Creations of the architect Vasily Bazhenov century. Russian architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov: the best works and interesting facts. The most famous creations of the architect

Architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov was born in 1737 on March 1 in the Kaluga province (according to other sources - in 1738 in the city of Moscow). He comes from the family of a psalm-reader, who was transferred to the Mother See after the birth of his son.

Since childhood I loved to draw. His first works were drawings of temples and churches, tombstones and various buildings that he saw around the house.

The father of the future architect wished that his son would continue his work and assigned him to the Strastnoy Monastery. But the talent and desire could not be appeased: Bazhenov, at the age of 15, managed to persuade a local painter, who was already at a very advanced age, to take him to study.

Bazhenov, although he studied painting within the monastery walls, was still a self-taught painter who managed to master one of the most complex techniques of painting - etching. Thanks to his talent, at the age of less than eighteen he became a 2nd class painter.

During the restoration of Golovin's palace, which was damaged in a fire, Vasily Bazhenov was noticed by an architect and invited to the architectural school he created as a free listener. This status helped a young man who did not have enough money to attend only the classes he needed, and earn extra money the rest of the time. Ukhtomsky himself helped Vasily earn additional income, having recognized his student’s talent.

In 1755, Vasily Bazhenov began studying at Moscow University, where he became interested in foreign languages. Directly in art classes, the young man studied painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Under the patronage of I.I. Shuvalov in 1757, the young man was sent to the Academy of Arts of the city of St. Petersburg, where he was admitted to a course with the architect Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky. There he showed his abilities to the fullest, and was invited as an assistant teacher to the construction of the Naval Cathedral.

For the success achieved, in 1759, the Academy of Arts sent Bazhenov to Paris, putting him on full board. There, the young man studied European architecture and in 1760 entered the Paris Academy of Arts, where he studied with Professor Charles Devailly, an adherent of the classicism style.

In 1762, Vasily Ivanovich went to Italy, where ancient monuments became the subject of his study.

During this period, the architect Bazhenov was accepted as a member of the Bologna and Florence academies, and the Academy of St. Luke in the city of Rome awarded him an academician's diploma and awarded him the title of professor.

The return to Paris took place in 1764.

The architect returned to St. Petersburg in 1765 and received the title of academician at his alma mater. He was supposed to receive a professorship, but the leadership at the academy that had changed refused him this. Other obligations were not fulfilled, after which the architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov resigned from academic service.

The move to Moscow took place in 1767, where the master was supposed to begin construction by decree of Catherine II. In the period from 1767 to 1773, he created a grandiose project involving the reconstruction of the entire ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. The project was generally approved, and a groundbreaking ceremony took place in 1773.

In the same year, Bazhenov made a model in wood of the Grand Kremlin Palace planned for construction. On 120 sleighs it was sent to the then capital and exhibited for inspection in the Winter Palace. It is not clear what happened, but the empress did not approve the building project (the model is kept in the present day).

While working in Moscow, the architect also created an entertainment complex, which was erected on Khodynskoye Field for celebrations to mark the anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty between the Russian Empire and Turkey. Churches, palaces, medieval fortresses and castles were built on the area in different architectural styles (Russian, classical, and Gothic).

Another order of Catherine the Second was the construction of her residence in the settlement of Chernaya Gryaz near Moscow (now Tsaritsyno Park). The complex was built in a pseudo-Gothic style and included about 17 buildings, including the Grand Palace, the Bread House and the Opera House. Unfortunately, the place did not become the residence of the Russian Tsarina. In addition, on her instructions, most of the existing buildings were simply razed to the ground.

All these ups and downs, both with the Kremlin Palace and with Black Mud (Tsaritsyno), affected the health of the talented architect and unsettled him for a long time.

