Vitali I.P., (1794-1855), sculptor

Categories / Art/Fine Arts/Personalia
VITALI Ivan Petrovich (1794, St. Petersburg - 1855), sculptor, professor of Academy of Arts since 1842. Studied under his father, sculptor Pietro V., in the workshop of A. Triscornis, and at the Academy of Arts (where he was an auditor from 1806-18). In 1818 he moved to Moscow, returning to St. Petersburg in 1841. From 1841 until 1855 he made, together with his students, over 300 statues and reliefs for St. Isaac's Cathedral (including The Adoration of the Magi and St. Isaac the Dalmatian on the south and west attics, 1841-43). He created a monument to Emperor Pavel I in Gatchina (1851; a copy was installed in Pavlovsk in 1872). In his decorative sculpting he was inspired by the plastics of the Italian Renaissance. Combining abstraction with classicism, he rendered a vibrant yet exact presentation in his portrait-busts (portraits of K.P. Bryullov, 1836, Alexander Pushkin, 1837, both in the State Russian Museum; bust at V.N. Asenkova's grave, 1841, Necropolis of Artists), and produced a number of sculptures for the city of Moscow. He was buried at Necropolis of Artists.

Reference: Якирина Т. В., Одноралов Н. В. Витали, 1794-1855. Л.; М., 1960.

O. L. Leikind, D.Y. Severyukhin. Paul (Pavel) I, Emperor
The Triscornis
Triscorni Agostino
Vitali Ivan Petrovich
Vitali Pietro
Якирина Т. В., Одноралов Н. В. Витали, 1794–1855. Л.; М., 1960 Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
St. Isaac's Cathedral
Russian Museum, State
Necropolis of Artists