Shvidkovskiĭ, D. O. (Dmitriĭ Olegovich)

The empress & the architect : British architecture and gardens at the court of Catherine the Great / Dimitri Shvidkovsky.

New Haven : Yale University Press, ©1996.

vii, 273 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 30 cm

In August 1779, Charles Cameron, a Scottish architect based in London, set sail for St. Petersburg. He had been summoned by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, to create a magnificent architectural setting for the splendours and extravagances of her court - most especially the two luxurious palace ensembles outside St. Petersburg at Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk. His reputation prior to his arrival in Russia was based almost entirely on his authorship of a book on the baths of ancient Rome - he had built nothing as yet - but while serving as Architect to Her Imperial Majesty, Cameron was responsible for some of the most dazzling and original architectural creations of the eighteenth century. This book tells a fascinating story of enterprise, initiative, amazing patronage and very remarkable architectural achievements on a large scale, all of which took place within a unique historical and cultural context.
Dimitri Shvidkovsky weaves together the intriguing, and still not completely documented biography of an enigmatic architect - possibly a Jacobite rebel and exile - and the life of the great Russian ruler, Catherine II. This is set against the backdrop of the rapidly developing influence of British culture on Russian society. Architects, park designers and gardeners from England and Scotland were to be found in every part of Russia by the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, helping to establish a particular form of design whose cultural impact was made all the more dramatic by its adoption and development by native Russian architects and designers. This book, ravishingly illustrated with views of the palaces and gardens of imperial Russia - many now destroyed - places Russian architecture and garden design of the neo-classical period within its European context for the first time, and explores the hitherto neglected connections between British and Russian architecture of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It offers a fascinating and original account of Russian culture in this period.

0300065647 (alk. paper)
9780300065640 (alk. paper)

Cameron, Charles, approximately 1743-1812 Criticism and interpretation.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796 Homes and haunts Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Cameron, Charles, ca. 1740-ca. 1812.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796 Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Cameron, Charles, ca. 1743-1812 Critique et interprétation.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796 Résidences et lieux familiers Russie Saint-Pétersbourg.
Cameron, Charles, approximately 1743-1812.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796.
Cameron, Charles, ca.1743-1812 Criticism and interpretation.
Neoclassicism (Architecture) Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Architecture England Influence.
Architecture Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Architecture and society Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Gardens, English Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Néoclassicisme (Architecture) Russie Saint-Pétersbourg.
Architecture Angleterre Influence.
Architecture Russie Saint-Pétersbourg.
Architecture et société Russie Saint-Pétersbourg.
Jardins anglais Russie Saint-Pétersbourg.
Architecture.
Architecture and society.
Architecture Influence.
Buildings.
Gardens, English.
Homes.
Neoclassicism (Architecture)
Paleizen.
Tuinen.
Architecture Great Britain Influence.
Architecture Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg 18th century.
Architecture, Modern Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg History.
Saint Petersburg (Russia) Buildings, structures, etc.
Saint-Pétersbourg (Russie) Constructions.
England.
Russia (Federation) Saint Petersburg.
Architecture History
Great Britain

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Empress and the architect

Location: Library main 108963
Call No.: ID NA1196.S54; ID:96-B1404
Status: Available