G., as vice-president of the Academy of Arts. Bazhenov had a natural talent for art, which he discovered as a child, sketching all kinds of buildings in the ancient capital. This passion for drawing attracted the attention of the architect Dimitry Ukhtomsky to B., who accepted him into his school. From Ukhtomsky's school B. moved to Acad. artist Here he turned out to know architecture so much that the teacher of this art, S.I. Chevakinsky, made the talented young man his assistant in the construction of the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. On Sept. Mr. B. was sent to Paris for the final development of his talent. Having become an apprentice to Professor Duval, B. began making models of architectural parts from wood and cork and completed several models of famous buildings. In Paris, for example, he made, with strict proportionality of parts, a model of the Louvre Gallery, and in Rome - a model of the Church of St. Petra. Studying architecture on models led Bazhenov to study the work of the Roman architect Vitruvius. Upon returning to Russia, living in Moscow, B. compiled a complete translation of all 10 books of Vitruvius’s architecture, published in 1790-1797. in St. Petersburg, in the printing house of I. A. Kh. Thoroughly familiar with his art theoretically, B. was one of the best practical builders of his time, distinguished as much by the art of planning as by the grace of the form of the designed buildings, which he showed upon his very return to fatherland, for the celebration of the “inauguration” of the building of the Academy of Arts (June 29). He owned the decoration of the main facade of the building from the Neva. The project for the building of the current palace in the Ekateringof park, with greenhouses, a menagerie, carousels and other luxury projects of that time, was composed by B. according to the academic program, for the degree of professor. The implementation was considered quite worthy by the Academy's council, but the author of the project was retained with the title of academician, which he had received three years earlier, while abroad. This injustice forced B. to take a leave of absence from academic service, and Prince G. G. Orlov assigned him to his artillery department as chief architect, with the rank of captain. In this position, B. built an arsenal building in St. Petersburg on Liteinaya Street. (now the building of judicial institutions), and in Moscow, in the Kremlin, the building of the arsenal and senate along Znamenka, Pashkov's house (now the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum), and in the vicinity of the capital - the palace in Tsaritsyn and the Petrovsky Palace, built by Kazakov, his assistant. In the Kremlin, instead of walls serving as a fence for shrines and palaces, Bazhenov designed a continuous row of buildings, which were ceremoniously laid, at the behest of Catherine II, who, in fact, however, did not even think of carrying out the idea of ​​a skilled architect. At the end of the Turkish War, the Empress needed to be given food for speculation about spending tens of millions on a grandiose palace, and the artist was given a theme that he developed on a model with great talent. The effect was proper, but the construction was postponed and then abandoned completely. The same fate befell the Tsaritsyn Palace. B. Catherine, in the summer of the year, came to the ancient capital for three days, visited the work on the construction of the palace in Tsaritsyn and, finding it gloomy, ordered the construction to be stopped. Bazhenov did not receive another appointment, and, left without any means of subsistence, opened an art institution and began working on private buildings. The change in his career and Catherine’s disfavor is explained by his relations with Novikov’s circle, which instructed him to report to the heir to the crown prince about his election by the Moscow Freemasons as Supreme Master. In these relations with the Tsarevich, Catherine suspected political goals, and her anger fell on B. earlier than on others, but the matter did not go further than expulsion from the service, and in the city he was again accepted into the service by the Admiralty Collegium and transferred his activities to St. Petersburg. B. built a palace and a church for the heir on Kamenny Island and designed various special buildings for the fleet in Kronstadt. Upon accession to the throne, Paul I appointed him vice-president of the Academy of Arts. and instructed him to draw up a project for the Mikhailovsky Castle, prepare a collection of drawings of Russian buildings for the historical study of Russian architecture, and, finally, provide an explanation on the question: what should be done to inform the proper course of development of the talents of Russian artists at the Academy of Arts. Bazhenov eagerly began to carry out the gracious instructions of the monarch, the patron of Russian art, and, without a doubt, could have done a lot if death had not completely unexpectedly cut short his life.

The article reproduces material from the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron.

V. I. Bazhenov. Project for the reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin. 1767-75. Plan. Historical Museum. Moscow.

