Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700 – 29 April 1771) was an Italian architect who spent most of his career in Russia, where he created a signature Late Baroque style known for being both lavish and grand. His most famous buildings, such as the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg and the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, are celebrated for their extreme luxury and ornate decoration.

Rastrelli was born in Paris in 1700. His father, Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, was a Florentine sculptor and architect who had trained in Rome. Nothing is recorded about Francesco’s early years in Paris, but he almost certainly learned his craft working in his father’s workshop.

In 1716, he moved with his father to Saint Petersburg, which had become Russia’s capital just four years earlier. His goal was to blend the latest Italian architectural trends with the traditions of Muscovite Baroque. His first major commission came in 1721, when he was asked to build a palace for Prince Demetre Cantemir, the former ruler of Moldavia.

He was appointed senior court architect in 1730. His work appealed to the female rulers of the era, and he kept the position through the reigns of Empress Anna (1730–1740) and Empress Elizabeth (1741–1762).

Rastrelli’s last and most ambitious project was the Smolny Convent in Saint Petersburg, where Empress Elizabeth planned to spend the rest of her life. The planned bell tower would have been the tallest building in Saint Petersburg and all of Russia. Elizabeth’s death in 1762 stopped Rastrelli from finishing this grand design.

The new empress, Catherine II, dismissed Baroque architecture as old-fashioned “whipped cream,” so the aging architect retired to Courland, where he oversaw the completion and decoration of the ducal palaces. His final years were spent in obscure dealings with Italian art dealers. He was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts just a few months before his death.

Family

Rastrelli lived with his parents and married Baroness Maria Anna von Walles, who was born in Berlin in 1710. According to the 1737 census, she had three children: one son and two daughters. His son Giuseppe Iacopo died of cholera in December 1737, and his daughter Eleonora died in January 1738. His other daughter, Elisabetta Caterina, born in 1734, married architect Francesco Bertogliati, who had been her father’s assistant.