Ivan Petrovich Martos (russian: Иван Петрович Мартос; uk, Іван Петрович Мартос; 1754 — 5 April 1835) was Ukrainian and Russian sculptor and art teacher who helped awaken Russian interest in

Neoclassical sculpture Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism w ...

Biography

Martos was born between

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

and Poltava in city of

Ichnia Ichnia (, ) is a town in Pryluky Raion, Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine, located on the Ichenka River. It hosts the administration of Ichnia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population is Etymology There is evidence that in ancient tim ...

and enrolled at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...

between 1764 and 1773. He was then sent to further his education with

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...

and

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German painter, active in Dresden, Rome, and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-18th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting, which replace ...

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. Upon his return to Russia in 1779, Martos started to propagate the ideas of Neoclassicism. He executed a large number of marble tombs, which are often regarded as the finest in the history of Russian art. Enjoying the patronage of the Russian royalty, Martos held a professorship at the

since 1779 and became its dean in 1814. His main claim to fame is the

Monument to Minin and Pozharsky The Monument to Minin and Pozharsky (russian: Па́мятник Ми́нину и Пожа́рскому) is a bronze statue designed by Ivan Martos and located on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral. The statue ...

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

, conceived in 1804 but not inaugurated until 1818. Owing to the many years he spent on this one work, Martos did not produce much other sculpture in the period. He died at St Petersburg. His later outdoor sculptures - those of Duke de Richelieu above the

Potemkin Stairs The Potemkin Stairs or Potemkin Steps ( uk, Потьо́мкінські схо́ди, translit=Potiomkinski skhody) are a giant stairway in Odesa, Ukraine. They are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are ...

in Odessa, Prince Potemkin in Kherson, Alexander I in

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog Th ...

, and Mikhail Lomonosov in Kholmogory - became the symbols of those towns, although modern art critics often compare them unfavorably with his earlier, less bombastic works. During the Soviet dictatorship Martos's memorial statues - including those of Nikita Panin and his family - were snatched from the cemeteries to be exhibited in the newly set up museums, while his colossal bronze statue of

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, unveiled at the top of the Moscow Nobility Column Hall in 1812, was destroyed altogether.

Selected works

Архангельск.Памятник Ломоносову.jpg, Monument to Mikhail Lomonosov, in Archangelsk Ukraine, Odessa, Duke statue.jpg, Monument to the Duc de Richelieu, in Odessa Moscow 05-2017 img07 Monument to Minin and Pozharsky.jpg, Monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitri Pozharsky, in Moscow Мартос - Надгробие М. П. Собакиной.jpg, Headstone for
M. P. Sobakin Volkonskaya tombstone by Martos (GTG, 1782) by shakko 04.jpg, Headstone for
S. S. Volkonsk

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martos, Ivan 19th-century sculptors from the Russian Empire 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian sculptors 20th-century Russian male artists Russian male sculptors Russian people of Ukrainian descent Ukrainian sculptors Neoclassical sculptors 1754 births 1835 deaths People from Chernihiv Oblast People from the Cossack Hetmanate People from Kiev Governorate (1708–1764) Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg) Ukrainian male sculptors