Bazhenov, Vasily Ivanovich(-99), architect of the transitional style from Baroque to Classicism. Bazhenov is one of the most talented Russian architects. B.'s main works: an unfinished palace in Tsaritsyn (near Moscow), Pashkov's house, later the Rumyantsev Museum, now the Lenin Library (presumably), a project (unfulfilled) of a grandiose Kremlin palace.

Literature: Grabar I., History of Russian Art, vol. III, M. (b. g.).

The article reproduces text from the Small Soviet Encyclopedia.

V. I. Bazhenov. Wooden model of the Kremlin Palace in Moscow (fragment). 1773. Research Museum of Architecture named after. A. V. Shchuseva. Moscow.

Bazhenov Vasily Ivanovich, Russian architect, draftsman, architectural theorist and teacher; representative of classicism. Born into a sexton's family. Studied: in Moscow with D.V. Ukhtomsky (1753-55) and at Moscow University (1755); in St. Petersburg - with S. I. Chevakinsky (from 1756), in the Academy of Arts (1758-60) with A. F. Kokorinov and J. B. Vallin-Delamot; as a pensioner of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts - at the School of Fine Arts in Paris (1760-62) with C. de Wailly. In 1762-64 he visited Italy, where he was elected professor at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome and a member of the Academy of Arts in Bologna and Florence. Academician from 1765, vice-president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1799.

Bazhenov was the first Russian architect to think of a building in its connection with its surroundings, as a volumetric composition that actively organizes the space of the city. His project (1767-75) of a palace for the Moscow Kremlin (with simultaneous reconstruction of the entire ensemble and Red Square) was noted for the breadth of his urban planning plans. With this project, the Kremlin was transformed into a grandiose public forum with a main oval square, to which the main radial streets of Moscow converged. The connection between the Kremlin and urban development was strengthened by the removal of the main facade of the palace (laid in 1773; a wooden model is in the A. V. Shchusev Scientific Research Museum of Architecture in Moscow) to the line of the Kremlin walls. At the same time, the powerful rusticated base of the palace and the solemn colonnade as high as the two upper floors were supposed to hide behind them the ancient buildings of Cathedral Square, which would significantly disrupt the traditional appearance of the Kremlin.

V. I. Bazhenov. "Bread Gate" in Tsaritsyn (Moscow). Between 1779 and 1787.

(1737-03-12 ) Place of Birth Date of death Works and achievements Worked in cities Architectural style Major buildings

• Mikhailovsky Castle project,
• Vladimir Church in Bykovo

Scientific works

Complete translation of all 10 books of Vitruvius's architecture

Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov on Wikimedia Commons

Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov(March 1 or, Moscow, according to other sources, the village of Dolskoye near Maloyaroslavets - August 2, St. Petersburg) - Russian architect, artist, architectural theorist and teacher, representative of classicism, freemason. Member of the Russian Academy (1784).

Biography

The son of the sexton of one of the court Kremlin churches, Ivan Fedorovich Bazhenov (1711-1774). He discovered a natural talent for art as a child, sketching all kinds of buildings in the ancient capital. This passion for drawing brought Bazhenov to the attention of the architect Dimitry Ukhtomsky, who accepted him into his school. From the Ukhtomsky school, Bazhenov moved to the Academy of Arts at the request of I. I. Shuvalov. Here he showed his abilities for architecture to such an extent that architecture teacher S.I. Chevakinsky made the talented young man his assistant in the construction of the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. In September 1759, Bazhenov was sent to Paris to develop his talent, becoming the first pensioner of the Academy of Arts to be sent abroad.

Having become an apprentice to Professor Devaii, Bazhenov began making models of architectural parts from wood and cork and completed several models of famous buildings. In Paris he made, with strict proportionality of parts, a model of the Louvre Gallery, and in Rome - a model of St. Peter's Cathedral, and studied engraving.

Upon returning to Russia, living in Moscow, Bazhenov participated in the publication of the work of Vitruvius (translation by Karzhavin). Bazhenov was one of the best practical builders of his time, distinguished as much by the art of planning as by the grace of the form of the designed buildings, which he showed upon his very return to his fatherland. He was one of the conductors of the so-called. French taste (style) in Russian architecture, a striking monument of which is the Pashkov House. He showed his skills in the academic program for the degree of professor of a complex of entertainment facilities for Catherine. However, he did not receive the expected position, took a leave of absence from the academic service, and Prince Orlov assigned him to his Artillery Department as chief architect with the rank of captain.

