Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli

Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675 in Florence, Italy – 18 November 1744 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was an Italian sculptor and architect. Born in Italy, he moved in 1716 to Russia, where he worked until his death. His most famous works include the Monument to Peter I (St. Michael's Castle) and a wax figure and several busts of Peter the Great. His son Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli became a prominent architect in Russia.

Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli was born in Florence, Tuscany, in the family of a wealthy nobleman Francesco Rastrelli. Carlo received versatile training in arts, which included work with bronze and jewelry, as well as drawing, casting and architecture design. However, he could not apply his skills in Florence, which was going through an economic crisis. Rastrelli moved with his wife, a Spanish noblewoman, to Rome and then to Paris, where she gave birth to their son Francesco Bartolomeo. In 1706, Rastrelli completed the tomb of a minister of Louis XIV of France, for which he received the title of Count. The tomb was demolished in 1792.

He continued designing tombstones in the Baroque style, but they found less success in France, which already moved toward Neoclassicism. Peter the Great used this situation to attract demoted artists to Russia, and so in 1715 Rastrelli and his son were invited to Russia.

Rastrelli's duties included the design of palaces, gardens, fountains, theatrical decorations, stamps for minting coins and medals, as well as monuments, using various materials such as rocks, metals and wax. Rastrelli also had to teach arts to Russian students. He arrived in Saint Petersburg in March 1716 on a three-year contract, but stayed in Russia until his death in 1744.

In Russia Rastrelli initially worked primarily as an architect. He participated in the planning of Vasilyevsky Island and in the construction of the palace in Strelna. He also proposed his design of the building of the Senate, made models of hydraulic machines and fountains, and taught at the Academy of Sciences. However, he soon started experiencing a strong competition from Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, an architect who also moved to Russia in 1716, and focused on sculpture. His first significant work was bust of Alexander Menshikov, which he completed by the end of 1716 using lead (currently in a private collection in Paris), and in 1717 cast in bronze. A marble copy of the bust was created in the 1740s by Vitali.

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