Life and work of the architect Carlo Rossi – in the Presidential Library materials

December 29, 2016 marks 241 years since the birth of the outstanding architect Carlo Ivanovich Rossi, whose fate is tightly linked with St. Petersburg, the city where the architect was able to realize his most ambitious ideas to life. The Presidential Library, which is located in the historical building of the Synod - one of the projects Rossi - carefully preserves the legacy of the master. Its collections in the form of electronic copies are stored as images of architectural masterpieces of the architect, made at different times, as well as materials about his life and work. To the 180th anniversary of the architectural complex at the Senate Square for library visitors was opened the exhibition, which covers the whole period of the history of the Synod. 

Carlo di Giovanni Rossi was born in Naples. As a child, he moved to Russia with his parents - his mother, a famous dancer of Catherine's era, was married to choreographer of one of St. Petersburg theaters. "It is unknown where he received his early education, but we know that from early childhood he lives at the architect Brenna, who educates and teaches him architecture. At the service, he enrolled in 1795 as architect's assistant. In 1796 he enlisted in the Office of the Cabinet of His Majesty's assistant Brenna on its buildings in Pavlovsk and Gatchina. In 1802, Emperor Rossi presents his drawings, and in the same year Brenna is asking for a two-year leave for himself and Rossi for a joint trip abroad. In Italy, Rossi studied at the Florence Academy and having returned to Russia, he received in 1806 the title of architect", - so describes the first creative steps of Carlo Rossi I. Grabar in the third volume of his large-scale work "History of Russian Art", which is dedicated to the Petersburg architecture of XVIII and XIX centuries. The electronic copy of the rare edition of 1912 is available in the public domain at the Presidential Library website.  

The first great work of Rossi in St. Petersburg has become the Yelagin Palace. By the order of Emperor Alexander I the architect rebuilt it for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna from a small building. "The overall layout of the palace, adjacent services, and the park with a charming garden, pavilions and beautiful interior of the palace immediately proved to everyone and Emperor Alexander I, the great master of Petersburg was represented by Rossi. And after this work Rossi receives from the emperor, one after the other major works in the city", - says I. Grabar.

The architect really implements a truly large-scale projects: the ensemble of the Mikhailovsky Palace (now the State Russian Museum) with adjoining garden and square, ensemble of the Alexandrinskaya area with buildings of the Alexandrinsky Theatre, the new building of the Imperial Public Library and two homogeneous Length of buildings in the Theater Street (now Architect Rossi Street). It is worth noting he created the ensemble of the Palace Square with the building of the General Staff and the triumphal arch, where the architect uses a bold technique: since the Morskaya Street is coming to the Palace Square at an angle, then Rossi slung over it not one but two arches that enhance the beauty of the whole structure.

"What the scope is, what breadth of architectural thoughts! This man is eager to build entire streets and squares. Romans - that who were his teachers, and he wanted them to catch up in its architecture. Grandiose and splendor of the Roman era buildings of Agrippa, Hadrian, Caracalla lured his imagination, and he dreamed of Petersburg to make a second Rome", - by these words I. Grabar explains the creative scope of the architect.

One of the major works of Rossi was the project of the complex of buildings of the Senate and Synod, which today houses the Constitutional Court and the Presidential Library – Russia’s first electronic library. Here the architect has remained true to his grandiose plans - he created almost a quarter. I. Grabar said: "Once again, Russia cannot be limited to the construction of one or two buildings for the two institutions. His soul is torn to create much more - it is necessary to build the city. It is extremely successfully used the idea of ​​the independence of the Senate and Synod, constituting at the same time, as it were one, and two identical body designs - one for the Senate, the other for the Synod. These two buildings, he skillfully combines a very grand and very luxurious arch, thrown over the Galernaya Street. The solemn architecture with four pairs of Corinthian columns, crowned with bronze angels, and a luxurious penthouse, topped by a bronze statue of Themis, also constitute the center of the composition". 

Portrait of Carlo Ivanovich Rossi today greets visitors at the entrance to the Presidential Library, here is a copy of the draft of the facade of buildings of the Holy Synod and the Governing Senate, approved July 5, 1832. Library readers can read digital copies of rare documents, dedicated to both architectural complex in the Senate Square and the formation of public institutions of the Senate and the Synod.

The Presidential Library is constantly adding to its collections the materials, revealing not only the history of St. Petersburg, but other Russian cities, the country as a whole. To date, it has more than 500 thousand copies of electronic books and periodicals, archival documents, photographs, audio-visual content and more. About 140 thousand documents are publicly available at the website.