In this position, Bazhenov built the Pashkov House in Moscow, and in the vicinity of the capital - the palace complex in Tsaritsyno (palace and park ensemble) and the Petrovsky Travel Palace, built by Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov, his assistant. In the Moscow Kremlin, instead of walls serving as enclosures for shrines and palaces, Bazhenov designed a continuous row of buildings, which were ceremoniously laid, at the behest of Catherine II, who in fact, however, did not even think of implementing the masterful architect’s idea. At the end of the Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774), the Empress needed to give food for talk about spending tens of millions on a grandiose palace, and the artist was given a theme that he developed with great talent on the model of an idiot. The effect was proper, but the construction was postponed and then abandoned completely. The same fate befell Bazhenov’s Tsaritsyn Ensemble. In the summer of 1785, Catherine arrived in the ancient capital for three days, visited the construction work of the palace in Tsaritsyn and, finding it gloomy, ordered the palaces to be rebuilt. The architect was removed from the project.

At the same time, in Moscow, Bazhenov is making an attempt to organize a “particular” (private) academy and is recruiting students. Apparently, the idea was not a success, since, according to Bazhenov, “there are many obstacles to my intention.” Until now, Bazhenov is credited with the lost monument of St. Petersburg, the Old Arsenal on Liteinaya Street (in the 19th century it was occupied by the District Court, burned in 1917, dismantled in the late 1920s), but most likely the architect has no connection with it relationship. Construction of the building began under the direction of the architect of the Artillery Department, W. T. von Diederichstein, in the spring of 1766 and was carried out by the architect of the Speckle Corps of Engineers, Karl Johann. Bazhenov entered the Artillery at the end of 1766, but soon left for Moscow. A large number of documents on this topic have been preserved in the funds of the Historical Archive VIMAIViVS (“Archive of the Artillery Museum”) in St. Petersburg. “The Big Bridge across the ravine in Tsaritsyno (palace and park ensemble) is one of the few surviving buildings for which Bazhenov’s authorship has been accurately established. Bazhenov, left without any means of subsistence, opened an art institution and began working on private buildings. Changes in his career and Catherine’s disfavor is explained by his complex, proud disposition, as well as by relations with the circle of Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov, who instructed him to report to the heir Paul I about his election by the Moscow Freemasons as Supreme Master.In these relations with the Tsarevich, Catherine suspected political goals, and her anger fell on Bazhenov earlier than others, but things did not go further than exclusion from service, and in 1792 he was re-admitted to the service by the Admiralty Collegium and moved his activities to St. Petersburg.

Without any reason, he is credited with the Kamennoostrovsky Palace - the palace of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich on Kamenny Island and work in the Gatchina Palace. His participation in the development of one of the projects of the Mikhailovsky Castle is only documented. But, as St. Petersburg researchers have established, it is impossible to attribute the authorship of this grandiose structure only to Bazhenov. The work began long before construction and was carried out “under the dictation” of Pavel Petrovich, who personally sketched out sketches of the plan, first by the architect of the Petit Violier Court, Henri Francois Gabriel, then, in the 1790s, V. Bazhenov got involved in the matter, but the final project was drawn up by Brenn Vincenzo and it was implemented.

Upon his accession to the throne, Paul I appointed him vice-president of the Academy of Arts and instructed him to prepare a collection of drawings of Russian buildings for the historical study of Russian architecture and, finally, to provide an explanation on the question: what should be done to inform the proper development of the talents of Russian artists at the Academy arts Bazhenov eagerly began to carry out the gracious instructions of the monarch, the patron of Russian art, and, without a doubt, could have done a lot if death had not completely unexpectedly cut short his life.

Memory

• Bazhenova Street (Kazan)
• Bazhenova Street (Kaluga)
• Bazhenova Street (Zhukovsky)
• Postage stamps of the USSR, 1949.

