V. Masterpieces of 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... Learn more about the masterpieces of rococo architecture in Ukraine by visiting the following entries:
|
ROCOCO. An architectural and decorative style that emerged in France in the early 18th century. 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 (1747-64) and 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. The iconostases of Saint Andrew's Church in Kyiv and the church of the Mhar Transfiguration Monastery (1762-5) in Poltava gubernia have delicately carved rococo surface decorations. In religious painting the rococo style had little impact in Ukraine because of the strong hold of the baroque. A few still lifes, intimate in scale, appeared for the first time, however, and rococo design and decoration left a mark on furniture produced in Hlukhiv and Nizhyn in Chernihiv gubernia and in Olesko in Galicia... |
Rococo |
|
SAINT ANDREW'S CHURCH IN KYIV. 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 Aleksei Antropov and his assistant at the time, Dmytro H. Levytsky. During the Seven Years' War the imperial court lost interest in the church, and it was unfinished when it was consecrated in 1767. Since 1958 the church has been a branch of the Saint Sophia Museum... |
Saint Andrew's Church |
|
SAINT GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL IN LVIV. One of the finest examples of rococo church architecture in Europe. The cathedral's complex, consisting of the church, the campanile (its bell was made in 1341), the metropolitan's palace, office buildings, a wrought-iron fence, two gates, and a garden, stands on a high terrace overlooking the old city of Lviv. The church was designed by and built under the direction of Bernard Meretyn in 1744-59 and finished in 1764 by S. Fessinger, who also built the adjacent metropolitan's residence (1761-2). Built on a cruciform ground plan, the four-column church is topped by one large cupola and four small ones. The high exterior walls are decorated with simplified Corinthian pilasters, rococo stone lanterns, and a cornice. Two stairways with delicate rococo balustrades lead to the main entrance, which is flanked by statues of Ukrainian Metropolitans Atanasii Sheptytsky and Lev Sheptytsky. The cathedral serves as the seat of the Ukrainian Catholic Halych metropoly... |
Saint George's Cathedral |
|
MARIINSKYI PALACE IN KYIV. Using Count Oleksii Rozumovsky's palace in Perov, near Moscow, as his model, Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli designed the palace in Kyiv for Empress Elizabeth I. It was built above the Dnieper River in the Pechersk district under the supervision of the architects I. Michurin, P. Neelov, and Ivan Hryhorovych-Barsky in the years 1747-55. Built in the rococo style, the palace consisted of a long central section with a stone ground floor and wooden second story (destroyed by a fire in 1819), two stone one-story wings, and a large adjacent park with an orangery and orchards. The palace was renovated in 1870 according to K. Maievsky's Louis XVI-style design for the visit of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria (hence its name). After being damaged and looted during the Second World War, it was rebuilt by 1949. Since the 1990s Mariinskyi Palace has served as the setting for high-level meetings with foreign dignitaries and it is slated to become the official residence of the president of Ukraine... |
Mariinskyi Palace |
|
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)... |
Bartolomeo Rastrelli |
The preparation, editing, and display of the IEU entries featuring the masterpieces of rococo architecture in Ukraine were made possible by the financial support from TEODOR BUTREJ's bequest to the CANADIAN FOUNDATION FOR UKRAINIAN STUDIES.