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F1321 Italy and Venice in Russian Art and Architecture, Serguey Daniel; Vadim Bass

Bass Vadim, Daniel Serguey

The course deals with Venetian and Italian influence on Russian art, architecture and town planning. Art and architecture are considered as a "field" of interaction between different cultural and social forces (government, professional artists, public), between different cultural and artistic traditions, as a means of cultural exchange. The course consists of two modules, delivered by Prof. Daniel and Bass, and dealing respectively with issues of Italian-Russian relations in art and architecture.

 

Module 1. Perception of Venetian Painting in Russian Art of the XVIII – XX centuries

"The contradictions and complexity of the Russian soul may probably arise from the convergence and mutual influence, on Russian soil, of two streams of world history, Eastern and Western" (Nikolai Berdiayev). It was the "East – West" issue that became and remained the most important problem of Russian culture at crucial moments of Russian history. In the course of the 18th and 19th centuries Russian culture, even though it preserved many of its original features, developed according, as one may put it, to European logic. Many Italian artists and architects were invited to work in Russia. Italy, the birthplace of Renaissance, became the second homeland of some major Russian painters, such as Orest Kiprensky, Sylvester Shchedrin, Karl Briullov, Alexander Ivanov. It seems symbolic that Alexander Ivanov's masterwork "The Appearance of Christ to People" – which represents the peak of historical genre in Russian painting – was been produced in Italy where the artist spent most of his life.
The course deals with Italian and especially Venetian influence on Russian art. Particular attention is devoted to the paintings of Fyodor Alexeyev, Alexander Ivanov, Vassily Surikov, Mikhail Vrubel, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin.

 

Module 2. Italian Architecture in Russia

Italian architecture throughout the centuries has been one of the most important sources for the Russian architecture. In some cases this effect was of a theoretical nature – Italian treatises of the 15th-16th centuries were the main source of professional knowledge for Russian architects. The Italian architectural culture was also brought in directly with its carriers – the Italian architects worked extensively on Russian soil.
In other cases we can see the imitation of certain Italian structures, the use of quotations or the more subtle allusions to Italian buildings. Often Russian architects not trying or not being able to "archeologically accurately" follow the models, reconstruct in their buildings "images of Italy", tentative visions of the "Italian".
Entire movements of Russian architecture were of Italian origin – for example the extremely popular neo-Renaissance. This "constructed" language was the official style of public buildings during the reign of Nicholas I. Palladianism was one of the most striking examples of Italian influence. The highest achievements of the architects of this trend were reached during the reign of Catherine II. But Palladio retained authority for the architects until the 1950s.
The "Italian" had a variety of shades in Russian architecture. First of all "Italian" was associated with Roman. Imperial implications of Russian culture and politics found reinforcement in the images of Italian origin (like trident plan of St. Petersburg or the architectural structure of city, which dates back to the transformation of Rome at the time of Sixtus V). In addition, for the cultural images of St. Petersburg, the idea of "Venice of the North" is of special importance. The course also covers a number of particular issues, such as the phenomenon of Russian Piranesianism.

 

Learning outcomes

As a result the students are expected to possess extensive knowledge in the history of the Italian-Russian artistic and architectural relations as a model in European cultural transfer.