48. Rococo architecture in Ukraine

In some ways, rococo represented the continuation and conclusion of the baroque period in art and architecture. At the tame time, it signified a fundamental departure from the pathos and striving for the supernatural and spiritual that characterized the creative mind of a baroque artist. Rococo developed at first in a decorative art in the early 18th century in France. Lighter designs, graceful decorative motifs with many shell forms (rocaille in French) and natural patterns, as well as small-scale sculpture inspired by trivial subject matter progressively replaced the flamboyant forms of the baroque architecture, overloaded with unrestrained ornamentation. In Ukraine, where baroque influences were particularly strong and long-lasting, rococo and baroque architectural influences were often intermingled. Rococo influences in Ukrainian sculpture can be seen particularly in iconostases, where carved shell motifs and interlace patterns replaced grapevines and acanthus foliage, often without structural logic. Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli and Bernard Meretyn were among the most important rococo architects in Ukraine

Rococo. An architectural and decorative style that emerged in France in the early 18th century. It replaced the plasticity of the baroque and was characterized by light, graceful decoration, trivial subject matter, and small-scale sculpture. In decoration the open shell (rocaille in French) motif became popular. Rococo was used in church architecture throughout Ukraine, but because baroque influences were strong the two styles were often intermingled. Examples of the rococo style in Ukraine are Saint Andrew's Church (1747–53) in Kyiv; the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1752–63) in Kozelets, Chernihiv gubernia; the Roman Catholic churches of the Dominican order in Lviv (Dominican Church in Lviv, 1747–64) and Ternopil (Dominican Church in Ternopil, 1745–9); Saint George's Cathedral (1745–70) in Lviv; the Dormition Cathedral at the Pochaiv Monastery (1771–83) in Volhynia; and the town hall (1751) in Buchach, Galicia.

Rastrelli, Bartolomeo Francesco, b 1700 in Paris, d 1771 in Saint Petersburg. Architect of Italian origin. Having arrived in Saint Petersburg in 1716 with his father, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who did many sculptures for Emperor Peter I, he was appointed court architect in 1730. His renovations of the Great Palace in Peterhof (1747–52; now Petrodvorets), the Catherinian Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (1752–7), the Winter Palace (1754–62), Mikhail Vorontsov's palace (1749–57), and S. Stroganov's palace (1752–4) in Saint Petersburg are the finest examples of late baroque and rococo architecture. He designed two outstanding buildings in Kyiv, Saint Andrew's Church (1747–53) and the Mariinskyi Palace (1752–5).

Saint Andrew's Church (Andriivska tserkva). A masterpiece of rococo architecture in Kyiv. It was designed for Empress Elizabeth I by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli and built under the direction of I. Michurin in 1747–53. Set on a hill above the Podil district on a cruciform foundation atop a two-story building, the church has a central dome flanked by four slender towers topped with small cupolas. The exterior is decorated with Corinthian columns, pilasters, and complex cornices designed by Rastrelli and made by master craftsmen, including the Ukrainians M. Chvitka and Ya. Shevlytsky. The interior has the light and grace characteristic of the rococo style. The iconostasis is decorated with carved gilded ornaments, sculptures, and icon paintings done in 1751–4 by the Russian painter Aleksei Antropov and his assistant at the time, Dmytro H. Levytsky. Other paintings in the church are by P. Boryspolets, I. Romensky, and I. Chaikovsky. During the Seven Years' War the imperial court lost interest in the church, and it was unfinished when it was consecrated in 1767.