The style of architecture in the 17th century in Russia

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The style of architecture flourished in the 17th century, because the possibilities of the state expanded, stone construction reached a new level. In the Kremlin, under Mikhail Fedorovich, stone royal chambers were built. It was in the 17th century, or rather in its first half, that such a cult object as the Spasskaya Tower appeared. And in the second half of the century, other towers of the Moscow Kremlin were built. These buildings were crowned with tents, and they took on the look familiar to us.

Temples in the 17th century

Of course, in the Middle Ages, church architecture was of the greatest importance. A special style of architecture of the 17th century can be seen in the Trinity Church in Nikitniki. It is located in the very center of Moscow, in Kitay-gorod. This temple is crowned with five tents, and the bell towers have a stone canopy. It was this building that became a model for stone church architecture throughout the country. This type of temples were built in large numbers in old Russian cities, up tofirst half of the 18th century.

Roof Features

An interesting phenomenon of church architecture in the first half of the 17th century was the fascination with stone tents not above the bell towers, but above the temple itself. This favorite element in the style of 17th century architecture came from wooden church building. The fact is that a wooden tent is very practical, since precipitation flows down from the roof. And from there, from wooden architecture, the stone tent established itself in church construction.

But from the point of view of Patriarch Nikon, these roofs were inconvenient, and in general the element was wrong. For a long time it was believed that the patriarch forbids crowning a temple with tents, since they were considered secular elements that are unacceptable to be used in church architecture. This was seen as a manifestation of the secularization of culture.

Recent studies have somewhat clarified this conclusion. The fact is that, having forbidden the crowning of stone churches with tents, Nikon ordered a building with such special roofs to be built in his beloved Resurrection Monastery. Therefore, the intentions of the patriarch in this case are not entirely clear. Maybe he wanted it to be the only temple in this style of architecture of the 17th century. Be that as it may, the ban on church architecture extended throughout the country. Thus, the Church of the Nativity in Putinki, today located in the center of Moscow, is the last temple in this city that was crowned with tents.

Architecture XVII

At the end of the century, one can observe completely new phenomena in the churcharchitecture. This is the so-called Naryshkin style. Sometimes buildings built in this style are also called Moscow Baroque. This is not entirely accurate, because this style will officially appear in architecture a little later. Only elements of baroque culture are presented in churches, so it is more correct to call this style Naryshkin's.

Temple of the Intercession in Fili

Fili is a village near Moscow of the boyar Naryshkin. This temple is noticeably different from the Trinity in Nikitniki. The building is a high centric composition, in such a temple a person feels like a center, this is not typical of the medieval worldview.

Here the estate is located directly under the dome and indirectly, of course, not directly, but indirectly, these are echoes of the idea of the Renaissance. Man is the center of the universe, the measure of all things. This was the main concept of Russian architecture of the 17th century. Although this idea may not have been clearly read at the end of the century, architectural forms have survived to this day, and art historians say that this is exactly the feature in which this idea could ever be embodied.

Architectural monuments of the 17th century

The Naryshkin style was even more strongly reflected in another patrimonial building near Moscow - the Church of the Sign in the village of Dubrovitsy. This is the estate of the uncle, tutor of Peter, Boris Golitsyn. There are a lot of features in this building, for example, the unusual completion of the temple - it is crowned with a crown - this is an element of Europeanbaroque of that time.

If you look closely at the steps of this temple, you can find quite a definite borrowing from the famous staircase, which was designed by the great Michelangelo at the end of the 16th century. This element comes from Florence, the Medici Laurenzian Library. The object became a model for many flights of stairs of that time, and also from hand to hand, through Holland, Germany, the Commonwe alth, the replica reached the Moscow State at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

Thus, it can be noted that at the end of the 17th century, the connection of the Muscovite state with all the processes that took place at that time in Europe is becoming more and more clear.

Experience transfer

The Baroque era is another example of the style of Russian architecture of the 17th century. In the history of, for example, music or literature, a slightly different periodization is adopted. And in construction, it is believed that the Baroque ends in the middle of the XVIII century. After that, the era of neoclassicism begins.

At this time, Italy, more precisely, Rome, still serves as a model in all types of art for Europe. Baroque architecture also originates in the ancient city. And the main architect of the style, of course, is a Roman - Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. The most important creators of the next generation, which was built at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, are his students, not only Italians, but also some Germans. For example, a very famous good architect, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.

The influence of the state on the style

There are two political forcesserved by baroque architecture is counter-reformation and absolutism. Strange as it may seem, but the style of architecture of the 17th century is a mixture of the state system with creativity.

What is the Counter-Reformation

In the 16th century, a certain transformation took place, so half of Europe renounced Catholicism and joined a new version of Christianity - Protestantism. The Church could not come to terms with this and launched a large-scale propaganda campaign, during which the world's best network of higher educational institutions was created - the Jesuit Collegium. Both clergy and laity studied there. And somehow it so happened that the majority left the walls of these establishments as staunch Catholics.

Since the capital of the Christian world is Rome, and baroque architecture was created in this city, it turned out that this particular style served as the design of Catholic propaganda. And from Rome, these motifs spread throughout the world. For example, the builders of the Jesuit missions, colleges that covered the entire planet from Iquitos to Goa, took the first buildings of the Suez Order in Rome as a model.

The model for all the churches of the Catholic world, as noted above, was St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, completed in the Baroque era.

Palaces for nobility

In the 17th century, a new order of government appeared - absolutism. Until then, European aristocrats were more or less sovereigns of their lands. They collected taxes there, maintained their own armies and often fought wars with their kings. In the 17th century, gradually, at first inIn France, and then in some other countries of Europe, the aristocracy is deprived of its former privileges, and the kings, no longer constrained by the remnants of the medieval order, begin to rule with the help of the disenfranchised essence of the bureaucracy.

From the end of the 17th century, according to the trend of Europe, Russian tsars, and later emperors, began to build for themselves huge country palaces with regular parks. In these palaces, not only sovereigns and their courtiers often live, but also ministers and other employees of the state apparatus. The country palace serves as the office of the supreme authority in the state.

The Imperial residences in the St. Petersburg suburbs are one of the largest and most luxurious palaces in the European Baroque style. Thus, it can be noted that architecture in the 17th century in Russia was different.

Distinguishing Features

Baroque, like any other style, has its own special originality. Here are the most important features: oval plan, uneven columns and abundant painted sculptures, picturesque scenery.

It cannot be argued that these techniques are characteristic only of the Baroque era, but in these times they are much more common. However, the oval plan is not found either in ancient or medieval architecture, or in the Renaissance. It was invented by the Italians in the 16th century. But the first ovals date back to the late Renaissance. An example is the small church of Santa Anna in Rome.

Some researchers believe that the history of Baroque architecture originated from thesebuildings, Michelangelo Buonarroti is even sometimes called the father of the Baroque. But still, it is generally accepted that the first architects of the Roman Baroque were the masters of the next generation, who worked at the turn of the century, in particular Giacomo della Porta or Carlo Maderna.