Ekaterina Tyukhmeneva

Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts of Russian Academy of Arts, Russia

The article by Jeremia Isayevich Ioffe (1891–1947) entiled “The Russian Renaissance” was published in 1944 in the Philological Series of the “Scientific Essays” (Uchenie zapiski) of the Leningrad State University. Unlike his other works, however, this one has remained practically unnoticed by experts in the field. Meanwhile, Ioffe was the first to raise in it a number of important issues related to the formative process of Russian art culture of a new type — the Modern period (18th — beginning of the 20th century) culture. Interpreting the Renaissance as “a humanistic stage in the history of mind”, he “traces the development of a Renaissance worldview in monuments of Russian art”. The article contains three vast parts, arranged in chronological order. The first two, “The Preparation for the Renaissance” and “The Early Renaissance”, cover the 16th and 17th centuries respectively, whilst the third and most voluminous one, “The High Renaissance”, is dedicated to the 18th century.
First of all, Ioffe stresses the point that Russian art history should be treated as an integral part of the world’s history of art, developing under the same general laws. It is in the 18th century that Russia, later than other European countries, makes a swift transition towards the Modern period culture. The foundations for this move, however, have been already laid in the late Middle Ages. Peter the Great’s role in the process is particularly stressed here. The article looks into such fundamental features of the Modern period art as the appeal to the real world and the real human, the secular and open character of culture welcoming close international art contacts. Antiquity is understood as the common Past. Considerable attention is paid to national specifics of Russian art. Many of the problems touched upon by Ioffe in this article will be further developed by the researchers of generations to come.

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Sergey Klimenko

Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy), Russia

In the development of Russian architecture of the post-Petrine era the reign of Empress Anna Ivanovna, covering the 1730s, is usually regarded as a transitional stage from Petrine time to the reign of Elizabeth. In historical and architectural studies this decade is described as the beginning of formation of unified Russian Baroque, which reached its heyday in the 1740–1750s. In this respect, the 1730s are usually counterposed to diverse, stylistically mixed first quarter of the 18th century. However, the emergence in the early 1730s of the first baroque buildings and the early works of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in particular was only a part of a more complex process of the formation of the style at the time.
The aim of the report is to identify key mechanisms of formation of style in the 1730s and sources of specific architectural forms. We consider creative activity of Peter’s pensioners who studied in the Netherlands, in particular Ivan Korobov, whose works show one of adoption mechanisms of architectural forms of Dutch Classicism and Flemish Baroque in Russian practice. Careful attention to the work of Rastrelli overshadowed the role of other artists whose works played an equally important role in the formation of the Baroque. The paper offers an attempt to analyze the projects and buildings by Iohann Schumacher, which are considered in the context of European school and their apparent connection with the German-Austrian version of Baroque style.
Unexplored stylistic features of many monuments, the difficulty in characterizing even such well-known works of the 1730s as St. Petersburg Admiralty, demonstrates the need for a comprehensive study of Russian architecture of the era of Anna Ivanovna.

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Alexandra Safonova

Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia

The research of Andre Ernest Modest Gretry’s and other French composers’ operas on Moscow stage in the 18th century shows original features of the transformation of works of French art in Russia. First of all, the performances on various stages of Sheremeteff’s theatre are discussed: André Grétry’s operas with dialogues “l’amitié à l’épreuve”, “Les marriages samnites”, “Lucile” and “Le tableau parlant”, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Le Sorcier de village” , “Les trois fermiers” of Nicolas-Alexandre Dezède, “Alina, la Reine de Golkonde” and “Rose et Colas” of Pierre-Alexandre Monsigni and Nicolas-Marie d’Alayrac “Azémia ou les sauvages”. The object of the study were also André Grétry’s operas with dialogues on the stage of Meaddox’s theatre: “Les deux avares” and “Zémire et Azor” and on stages of Moscow nobility home theatres: “Sylvain”. The performances of the French repertoire in Moscow acquired original features. They were translated into Russian and underwent some changes. Not only a new music edition was created, but also works of Russification were carried out. It concerned the names, circumstances, place of action, as well as scenography. The opera performance was conceived as a jewel in the program of festivities or “festivals”, which included a walk through a garden with entertainment, refreshments, dramatic and musical performances, dinner, dancing and fireworks alternating and affecting vision, hearing and imagination of a viewer. The perception of the performance by Moscow audience was sometimes very different from the perception of the original work in France. One of the best examples is staging of André Grétry’s “Les marriages samnites” (opera did not have success in Paris) at Sheremeteff’s receptions in honor of the royalty — first, of Catherine II in Kuskovo, when a new theater building was opened, and later of Paul I and Stanislas August Poniatowski in Ostan­kino, where a special palace-theatre was constructed, like in Paris, specially for opera-performances.

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Iuliia Chezhina

Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

The 18th century in Russian art may be called the epoch of portrait-painting. This very genre marked by strong interest in personality was developing very quickly and in various forms in the period of forming of secular culture. Humanistic emphasis is one of the key aspects that let art historians compare the role of the 18th century in the evolution of the national art school with that of the Renaissance in Western Europe.
The portrait of Sarah Eleonora Fairmore (1749, Russian Museum) is one of the most well-known and heartfelt paintings by Ivan Vishnyakov, a prominent artist of the middle of the 18th century. Art historians of different generations have turned to the study of this canvas. The most thorough analysis of the picture was presented by Tatiana Ilina in her book “Ivan Vishnyakov. Life and work” (1979). It is noted that the portrait is painted in accordance with all the canons of European formal portraits of the 17th–18th centuries. However, Vishnyakov had never been abroad. Thus he had no opportunity to see works of art by western masters, except those bought in Europe or created by the foreigners living in Russia. The composition of Sarah Fairmore’s portrait is usually compared with the one of Infanta Margarita by Diego Velazquez. Certainly, some similarity of these pictures can be found but it seems indirect and rather distant. There is no doubt that it was not Infanta Margarita’s image that Vishnyakov used as a prototype.
Artists of the 18th century used to follow renowned patterns in their creative work. The ways of exchange of information and professional experience are of particular interest in the context of western influence and Russia’s integration into European art world. The example taken by Ivan Vishnyakov is quite obvious. It is a portrait of Isabella Maria Bourbon, Princess of Parma (Versailles), a granddaughter of Louis XV. The picture was painted by the famous French artist Jean Marc Nattier in the middle of the 18th century. The compositions of both portraits are so much alike, as well as other formal devices, that one can not be mistaken regarding the source of borrowing. Working on his canvas Vishnyakov probably used an engraving after the painted original by Nattier.
The practice of using prints as patterns was widely spread in art. Considering the popularity of Nattier’s work in Russia, which local artists frequently copied or followed, Vishnyakov’s choice appears to be evident and natural.

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