Carlo Rossi (architect)
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Carlo di Giovanni Rossi, Russian: Карл Иванович Росси (18 December 1775 - 18 April 1849) was a Russian architect, of Italian origin, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia. He was the author of many classical buildings and architectural ensembles in Saint Petersburg and its environments. In his lifetime, he built a theater on the Arbat Square (later destroyed by the fire of 1812) and was rewarded with the Order of St. Vladimir of IV degree.
[edit] Biography
Carlo Rossi was born 18 December 1775 in Naples and was brought to Russia in his childhood when his mother, a well-known ballerina, was invited into Russia to perform. From youth he was connected with the world of the arts. He trained in the studio of architect Vincenzo Brenna. In 1795 he entered the service of the admiralty board of architecture; as the assistant to Brenna, together with whom, it is assumed, he participated in the construction of Saint Michael's Palace in Saint Petersburg.
From 1802 to 1803 Rossi studied in Italy. In 1806 he obtained the title of architect and an office. In 1808 he was dispatched to the Kremlin archaeological expedition in Moscow, where he built St. Catherine's Church of the Ascension Convent and the theater at Arbat Square, which burned to the ground during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. He was rewarded with the Order of St. Vladimir of IV degree. In 1814 he obtained the rank of Collegiate Councilor. In 1815 he returned to Saint Petersburg. In 1816 he was appointed to a position on the committee of structures and hydraulic works.
The buildings of Rossi are characteristic of the empire style, which combines grandeur with noble simplicity. These include: the Yelagin Palace with the hothouse and the pavilions (1816-1818), Saint Michael's Palace, the buildings of the Senate and Synod (1829-1833), the façade of the Russian National Library that faces Alexandrinskaya Square, the pavilions of Anichkov Palace, the arch of the General Staff Building, the Alexander Theatre and the buildings of the Board of Theaters and Ministry of Internal Affairs. In Pavlovsk, Rossi built the palace library. One of the last buildings of Rossi was the belfry of the Yurevskogo monastery near Velikiy Novgorod. On 18 April 1849, he died of Cholera in Saint Petersburg, according to available data - in complete oblivion. He was buried in the Volkov Lutheran cemetery. During the Soviet period, he was reburied at the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
[edit] Works
- Mikhailovsky Palace and the ensemble of Mikhailovskaya Square
- The ensemble of Alexandrinskaya Square and Teatralnaya Street (today this street bears the name of Rossi)
- The ensemble of Chernisheva Square
- Palace Square (building of the General Staff)
- Senate area (buildings of the Senate and Synod)
- Marsovo field
- "Coffee House" pavilion in the Summer Garden
- Pavilion-pier in the Mikhailovsky garden
- Pavilions in the garden of Anichkov Palace
- St. Catherine Church of the Ascension Convent and Nikolskaya Tower in Kremlin
- Military Gallery of the Winter Palace
- Yelagin Palace
- The façade of the Russian National Library, which faces Alexandrinskaya Square.
