Stylistics of Russian Church Architecture between 1830 and 1870: the Capital and National Suburbs
Abstract
Russian church architecture between 1830 and 1870 so far has not been well researched. Yet, it is during this period of time that its stylistics was subject to a number of fundamental changes, which had been determined by Russia’s national heritage. During the reign of Nicholas I Russian style evolved within the
framework of eclecticism. The style had its roots in the Old Russian heritage and was originally introduced by the architect K. A. Thon. This paper explores the role of Thon’s projects (i.e. his “model projects”) in the “Russification of the architecture” in Saint-Petersburg and in provinces. It also aims at analyzing ways in which Russian style was changed during the reign of the Emperor Alexander II. A comparative analysis of stylistic characteristics of Orthodox churches in Saint-Petersburg area and on the northwestern outskirts of Imperial Russia, i.e. in Baltic provinces and in the Kingdom of Poland are presented. Baltic churches have been commonly either bricked or cobblestoned in accordance with the model projects; mostly in the countryside. Their construction was funded by the government. As for Poland, a considerable number of military and parish churches displaying a great variation of architectural styles were mainly built in cities, and their number had reached its peak in the following years. Meanwhile, the situation was different for Eastern Poland, where a large part of the population had been traditionally orthodox and where church architecture was mainly influenced by the model projects, with churches being primarily founded in the countryside. Particular attention in the paper is drawn to regional characteristics of church construction. A number of churches that serve as prototypical examples of the church architecture of the middle of the 19th century are examined. In addition, further information on architects is provided and is combined with a detailed analysis of a number of church buildings.
Keywords:
Russian style, eclecticism, church, cathedral, architecture, church architecture, Baltic provinces, the Kingdom of Poland, project models, K. A. Thon
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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.