Gallery

Tsaritsyn Museum-Reserve

Notes

Literature

• Chernov E. G., Shishko A. V. Bazhenov: 1799-1949 / E. G. Chernov, A. V. Shishko. - M.: Publishing house Acad. architecture of the USSR, 1949. - 160 p. - 5,000 copies.(in lane, superreg.)
• Mikhailov A. I. Bazhenov / Dust jacket, binding, endpaper, title and headpieces by artist E. B. Bernstein. - M.: State. publishing house of literature on construction and architecture, 1951. - 372 p. - 6,000 copies.(in lane, superreg.)
• Unknown and suspected buildings of V.I. Bazhenov: Collection. - M., 1951.
• Pigalev V. A. Bazhenov / Vadim Pigalev; Serial cover by J. Arndt. - M.: Young Guard, 1980. - 224, p. - (Life of remarkable people. Series of biographies. Issue 5 (601)). - 100,000 copies.(in translation)
• Razgonov S. N. Bazhenov. - M.: Art, 1985. - (Life in art).
• Puchkov V.V. V. I. Bazhenov and Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg: New materials // Tsaritsyn Scientific Bulletin.
• Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov: Letters. Explanations for projects. Evidence from contemporaries. Biographical documents / Comp., intro. Art. and approx. Yu. Ya. Gerchuk. - M.: Publishing House "Iskusstvo", 2001. - (The World of the Artist) - 304 p.

Links

• Vasily Bazhenov and the construction of the Palace complex in Tsaritsyno

Categories:

• Personalities in alphabetical order
• Born on March 12
• Born in 1737
• Died on August 13
• Died in 1799
• Died in St. Petersburg
• Architects by alphabet
• Architects of Moscow
• Architects of St. Petersburg
• Translators of Russia
• Architects of Gatchina
• Members of the Russian Academy
• Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve
• Architects of the Russian Empire
• Masons of Russia
• Pensioners of the Imperial Academy of Arts
• Architects of the Lipetsk region

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See what “Bazhenov, Vasily Ivanovich” is in other dictionaries:

- (1737/1738 1799), Russian architect, graphic artist, architectural theorist. Representative of classicism. He was a painter in the architectural team of D. V. Ukhtomsky; studied at Moscow University (from 1755), in St. Petersburg with S. I. Chevakinsky (from 1756) ... Art encyclopedia

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Bazhenov (Vasily Ivanovich) is an artist-architect, the son of a clergyman of one of the Kremlin court churches, a graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts from its founding and its first pensioner sent abroad. Born on March 1, 1737 in Moscow... Biographical Dictionary

Russian architect, draftsman, architectural theorist and teacher; representative of classicism. Born into a sexton's family. Studied: in Moscow... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

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Bazhenov, Vasily Ivanovich- IN AND. Bazhenov. Pashkov's house in Moscow. BAZHENOV Vasily Ivanovich (1737 or 1738 1799), architect, one of the founders of Russian classicism. Project of the Moscow Kremlin Palace (1767-1775, not implemented), a romantic palace and park ensemble in ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

BAZHENOV Vasily Ivanovich- Vasily Ivanovich (03/12/1737 or 1738, village of Dolskoye, Maloyaroslavets district, Kaluga province, 08/13/1799, St. Petersburg), Russian. architect He spent his childhood within the walls of the Moscow Kremlin, where his father served as a psalm-reader in one of the court churches. Since 1751 he was... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov is a Russian architect with a bright, extraordinary talent and a peculiar mysterious destiny. History ascribes to him many beautiful, powerful buildings, while in reality he could not have been their inspirer and creator. On the other hand, the authentic works of the architect Bazhenov amaze with the unique creative imagination of the author, the originality of his style and the boldness of his plans.

Who really was this outstanding mysterious architect? What is he famous for? And what is his true contribution to Russian art? Let's find out.

