Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (; February 18, 1808 – December 18, 1862) was a Russian architect, notable as a pioneer in

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 ...

, the builder of

Valaam Monastery The Valaam Monastery (; ) is a stauropegic Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monastery in Russian Republic of Karelia, Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. History It is not clear when the mon ...

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

ages, Trinity-Sergius Convent in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Uspenski Cathedral Uspenski Cathedral (, ) is a Eastern Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, and main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Its name ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. He is credited with the rebirth of traditional

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 ...

architecture of Russian North. He should not be confused with two other Gornostaev architects (not related), also

practitioners and preservationists: * Ivan Ivanovich Gornostaev (1821–1874), chief architect of

Public Library and

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

* Fyodor Fyodorovich Gornostaev (1867–1915), notable for Rogozhskoye Cemetery belltower (1908–1913) and restoration of landmark buildings in

Suzdal Suzdal (, ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located along the Kamenka tributary of the Nerl (Klyazma), Nerl River, north o ...

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

and Moscow.

Biography

Education

Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev was a son of

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

manager in

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 ...

region. He joined state service as a junior clerk in 1823 in his home town of

Ardatov Ardatov () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Ardatov (town), Republic of Mordovia, a town in Ardatovsky District of Republic of Mordovia * Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, a work settlement in Ardatovs ...

, relocated to

in 1826, retired in 1827 and lived by drawing advertising boards and later illustrations for Svinyin publishing house. Svinyin financed his study tour of Russia; in 1829, Gornostaev applied into the class of Alessandro Brullo 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 ...

and served as his apprentice on construction of Mikhailovsky Theater (1831). In 1834–1838, he travelled on his own account in Europe, earning highest credits for his artwork of

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

. He returned in 1838, the year when Nicholas I announced to the Academy that "To retain the spirit of ancient

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

in church designs, architects should follow the drafts of

Konstantin Thon Konstantin Andreyevich Thon or Ton (; October 26, 1794 – January 25, 1881) was a Russian architect who was one of the most notable architects during the reign Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand ...

" ("Государь император повелеть соизволил, дабы при составлении проектов церквей сохранить вкус древневизантийского зодчества, руководствоваться чертежами К. Тона").Левиаш, Т.Л., "Валаам. Путеводитель", Петрозаводск, Карелия, 1989 Gornostaev received a state architect's license, Academy membership, and was employed as a Ministry of Interior architect since 1843 until his death. His practical career is clearly divided into two periods.

Neoclassical period (1838–1848)

Gornostaev's work prior to 1848 followed the tradition of this time, combining the declinining

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

Alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Ro ...

era with the

taste of upper classes. One of his clients, M. V. Shishmaryov, would later finance Gornostaev's reconstruction of Trinity-Sergius Convent.

Russian Revival (1848–1862)

Gornostaev's life changed when he received an invitation from Damaskin (1795–1881, born Demyan Kononov),

Hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...

to rebuild the monastery and its numerous hermitages. As critic Vladimir Stasov put it, "He was already 45, a professor, well established among unanimous copying and mimicking of classical European, Greek and Roman styles, when suddenly, influenced by educated or independently-speaking clergy, took a sharp turn... Gornostaev despised official, fake Russian, Thon's style" ("Он уже был профессор, человек 45 лет, давно подвизавшийся на поприще всеобщего копирования и переобезьяничанья классических европейских стилей, греческих и римских, когда вдруг, под влиянием знакомства с образованным или самостоятельным нашим духовенством, круто поворотил на другую дорогу... Горностаеву был тошен официальный, лже-русский, тоновский стиль").Стасов, В.В., "Двадцать пять лет нашего искусства. Наша архитектура", p. 51
www.hrionline.ac.uk
/ref> Instead of following Thon's Byzantine five-dome canon, Gornostaev chose to reincarnate the

s of traditional northern Russia. At the same time, feeling limitations of this narrow approach, he augmented Russian tents with Romanesque vaults and arches. His input to Valaam reconstruction include: * Vsekhsvyatsky (All Saints) hermitage, church and living quarters (Всехсвятский скит и церковь во имя всех святых, 185
photo
* Monastery Inn (Монастырская гостиница, 1851–1856) * Mechanical Building (Машинный дом, 1860–1863) and water supply system * Nikolsky (St.Nicholas) hermitage, church, memorial cross and living quarters (Никольский скит и церковь, 185

* Predtechensky (St.John the Baptist hermitage, church and living quarters (Предтеченский скит и церковь Св. Иоанна Крестителя, 1858–1861
photo
* Znamenskaya Chapel (Знаменская часовня, 1856) The main Transfiguration Cathedral was built much later, in 1887, by Ivan Silin. In 1858, Gornostaev designed Dormition Cathedral () for the

Sviatohirsk Lavra The Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition (, Sviatohirsk Lavra or the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery) is a major Monastery#Orthodox Christian monasteries, Orthodox Christian monastery on the steep right bank of the Donets, Siverskyi Donets River ...

(now in the

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), this time a traditional Byzantine tower. Shortly before his death, he designed and built improvements to Trinity-Sergius Convent in Strelna (near Saint Petersburg) – entrance gates, a chapel and two residential buildings. His last work, Orthodox

, was completed after his death.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gornostaev, Alexey Maksimovich 1808 births 1862 deaths 19th-century architects from the Russian Empire