“Architectural Theater” of Moscow. V.I.Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov
Although “old Moscow has faded before the new capital” (A. Pushkin), it was here that many architectural masterpieces of world significance were created. The main one, the Pashkov House, belongs to the great Russian architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov (1737 / 38-1799). This marvelous white palace, towering on a hill, like on a pedestal, is a true decoration of Moscow today. In the overall composition of the ensemble, the hand of a great master is easily guessed, endowed with excellent knowledge of the highest achievements of Western European architecture, an unmistakable sense of proportions, jewelry subtlety of detailing, and the ability to organically link the building with the surrounding nature.
The entrance to the courtyard of the estate led through the arch of the front entrance gate, where a landscape park was laid out, fenced with an elegant wrought-iron fence with lanterns on poles (at present, only a part of the lattice has survived). In the garden, decorated with gazebos, fountains and sculptures, rare birds walked. Exotic fish and snow-white swans swam in the ponds.
The main building is magnificent with two low wings, emphasizing the length of the ensemble and its openness towards the Kremlin. The lower part of the building is finished with rustic wood. It protrudes forward and serves as a support for the columns of the portico and two statues located along its edges at the level of the second floor windows. Against the background of a rusticated wall, there are arches of window openings, decorated with stucco garlands and lion masks. They form a kind of arched gallery and emphasize the general rhythm of the building. Pilasters spanning two main floors give the walls an upward thrust.
The visual effect is calculated in such a way that the gaze will certainly slide up to the belvedere (Italian belvedere – beautiful view) – a round superstructure in the form of a pavilion or gazebo. Before the fire in 1812, it was crowned with a statue of the goddess Minerva. The lightness and grace of the building is given by antique vases on the balustrade. The festive solemnity and elegance of the building is achieved not by the abundance of decorations, but by the proportionality of the parts, the rigor of proportions.
All his life, V. I. Bazhenov dreamed of erecting buildings “to the glory of a great empire, to the honor of his age, to the unparalleled memory of future times, to decorate the capital city, to the joy and pleasure of his people.” But, unfortunately, many of his plans were not destined to come true. The fantastic plan for rebuilding the Kremlin remained only in drawings on paper and in a wooden model. Catherine II did not like the construction of the palace ensemble in Tsaritsyno, which took as much as 10 years! By her order, construction was prohibited: part of the erected buildings should be immediately demolished. Having fallen into disgrace, Bazhenov left Moscow and settled in St. Petersburg. Pavel I, a longtime admirer and patron of the architect, having ascended the throne, gave Bazhenov the high rank of a real state councilor, and a month later he presented a thousand souls of peasants.But the royal favor came too late …
New Moscow architecture of the late 18th – early 19th centuries owes its best examples to the work of Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov (1738-1812). For 50 years of his activity, he significantly changed the appearance of the ancient capital, creating here something more than dozens of palaces, public buildings, temples and houses … He managed not only not to violate the “nature” of the city, but also to enter into a brilliant dialogue with architectural structures old Moscow.
His name did not immediately sparkle on the architectural Olympus. Unlike V.I.Bazhenov, who studied in Italy and France, Kazakov was educated in Russia. He was a student of the famous Moscow architect D. V. Ukhtomsky (1719-1774) and was always guided by Russian architectural traditions. The range of his creativity was wide enough and included public buildings, temples, manor and city houses.
In 1768, fate brought two remarkable architects together. They were commissioned to create the “most glorious building in the world” of the Grand Kremlin Palace. Despite the unfinished work, Kazakov – Bazhenov’s first assistant – went through an excellent school of architectural creativity. The surviving drawings and drawings for the construction of entertainment buildings on the Khodynskoye field (1775), made by Kazakov with exceptional skill, once again emphasized his architectural talent. Empress Catherine II was quite pleased and granted him the rank of architect. Since then, he has been literally flooded with orders in Moscow.
The Petrovsky Palace is one of the most significant creations of M.F. Kazakov. The ensemble of the palace is a ceremonial courtyard enclosed by one-story service buildings interrupted by eight towers (four on each side). Classic motives are combined here with traditional Old Russian ones (barrel-shaped pillars, pointed arches and windows, hanging weights, intricate platbands). Red brick walls are covered with whimsical white-stone ligature. The architectural appearance of the palace also contains Gothic and Naryshkin Baroque.
A year later, MF Kazakov was already considering the project of the Senate building in the Kremlin. A striking sense of proportion and scale is inherent in a triangular building (this was the shape of the building site) with a huge domed rotunda. It seems that the spirit of Antiquity and the classical “laws of pure reason” revived in him. Kazakov managed to breathe life into the “silent bulk of cold stones”. The centers of the facades were elaborately decorated with Doric columns and pilasters. The severity and simplicity of the Senate’s external appearance contrasted with the magnificent interior of the Round Hall, which contemporaries rightly called the “Russian Pantheon”. A solemn row of Corinthian columns runs along its walls; relief panels are placed in the walls between the columns. The high dome (diameter 24.7 m) is richly decorated with caissons. Catherine II, who entered under its majestic vaults, could not restrain her delight.
The greatest creations of MF Kazakov include the building of the “dwelling place of sciences” – Moscow University (1786-1793), the building of the Noble Assembly (1784-1790s), the Golitsyn Hospital (1796-1801, now the First City Hospital) and other structures. In addition, he left us his invaluable sketchbooks of all the major Moscow buildings. Looking at them today, we seem to be making a trip through the old streets of Moscow, admiring his ingenious creations. And it becomes clear the feelings that overwhelmed the artist’s soul when he received the news of the fire in Moscow in 1812. He was perceived by MF Kazakov as a great national tragedy that brought the collapse of all his plans and designs.
