Fyodor Gordeyevich Gordeyev (russian: Фёдор Гордеевич Гордеев; 1744 - 4 February 1810) was a Russian sculptor.

Life

Born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, he attended the

Imperial Academy of Fine 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 Thre ...

in the city and then went on a study trip to Western Europe thanks to the bursary. This took him to Paris, where he studied in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, then Rome, where he was influenced by classical art. After returning to Russia, he was commissioned to teach sculpture at the Academy in 1769 Around the same time he produced the noted

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

Entrusting

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

to the

Nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

s'' (1776). In 1802 he was made rector of the Academy. Art critics came to see Gordeyev as one of the best Russian neo-classical sculptors, although his early work such as ''Tomb of N. M. Golicyn'' (1780) still included influences from the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

.le muse, V, Novara, De Agostini, 1964, p. 330. His final works also showed traces of Baroque influence. His most important works include '' Prometheus'' (1769), ''Monument to A. M. Golitsyn'' in

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Ale ...

in Saint Petersburg (1788), the bas-reliefs of the Ostankino Palace in Moscow (1798), and the bas-reliefs on the tympanum of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg (1804). He also produced portraits and history paintings. He died in St Petersburg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordyev, Fyodor Russian male sculptors 18th-century sculptors from the Russian Empire 19th-century sculptors from the Russian Empire 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire Neoclassical sculptors Russian neoclassical painters Portrait artists 1744 births 1810 deaths Artists from Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts alumni