It should be noted that Peter I's interest in Italy was enormous. Back in 1698, while visiting Europe as part of the Grand Embassy, the king intended to visit Venice. Due to the difficult internal political situation in Russia, these plans were not implemented. But the "remote" study of Italy by the Russian monarch bore fruit within the borders of the fatherland. It was in the years of Peter the Great that the new capital, St. Petersburg, began to gradually acquire the fame of the “most Italian” city in Russia. The statues painted by the tsar for the St. Petersburg Summer Garden arrived from the Apennines. The architect Domenico Trezzini, invited by Peter I, laid the first fortifications of the city and built the Peter and Paul Fortress. Antonio Rinaldi, having arrived in Russia in the middle of the 18th century, became under Catherine II the leading architect of the capital of her empire, in which he created his famous Marble Palace. All Italian architects worked tirelessly, as the creator of the Winter Palace, Bartolomeo Rastrelli put it, "for a single All-Russian glory."
By the end of the 18th century, St. Petersburg is acquiring a majestic and beautiful view. The architectural style of the beginning of the next century is called "high classicism" or "empire". Its most striking and brilliant representative was Carlo Rossi. Thanks to his efforts, Palace and Senate squares acquired their present appearance, and ensembles of Arts Square and Ostrovsky Square were created.
Today the harmonious and sophisticated city center on the Neva is known throughout the world. The magnificent and majestic palaces of the central part of St. Petersburg, parks and palace ensembles of the suburbs - all these are in many ways the creations of Italian architects. One of the central streets of the Northern capital is also named Italian. The names of Rastrelli, Rossi, Trezzini, Rinaldi, Quarenghi are inscribed in golden letters in the history of Russian architecture. They left behind not only magnificent creations that immortalized them, but also students who continued to work, carefully preserving the traditions laid down by their teachers.
Russian artists were also closely associated with Italy. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Russian painters, having graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, without fail, are sent for an internship in Rome. Many of them have managed to win recognition in Italy. The landscape painter Sylvester Shchedrin, famous for his views of Naples, remained in Italy until the end of his days. Portrait painter Orest Kiprensky is honored to be presented with his self-portrait at the Pitti Gallery in Florence. Karl Bryullov's painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" caused a sensation not only in Italy, but throughout Europe, not to mention Russia. In Italy, Alexander Ivanov created his brilliant canvas "The Appearance of Christ to the People", who worked on it for almost 30 years. In the second half of the 19th century, in Italy, Valentin Serov, Ilya Repin, Ivan Kramskoy, Mikhail Vrubel, Fyodor Bronnikov (a native of Shadrinsk) worked.
Noting the artist F. Bronnikov, who was born on September 17 (29), 1827, came from the townspeople of the city of Shadrinsk, Perm province. Father is an icon painter. From childhood he was fond of drawing. His father gave him his
IAMAQ Magazine 3/2020