A childhood shrouded in mystery

The future architect Vasily Bazhenov was born in Moscow, into the family of a low-ranking clergyman - a sexton, who performed his duties in one of the small court churches of the Kremlin.

The year of birth of the future architect is not fully known. Many researchers are inclined to believe that this is the 1738th, although in some scientific literature it can be found as the 1737th and even as the 1732nd.

Be that as it may, little Vasya began to experience an attraction to fine arts from childhood. He loved to draw and sculpt various kinds of buildings and figures, although at the behest of his parent he had to become an ordinary singer. Young Vasily even studied for this position in the monastery, and only chance dramatically changed his traditionally prepared fate.

The path to urban planning

A local artist (whose name remained unknown) drew the attention of Bazhenov’s children’s immature works and took him on as his apprentice.

It was during this period that the imperial chambers in the suburbs of Moscow burned down, and then all the surrounding craftsmen were convened in order, by order of Elizabeth Petrovna, to restore the buildings as quickly as possible.

The sixteen-year-old future architect Bazhenov also contributed to the restoration of the noble mansion. Prince Dmitry Vasilyevich Ukhtomsky, the chief architect of Moscow at that time, drew attention to his talented, original painting of walls. Thanks to this acquaintance, the gifted aspiring architect had the opportunity to attend a course of lectures from his mentor, take an honorable place in his team and work under his supervision.

Mastery Technique Training

An influential benefactor gave Bazhenov the opportunity to independently carry out some orders, and after some time he helped him enter the art class of the gymnasium created at Moscow University.

During his studies, the talented Vasily confidently declared himself to be the best and most diligent student. His zeal and talent did not go unnoticed by the famous philanthropist of that time - Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, the favorite of the current Empress Elizabeth. Thanks to the patronage of the new patron, the aspiring architect Bazhenov was accepted to study at the Academy of Arts.

There, the young man's talent acquired the necessary virtuosity and literacy, thanks to which he became the first assistant to his teacher Chevakinsky (the chief architect of the Admiralty) when he was working on an extension to the Nikolsky Naval Monastery.

After some time, the gifted young architect Bazhenov was sent to improve his skills abroad.

Study abroad

Deepening his knowledge and better understanding the art of architecture, the talented architect worked for several years in Paris and Rome, where he not only improved his design skills, but also developed his own projects. For his efforts and skills he was awarded several foreign certificates and diplomas.

They say that Louis XV himself invited the architect Bazhenov to work at his court. However, Vasily Ivanovich refused, placing high hopes on his homeland. There he was promised a professorship, a solid salary and many additional orders.

First works in Russia

Returning to Moscow, architect Bazhenov was unpleasantly surprised. The Academy of Arts, where by that time the management had changed, no longer needed him, they did not award him the title of professor, and even forced him to prove his professionalism in the form of a free trial project.

However, nothing can resist real talent. The project was created in the shortest possible time. He aroused so much admiration and delight that the imperial family drew the attention of the young architect.

Catherine the Great instructed Bazhenov to develop a plan for the first women's educational institution in Russia, located at the Smolny Monastery, and the heir to the throne entrusted the architect with building his own palace on Kamenny Island. And although such luck could have brought the architect a lot of money and recognition, he was a complete fiasco.

His project for a women's institute was praised, but rejected, and the construction of the Kamennoostrovsky Palace was entrusted to several more talented craftsmen, so the name of the novice Bazhenov was lost in the crowd of distinguished architects.

Then the skilled craftsman suffered another disappointment. Empress Catherine ordered the reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin. Vasily Ivanovich’s project was approved again, but then problems began - due to digging pits, ancient monuments could be damaged.

How could the unlucky master console himself?! Catherine's favorite Grigory Orlov secured for his friend the rank of captain and the place of chief architect in the artillery list. In this position, the architect created several military buildings and began the construction of majestic structures.

Residence Tsaritsyno

One of these important imperial orders was a ten-year construction project for a palace and park ensemble in the south of Moscow. The architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov gave his whole soul to him.

He lived at the construction site with his whole family, purchased materials himself, selected workers himself, and managed the finances himself.

