Gonzaga P. (1751-1831), artist, decorator

Categories / Architecture/Personalia
Categories / Art/Fine Arts/Personalia
GONZAGA. Gonzago Peter Fedorovich (Pietro di Gottardo) (1751-1831, St. Petersburg), theatrical designer, painter, decorator, architect, theorist, honorary free member of Academy of Arts (1794). Studied in Venice and Milan. Came to St. Petersburg in 1792 and was admitted to the Directors Board of Imperial Theatres, which came under his leadership in 1827. He designed plays in The Bolshoy Theatre and various court theatres such as those of N.P. Sheremetev and prince N.B. Yusupov, starting with illusionist with techniques and evolving from Baroque to Romanticism. In addition to designing decorations for various court festivities, including the coronations of Emperors Pavel I, Alexander I, and Nicholas I, he also constructed fireworks. In 1792, he painted the exterior decoration of Prince N.B. Yusupov's Palace (115 Fontanka River Embankment, not preserved). Between 1798 and 1799, he participated in the planning and decoration of the park in Pavlovsk, collaborating with architect V.F. Brenna, and taking part in painting the palace (Gonzaga Gallery) and pavilions (Peel Tower, The New Chalet, Turkish Tent). He designed unfinished projects, one for the Opera Theatre of the Mikhailovsky Castle (1799-1800), another for the Kazan Cathedral (1799), and a third for the theatre at Palace Square (1827). Retiring in 1828, and was buried several years later at Volkovskoe Lutheran Cemetery (grave not preserved).

Reference: Сыркина Ф. К. Пьетро ди Готтардо Гонзага: Жизнь и творчество, 1751-1831. Гонзага П. Г. Сочинения. М., 1974.

V. V. Antonov. Alexander I, Emperor
Brenna Vikenty Franzevich (Vicenzo)
Gonzaga Pietro di Gottardo (Peter Fedorovich)
Nicholas I, Emperor
Paul (Pavel) I, Emperor
Sheremetev Nikolay Petrovich, Count
Yusupov Nikolay Borisovich, Duke
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 115
Сыркина Ф. К. Пьетро ди Готтардо Гонзага: Жизнь и творчество, 1751-1831. Гонзага П. Г. Сочинения. М., 1974 Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
Imperial Theatres Board
Mikhailovsky Castle
Kazan Cathedral