Ivan Ivanovich Belsky (Russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Бе́льский. 6 January 1719,

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 ...

— 13 January 1799, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian painter. He was part of the "Belsky Dynasty" of painters of the Eighteenth Century and one of the first teachers 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 ...

, where he taught history painting.

Biography

In 1740, together with his brother Alexei Ivanovich, he was enrolled at the "Канцелярия от строений" (Chancellory of Buildings), where he studied under Ivan Vishnyakov and others. While there, he participated in drawing up plans for the cathedral of the

Alexander Nevsky Monastery 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 Alex ...

. He worked on the interior design of many Royal residences, especially the

Peterhof Palace The Peterhof Palace ( rus, Петерго́ф, Petergóf, p=pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof; an emulation of German "Peterhof", meaning "Peter's Court") is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter th ...

. Furthermore, in 1755 he painted imitations of amber in the construction of the famous

Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...

in the

Catherine Palace The Catherine Palace (, ) is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), located south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Re ...

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

. In 1769, he became a full member of the Academy. He subsequently became the supervisor of

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...

's mosaic workshop and painted icons for the

Grand Church of the Winter Palace The Grand Church of the Winter Palace () in Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as the Winter Palace's cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, ...

. His free-standing art works are few. The best known are "Архиерей во время служения литургии" (Bishop Presenting the Divine Liturgy, 1770), and "Голова апостола Петра" (Head of the Apostle Peter, 1783), both in the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

. His son,

Mikhail Ivanovich Belsky Mikhail Ivanovich Belsky (Russian: Михаил Иванович Бельский; 1753, St. Petersburg - 29 May 1794, St. Petersburg) was a Russian Classical painter, commonly known for his portraits made during Catherine the Great's reign. Bio ...

, also became a painter.

References

External links

Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia: Search results for Belsky, Ivan Ivanovich

"Christ Pantocrator", from the Grand Church of the Winter Palace
Original image at Hermitage Amsterda

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belsky, Ivan Ivanovich 1719 births 1799 deaths Russian painters Russian male painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links