It is noteworthy that when constructing the palace, the architect did not adhere to a specific style. He easily and boldly combined Baroque with Gothic, notes of folklore with state symbols.

The Empress was delighted with the architect’s project, she called him “my Bazhenov” and wanted to see a worthy residence in Tsaritsino for her pleasures as soon as possible.

The master tried as hard as ever. In accordance with the empress's tastes, as well as his own, he abandoned the monumentality and majesty of a single palace, creating a real town from white stone and red brick (such distinctive materials from each other). The building ensemble included several magnificent palace buildings for the imperial family, as well as various original and elegant houses for the nobility and servants. All this was decorated with other, small and exquisite objects located in the park area: the Figured Gate, the Cavalry Corps, the Opera House, the Big Bridge, the Bread House. Let's take a closer look at these structures.

Figured Bridge

This part of the palace complex, located on a steep slope, was perceived as an entrance gate that unobtrusively hid the panorama of the entire building ensemble.

Made of red brick according to the principle of a viaduct and decorated with various geometric reliefs and St. George's crosses, the bridge became an echo of knightly times and old romantic legends.

It has survived to this day unreconstructed, clearly displaying the power of its creator’s talent.

Cavalry Corps

This is the name of three buildings in Tsaritsino, very similar to each other: small in size, one-story in height, with obvious geometric proportions.

The first of them has the shape of a square with a flaw, the second is built in the form of an octagon, and the third is a round structure built in the shape of a semi-rotunda.

It was this building, built on a hill and topped with a belvedere turret, that was made so elegantly and luxuriously that the empress herself used it.

The story of other buildings by architect Bazhenov erected in Tsaritsyno is sad and depressing. For subjective reasons, Catherine the Great did not like them, and she ordered them to be destroyed. Most likely, the empress’s decision was influenced by the Masonic symbols that the famous architect used in the design. Or the empress did not like the genius himself due to his frequent communication with the heir to the throne.

Be that as it may, Bazhenov was removed from construction and fell out of favor. Tsaritsyn's main architect was his student, Matvey Kazakov.

Private buildings

After his disgrace, Vasily Ivanovich began to design for private individuals. Among the works orally attributed to his authorship is the Pashkov House, an impressive building erected on an elevated hill.

In relation to the main street, the house is set slightly at an angle, which makes it more special and unusual in appearance. The mansion, having a “U”-shaped layout, amazes with its splendor and interesting silhouette. The principle of contrast applied by the architect is also impressive, where the large and small sizes of the entire complex are contrasted.

The design of the facades of Pashkov's house is also noteworthy - a large order, three porticoes, a colonnade, a balustrade, a belvedere. All this is harmoniously combined into one composition, directed upward.

Another private building of the architect Bazhenov is the Dolgov house, decorated with the Doric order in the form of facade decoration with pilasters.

The windows of the estate are distinguished by their large volumes, topped with massive cornices and decorative attics.

Religious buildings

The building, clad in white stone, has two floors and combines a fantastic combination of Gothic and Baroque forms.

The church in Bykovo, designed by architect Bazhenov, is equipped with a magnificent, impressive staircase with two steps and a light rotunda decorated with a high spire. The interior and exterior decoration of the temple is unusually rich and varied.

The Master's Fate

How did the life of the great architect end? Having experienced several bitter disappointments and failures, having lost his son and the royal favor, in his old age Vasily Bazhenov was favored by Paul I. He was given an honorary position at the Academy of Arts and was offered to engage in epoch-making architectural research. The talented architect was ready to devote himself entirely to a new important task.

Perhaps he could accomplish a lot and achieve a lot. But his life ended abruptly. At the age of sixty-two, surrounded by caring and loving children, Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov died.

V.I. Bazhenov is a great Russian architect of the era of classicism, the founder of pseudo-Gothic in Russian architecture, a theorist of this type of art and teacher.

