Afanasy Grigoriev
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, who worked in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and its suburbs. Grigoriev is remembered for his refined Empire style
Empire (style)
The Empire style, , sometimes considered the second phase of Neoclassicism, is an early-19th-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts followed in Europe and America until around 1830, although in the U. S. it continued in popularity in...
mansions, completion of Great Ascension Church (which, unfinished, housed the wedding of Alexander Pushkin in 1831) and assistance to Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Gilardi , was a Swiss architect who worked primarily in Moscow, Russia in Neoclassicist style. He was one of key architects charged with rebuilding the city after the Fire of 1812...
in rebuilding Moscow after the Great Fire of 1812
Fire of Moscow (1812)
The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...
.
Biography
Grigoriev was born a serfSERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
, owned by the Kretov family, and acquired freedom at the age of 22.
By this time, he was a long-time apprentice to Moscow-based Giliardi family of Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
architects. Giovanni Giliardi was the chief architect of continuously expanding Moscow Orphanage, Widow's House (public almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
) and Catherine's Institute; his son, Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Gilardi , was a Swiss architect who worked primarily in Moscow, Russia in Neoclassicist style. He was one of key architects charged with rebuilding the city after the Fire of 1812...
, inherited the family practice and managed rebuilding of these and other public structures after the devastating Fire of 1812
Fire of Moscow (1812)
The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...
.
Grigoriev, like Domenico, studied architecture and crafts in Francesco Camporesi
Francesco Camporesi
Francesco Camporesi was an Italian architect, painter, engraver and educator who worked in Moscow in 1780s-1820s. Most of his architectural work perished in the Fire of 1812, was severely altered, demolished or otherwise lost....
workshop in Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
. In 1808-1847, Grigoriev was formally employed by the Widow's House, first as assistance to Giliardis, then as the chief architect of this institution. Grigoriev worked for (or with) Giliardis on all of their Moscow projects, growing from an apprentice to lead architect. He and Domenico Giliardi usually receive equal credit on their joint 1820s buildings, including Sukhanovo and Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki
Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki
Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki is an estate formerly belonging to the Stroganov and Golitsyn families of the Russian nobility. Today, it is incorporated into Kuzminki-Lyublino historical park located in Moscow's Kuzminki District...
. Grigoriev's own, undisputed, work can be found in Prechistenka Street, where he built two extant, adjacent upper-class houses.
The first, a city estate of Alexander Khrushyov, is noted for a complex plan that integrates two different facades - a stern Ionic order
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
facing Preschistenka and an ornate, joyful facade with double Ionic columns and a raised terrace overlooking Khruschyovsky Lane. The building houses Alexander Pushkin museum since 1957.
The second, a symmetrical Lopukhin (later Stanitsky) House, also employing Ionic order
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
, houses Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
museum. Both buildings retained all original exterior and some of interior artwork, and are rated as finest examples of Moscow Empire style.
His most important project out of Moscow is the Ershovo estate near Zvenigorod. The Trinity Cathedral (1826–1828), destroyed in War World II, was rebuilt in 1990s (photo photo).
Grigoriev died in Moscow and was buried at extant Kalitniki Cemetery. Church of this cemetery, sometimes credited to Grigoriev by mistake, was actually built by N.I. Kozlovsky
Buildings
Assistant to Giovanni Giliardi:- 1800s-1812: Widows' House improvements, Kudrinskaya Square
- 1800s: The OrphanageMoscow OrphanageThe Moscow Orphanage or Foundling Home Vospitatel′nyj dom v Moskve was an ambitious project conceived by Catherine the Great and Ivan Betskoy, in the early 1760s...
improvements, Moskvoretskaya EmbankmentMoskvoretskaya EmbankmentMoskvoretskaya Embankment is a major street, located in the Kitay-Gorod administrative district in central Moscow, running along the Moskva River.... - 1804-1812: Catherine's Institute, Kommuny Square
Assistant or partner to Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Giliardi
Domenico Gilardi , was a Swiss architect who worked primarily in Moscow, Russia in Neoclassicist style. He was one of key architects charged with rebuilding the city after the Fire of 1812...
:
- 1813-1817: Catherine's Institute (completion)
- 1817-1819: Moscow State UniversityMoscow State UniversityLomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
reconstruction - 1823-1826: Board of Trustees (Опекунский Совет), Solyanka Street
- 1829-1831: Usachev House
- 1820s: Sukhanovo palace improvements (with Joseph BovéJoseph BovéJoseph Bové was a Russian neoclassical architect with Italian roots who supervised reconstruction of Moscow after the Fire of 1812.-Biography:...
, Adam MenelawsAdam MenelawsAdam Menelaws, also spelled Menelas was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831...
and other architects)
Own, undisputed design:
- 1814-18??: Khruschyov House (later Seleznyov House), Prechistenka Street, (sculpture by Ivan VitaliIvan VitaliIvan Petrovich Vitali was a Russian sculptor of Italian descent. Born in Saint Petersburg, he was apprenticed to his father, Pietro Vitali, from an early age. After attending the Imperial Academy of Arts he moved to Moscow in 1818...
) - 1817-1822: LopukhinLopukhinThe Lopukhins were a princely and noble Russian family, originating from the legendary Kassog Prince Rededi, a descendant of whom, Vasily Varfolomeyevich Glebov, nicknamed 'kotorogo', was the ancestor of Lopukhins....
House (later Stanitsky House), Prechistenka Street - 1824-1826: Trinity Church in Veshnyaki (www.pravoslavie.ru)
- 1826-1828: Trinity Church, Ershovo near ZvenigorodZvenigorodZvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: -History:The community has existed since the 12th century, although its first written mention is dated 1338. The town's name is based either on a personal name or on a hydronym Zvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia....
, destroyed 1941, rebuilt 1990s - 1837: Ershovo Palace
- 1842-1843: Own house, Milyutindsky Lane, 8
Other work:
- 1819-1821: Dokuchaev House, Myasnitskaya Street
- 1820s: Razumovsky House, Gorokhovaya Street (reconstruction of a building designed by Adam MenelawsAdam MenelawsAdam Menelaws, also spelled Menelas was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831...
) - 1845: Great Ascencion Church, Nikitskie Gates, Moscow - completion of an earlier work by Joseph BovéJoseph BovéJoseph Bové was a Russian neoclassical architect with Italian roots who supervised reconstruction of Moscow after the Fire of 1812.-Biography:...
and other architects