Ivan Nikolayevich Petrov (; – ), better known by his pseudonym Ivan Pavlovich Ropet (), was a Russian architect widely regarded as the originator of the

Russian Revival The Russian Revival style comprises a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in the second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of Byzantine elements ( Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian E ...

in architecture, which is sometimes called the ''Ropet Style'' after him. His work was hailed by

Vladimir Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (also Stassov; ; 14 January O.S. 2 January">Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe">O.S. 2 January/small> 1824 – 23 October .S. 10 October/small> 1906), was a Russian critic of music and art. ...

as "the future of our architecture".

Biography

Ivan Nikolayevich Petrov was born on , in

Petergof Petergof (), known as Petrodvorets () from 1944 to 1997, is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, located ...

. He was raised in the family of his uncle and he changed his

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

to Pavlovich, after his uncle. Ropet studied at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

under

Alexey Gornostaev Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (; February 18, 1808 – December 18, 1862) was a Russian architect, notable as a pioneer in Russian Revival, the builder of Valaam Monastery hermitages, Trinity-Sergius Convent in Saint Petersburg and Uspenski Cathed ...

, pioneer of

and a master of

tented roof A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hip roof, hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak.W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious archite ...

design. He took the pseudonym Ropet in the form of an exotic anagram of his real surname. Together with

Viktor Hartmann Viktor Alexandrovich Hartmann (; 5 May 1834 – 4 August 1873) was a Russian architect and painter. He was associated with the Abramtsevo Colony, purchased and preserved beginning in 1870 by Savva Mamontov, and the Russian Revival. Life Vict ...

, Ropet aspired to revive a truly national style of architecture, based primarily on ornate wooden huts of rural Russia. Basically, Ropet's circle propagated the same theories of the

romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

as The Five did in regard to Russian music. Between 1874 and 1880, they brought out a series of albums of ''Russian Architecture Motifs'' which made their work known throughout Russia. Most of his works were in timber; one of the few still standing is the bath at

Abramtsevo Abramtsevo () is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Abramtsevo (selo), Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast, a '' selo'' in Sinkovskoye Rural Settlement of Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast; * Abramtsevo (village), Dmitrovsky Di ...

. Ropet made use of the Victorian craze for

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

s to propagate his ideas abroad. He designed the Russian pavilions at the World's Fairs in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1878) and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

(1893). In Russia, he was responsible for the influential polychrome pavilions at the Polytechnic Exposition of 1872 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and the

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

Fair of 1896. Among the more permanent works ascribed to Ropet are the Bassin Apartment House in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and the Russian Embassy in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He died on in St. Petersburg.

Works

File:Ropet.jpg, Ropet's design of Russia's pavilion at the 1878 World Fair in Paris File:Abramtsevo Estate in Jan2013 img07.jpg, Teremok (

Abramtsevo Colony Abramtsevo () is a former country estate and now museum-reserve located north of Moscow, in the proximity of Khotkovo, that became a centre for the Slavophile movement and an artists' colony in the 19th century. The estate is located in the v ...

)

References

Sources

* *

External links

Article in the Krugosvet Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ropet, Ivan 1845 births 1908 deaths People from Petergof People from Petergofsky Uyezd Russian male artists 19th-century architects from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian architects Russian Revival architecture