Finding a profession

He was born on March 1 (12), 1738 in Moscow. Being the son of a poor sexton Ivan Fedorovich Bazhenov, who served in the Kremlin court church, the future great architect, it would seem, did not have much chance for a brilliant career. But in childhood, the boy discovered a talent for drawing: Vasily wandered around Moscow and sketched various buildings. His unusual passion, intuitive taste in choosing works of architecture for his sketches, and the accuracy of the image were noticed by the architect D. V. Ukhtomsky, who took him on as a student.

After Ukhtomsky's school, Vasily Bazhenov entered the Academy of Arts. During his studies, Bazhenov’s abilities became so strengthened and matured that his teacher S.I. Chevakinsky invited the young man to be his assistant when he was building the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. And in 1759, Bazhenov was awarded the honor of being the first pensioner (scholarship recipient) of the Academy of Arts, who was sent to study abroad. In Paris, Bazhenov became a student of Professor Charles Davai, and was engaged in the manufacture of wooden models of architectural parts and even entire buildings, the most famous in the city. This was, for example, the model of the Louvre gallery.

In Rome, the young architect studied engraving and also modeled famous objects, in particular St. Peter's Cathedral. Having received the title of professor of architecture from the Roman and Florentine Academies and becoming a member of the Bologna Academy, Bazhenov returned to Russia with world fame. They predicted a great future for him.

Mature creativity

At home, Bazhenov became a participant in an academic program for a professorship, when projects for complexes of entertainment facilities for Empress Catherine were being considered. But Bazhenov’s expectations were not met. He received neither title nor position and resigned from academic service. Work for Bazhenov was found in the Artillery Department of Prince G. G. Orlov, who took him to the post of chief architect, giving him the rank of captain. The construction of the Pashkov House in Moscow, the authorship of which presumably belongs to Bazhenov, dates back to this period. In addition, but this is already reliably known, Bazhenov designed and built a palace complex in Tsaritsyn.

The fate of this complex is tragic. It was an ensemble of buildings with an innovative fusion of 17th-century Baroque elements with Western European Gothic decor. When Catherine came to the Mother See and visited the construction of the palace complex in Tsaritsyn, she was outraged that the imperial and grand ducal palaces were equal in size, and ordered both to be demolished. She removed Bazhenov from this work. The architect tried to open a “particular” academy, recruit students to teach young people the art of architecture. But even in this venture there were too many obstacles to carry out the plan.

Several other architectural objects are attributed to Bazhenov: some buildings in the Kremlin, the Old Arsenal in St. Petersburg, the Vladimir Church in the suburbs of Moscow (Bykovo), the Kamennoostrovsky Palace of the Grand Duke. Pavel Petrovich in St. Petersburg and others. No documentary evidence has been preserved, so it is not possible to prove or disprove these assumptions. It has been precisely established that the authorship of Bazhenov belongs to the large bridge in Tsaritsyno - this, by the way, is one of the few objects that have survived to this day. It is also known that Bazhenov participated in the development of the project for the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg, but several masters also worked here, for example, Francois Violier, V.F. Brenna. Pavel Petrovich accepted and then implemented the project of V. F. Brenna.

Last years

Rejected by Catherine, deprived of his career and earnings, Bazhenov began to accept private orders. Contemporaries explained the empress's disfavor by the complex, proud character of the architect, as well as his connection with the Freemasons, to whom the heir Pavel was related. Catherine saw certain political goals in the current situation, and the first person to be attacked by her anger was Bazhenov. That's why he was removed from service.

Since 1796, when Paul the First ascended the throne, Bazhenov, along with others persecuted by Catherine, was again brought closer to the court. As vice-president of the Academy of Arts, he had to collect drawings of the most significant buildings in Russia, from which the development of domestic architecture could be traced and studied. In addition, he had to explore the issue of the prospects for the development of the talents of young Russian artists who had already been accepted or would be accepted into the Academy of Arts. Bazhenov set to work with enthusiasm and would have done a lot if sudden death had not interrupted his rosy plans.

The architect died on August 2(13), 1799 in St. Petersburg. Bazhenov was buried in St. Petersburg, but in 1800 his remains were transported to his homeland, in the village. Glazovo (Tula region).