticism, and all this merges with the traditions of wooden and ancient Russian stone architecture.
Golitsyn style
Gradually began the development of baroque in Russia. Naryshkinsky in Moscow architecture was replaced by another style - Golitsyn, which is considered transitional. Its heyday fell on the first decade of the eighteenth century, and influence remained until the middle of the same century.
The first buildings erected in this baroque style in Russia are considered churches in Dubovitsy, in Perov, Volynsky, Lavrentievsky monastery in Kaluga. In contrast to the “Naryshkinsky” buildings, the pure decoration of the “Golitsynsky” buildings uses purely baroque elements. However, their constructive solutions, compositions of isolated volumes and the closed nature of the arrays are closer to the European Renaissance. Clarity of the plan with simplicity of forms, combined with rich interior decoration, is closely related by many Baroque monuments in Russia with classic examples of ancient Russian architecture. This is especially evident in later buildings - the church of Peter and Paul in Moscow, as well as in Troekurov and Yakimanka.
Stroganov style
This stylistic direction of Russian architecture of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries is characteristic of buildings erected by order of a famous industrialist, in whose honor it is named.
From more radical monuments of the Moscow Baroque era, the Stroganov’s are distinguished by the preservation of the five-domed silhouette, traditional for Russian churches, on which a magnificent, as if molded by hand, baroque decor is applied. These include Kazanskaya in Ustyuzhna, Smolenskaya in the village of Gordeevka, Rozhdestvenskaya in Nizhny Novgorod and many other churches, as well as the Vvedensky Cathedral, built in Solvychegodsk.
Peter's Baroque
This term is applied by art historians to the architectural style, which was approved by Peter I and was widely used in St. Petersburg. Limited by the conditional framework, he was more focused on samples of Swedish, German and Dutch architects. Baroque architecture in Russia since the time of the Great Reformer was in many ways eclectic buildings, with a predilection for classicism and Gothic antiquity. Reducing all the variety of decisions of Peter the Great architects to this style is possible only with a degree of conventionality.
The architecture of this time is characterized by the simplicity of voluminous constructions, there are many clear articulations and restraint of decoration, and a flat interpretation of the facades is often observed. Unlike the Naryshkin baroque in Russia, the Petrine one represents a decisive rejection of the Byzantine traditions that dominated our architects for almost seven centuries. At the same time, there are differences from the Golitsyn style, inspired directly by Italian or Austrian models.
Bright representatives
An invaluable role in the formation of baroque in Russia was played not only by Russians, but also by many famous foreign architects. One of the representatives of the western school who worked in our country is Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli - the son of an Italian sculptor who served at the court of King Louis XIV. Judging by the words of his biographers, he gained his building experience in Russia. Being a very gifted artist, Rastrelli managed to prove himself a skilled architect and occupy a very high place at the court, receiving the position of "chief architect". His work in the years 1740-1750 reached its climax.
Other prominent representatives of Baroque in Russia are A.V. Kvasov, who designed and built the Grand Tsarskoye Selo Palace before the reconstruction carried out by Rastrelli. His work also includes the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was not preserved on Sennaya Square. No less famous architects of the Russian Baroque era are P. Trezzini, A. Vista and, of course, Antonio Rinaldi, a bright foreign representative of this style who worked in Russia from 1760 to 1770 . The latter, in its early buildings still under the influence of the "aging" Baroque, subsequently switched to classicism, which was just emerging in our country. However, it is impossible to say unequivocally that Rinaldi is a representative of this very early style.
Buildings of the Russian Baroque era
The well-known creation of Rastrelli is the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery, built in 1748-1764 in St. Petersburg. It was created in Russian traditions of similar ensembles dating back to previous centuries. The palaces of two Elizabethan nobles - S. Stroganov and M. Vorontsov, located in the Northern capital, are no less famous. However, the first place among the works of Rastrelli is, of course, the Winter Palace, which was erected for eight years. It was completed in 1762. It was here that the talent of this architect was manifested to the highest degree. Among other Baroque masterpieces is the Grand Palace in Tsarskoye Selo and many others. All of them very vividly characterize the style that prevailed in Russia in the middle of the eighteenth century. The evolution of the work of the wonderful architect P. Trezzini is emphasized by the Fedorov Church, located in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Today there is a lot of controversy over who owns the eponymous cathedral built on Vladimirskaya Square. However, many are inclined to believe that this was not an unknown master, namely P. Trezzini, who, as if competing with Rastrelli, created this church of amazing beauty at the end of 1760. I must say that, unfortunately, very many buildings belonging to this architect were subsequently rebuilt or simply disappeared.
Rinaldi did not lag behind his colleagues, who created several Orthodox churches combining many baroque elements. In particular, it is St. Andrew’s Cathedral with its five-domed domes and a high multi-tiered bell tower, the Botany House located in the Peter and Paul Fortress, Chinese and Marble Palaces. The latter is considered a unique phenomenon in Russian architecture.