Antonio Rinaldi (с. 1710 - April 10 1794) was an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
, trained by
Luigi VanvitelliLuigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent eighteenth-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land...
, who worked mainly in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
In 1751, during a trip to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he was summoned by hetman
Kirill RazumovskyCount Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky was a Ukrainian Register-Cossack from the Polk of Kozelec in north-western Ukraine, who ruled as the last Hetman of Left- and Right-Bank Ukraine until 1764; Razumovsky was subsequently elected Duke of the sovereign Zaporozhian Host in 1759, a...
to decorate his residences in
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
. To this early period belong the Resurrection cathedral in
PochepPochep is a town in Bryansk Oblast of Russia, 84 km south-west of Bryansk. Population: 17,064 .- History :The origin of Pochep is unknown but it is mentioned in the 15th century as an important town of the Great Duchy of Lithuania...
near
BryanskBryansk is a city in Russia, located 379 km southwest from Moscow. It is the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast. Population: 431,526 .-History:...
and the Catherine Cathedral in
Yamburg, now KingiseppKingisepp , formerly Yamburg and Jama , is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies along the Luga River, 137 km west of St. Petersburg, 20 km east of Narva, and 49 km south of the Gulf of Finland...
near St Petersburg (
illustrated, right), where Rinaldi successfully expressed the domed, centrally-planned form required by traditional Russian Orthodox practice in a confident Italian Late Baroque vocabulary.
His first important secular commission was the Novoznamenka
chateauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
of
Chancellor WoronzowCount Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov was a Russian statesman and diplomat, who laid foundations for the fortunes of the Vorontsov family....
. In 1754, he was appointed chief architect of the
young court, i.e., the future
Peter IIIPeter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. According to most historians, he was mentally immature and very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine...
and
Catherine IICatherine II , also known as Catherine the Great, born . She was Empress of Russia from until . Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to modernize along Western European lines...
, who resided at
OranienbaumOranienbaum is a Russian royal residence, located on the Gulf of Finland west of St. Petersburg. The Palace ensemble and the city center are UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
. In that town he executed his best-known
baroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
designs: the Palace of Peter III (1758-60), the sumptuously decorated Chinese Palace (1762-68), and the Ice-Sliding Pavilion (1762-74).
In the 1770s, Rinaldi served as the main architect of Count Orlov, who was Catherine's prime favourite and the most powerful man in the country. During this period he built two grandiose
NeoclassicalNeoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture...
residences, namely the
Marble PalaceMarble Palace or Mramornyi Dvorets was one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from Winter Palace....
on the
Palace EmbankmentThe Palace Embankment or Palace Quay is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg which contains the complex of the Hermitage Museum buildings, including the Winter Palace, the Hermitage Theatre, the Marble Palace and the Summer Garden.The street was laid out between 1763 and 1767,...
in St Petersburg and the roomy
Gatchina CastleGatchina is a city in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located 45 km south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov. Population: It is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-Early history:...
, which was subsequently acquired for Emperor Paul and partly remodeled. He also designed for Orlov several monuments in Tsarskoe Selo, notably the Orlov Gates,
Kagul ObeliskThe Kagul Obelisk in Tsarskoye Selo is one of several such structures erected on behest of Catherine II of Russia in 1772 to commemorate Pyotr Rumyantsev's victory in the Battle of Kagul...
and the Chesma Column. He completed the work started by
Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothethumb|St. Petersburg's [[Imperial Academy of Arts]]Jean-Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe was a French architect whose major career was spent in St...
on the
Catholic Church of St. CatherineThe Catholic Church of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Russia. It is part of the Archdiocese of Moscow headed by H.E. Msgr. Paolo Pezzi. It is located on the Nevsky Prospekt.- Construction :...
.
Rinaldi's last works represent a continuous transition from the dazzling
rococoRococo is a style of 18th century French art and interior design. Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings...
of interiors to the reserved and clear-cut treatment of facades characteristic of
NeoclassicismNeoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture...
. These include two St Petersburg cathedrals, one dedicated to St Isaac the Dalmatian and subsequently demolished to make way for the present Empire-style structure, and the other, dedicated to Prince Vladimir and still standing.
In 1784, the old master resigned his posts on account of bad health and returned to Italy. He died in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
in 1794.