Voronikhin was born on October 17 (October 28 by the new style) in 1759 in the village of Novoe Usolye in the Urals — in the center of the vast estates of the Stroganov counts, to whom the future architect was a serf. Voronikhin’s artistic abilities manifested themselves in childhood. In 1777, he arrived in Moscow. Here, Voronikhin could have received his first lessons in architecture from the renowned architects V. Bazhenov and M. Kazakov. The successes in his studies achieved by the talented young man attracted the attention of his illustrious master — Count A.S. Stroganov, a well-known lover and patron of the arts, who headed the Public Library and the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
Fulfilling the count’s wish, Voronikhin moved to St. Petersburg and became the “house artist” of the Stroganovs. He had the opportunity to meet many outstanding representatives of Russian culture who visited the Stroganov Palace. Among them were writers G.R. Derzhavin, I.A. Krylov, D.I. Fonvizin; painters S. Shchukin and V. Borovikovsky; sculptor I. Martos; composer D.S. Bortnyansky; geographer and traveler P.S. Pallas; mathematician L. Euler. Interaction with them undoubtedly had the most beneficial influence on the development of the future architect. Friendly relations developed between Voronikhin and the tutor of the young Count Pavel Stroganov — Gilbert Romm, who later took an active part in the events of the French Revolution. Together with P. Stroganov and G. Romm, the young Andrey Voronikhin made several trips across Russia, during which he was able to get acquainted with architectural monuments and folk art.
In 1786, Voronikhin was freed from serfdom but remained in the service of the Stroganovs. He understood that the patronage of an all-powerful benefactor could give him much as an artist. Indeed, already in the summer of 1786, Andrey received the opportunity to go on a foreign trip, accompanying Stroganov and Romm. The travelers passed through Germany, lived in Switzerland, and in the year the French Revolution began, found themselves in Paris.
Abroad, Voronikhin continued to diligently engage in drawing, watercolor painting, and architecture. What strength of will, what persistence was needed to master the secrets of the most complex profession of an architect step by step without external help! But these efforts paid off.
In 1793, three years after returning to Russia, Voronikhin was given the opportunity to carry out his first major independent architectural work. He designed and executed the decoration of the grand interiors of the Stroganov Palace and erected a building intended to house the count’s picture gallery.
A significant work was also the creation of a two-tier mineral cabinet in the Stroganov Palace. Here, Voronikhin implemented a complex spatial solution.
Soon, Voronikhin completed another architectural work for the Stroganovs — he designed a park pavilion on the count’s suburban estates on the Bolshaya Nevka, called the “Stroganov Dacha.” This building was intended for receiving guests. Unfortunately, the structure has not survived to this day, but it remains on the artist’s canvas.
For the oil painting depicting the dacha (the painting is kept in the State Russian Museum), Voronikhin was awarded the title of Academician of Perspective and Miniature Painting in 1797.
The sculpture at the entrance and the sculpture in the park unite the dacha with the surrounding nature. In 1800, Voronikhin managed to get an order to draft a project for the reconstruction of the colonnades at the “Samson’s Bowl” in the Lower Park of Peterhof. The master coped brilliantly with this order, which became the beginning of official recognition of Voronikhin as an architect. And the colonnades were named Voronikhin’s, in honor of the architect. But even earlier, in March 1800, he was accepted into the Academy of Arts as a teacher of the architectural class. From this time began the successful pedagogical activity of the architect, which continued until his death in 1814.
Voronikhin with his family. Artist A.F. Lagrene. 1810s.
Count Stroganov had no doubt about the success when he recommended to Tsar Pavel I the Kazan Cathedral project in St. Petersburg developed by Voronikhin. Indeed, the project made the proper impression and was approved. On the main avenue of St. Petersburg — Nevsky Prospect — stands a building that invariably attracts attention with its appearance. This is the Kazan Cathedral, facing the avenue with wings of colonnades, between which lies a semicircular square. The tall Corinthian columns carry the ceiling lightly and effortlessly, crowned with a balustrade. The spreading colonnades seem to be stopped by massive porticos with relief friezes. In the center of the structure is another portico, under whose shade stand majestic bronze statues. Above its triangular pediment is a dome raised on a slender cylindrical drum. In this unique architectural composition, there is a remarkable combination of seemingly opposite qualities — confident power and impetuous movement, alert severity and solemn pathos.
The Kazan Cathedral is the best work of the remarkable Russian architect Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin. It happens that an artist’s name enters art history thanks to one outstanding creation. For example, A.S. Griboyedov’s “Woe from Wit,” A.P. Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor,” the famous canvas “The Appearance of Christ to the People” by A. Ivanov. The Kazan Cathedral is by no means Voronikhin’s only creation. But it is in this building, to which the architect devoted the best years of his life, that the power and originality of his talent were expressed. And therefore the architect’s name and the building he created are so inseparably linked.
The Kazan Cathedral was built from 1801 to 1811. This was a significant time in the history of the city on the Neva. Interest in urban planning and the development of large architectural ensembles increased significantly.
When designing the Kazan Cathedral, Voronikhin was one of the first among Russian architects to demonstrate a new approach to solving these tasks. The composition of the Kazan Cathedral was formed based on an accurate consideration of the urban planning situation.
The cathedral building has the shape of an elongated Latin cross from west to east in plan. It was placed deep within the block. The eastern facade, unusually expressive in its plasticity, faces the Griboyedov Canal (formerly Catherine Canal), which was one of the most important waterways of St. Petersburg.
The dome, rising above the cathedral to a height of 62 meters, clearly marks in the city’s silhouette the nodal point of its planning structure — the intersection of the radial (Nevsky Prospect) and ring (Griboyedov Canal) thoroughfares. With the help of the external colonnades located on the northern facade, the building is organically connected to Nevsky Prospect, thereby defining the cathedral’s belonging to the ensemble of the city’s main street.
The side wings of the colonnades are placed strictly along the axes of the passages departing from the avenue — the canal embankment and Kazanskaya Street. Thanks to the colonnades, a wide gap is introduced into the development of Nevsky Prospect, creating an additional lateral perspective, spectacularly closed off by the central portico and dome.
According to Voronikhin’s project, along with the square opened to Nevsky Prospect, another semicircular square located in front of the western entrance to the cathedral — on the side of Kazanskaya Street — was included in the building’s composition. This square is enclosed by a high cast-iron fence, the links of which are fixed between massive granite supports in the form of columns. The monumentality of the overall solution and the clarity of the rhythmic pattern composition link the fence compositionally with the towering massive building.
The beginning of the 19th century was a time of difficult trials for Russia, a struggle of the people against the Napoleonic invasion. The major, solemn architecture of the Kazan Cathedral, whose construction was completed shortly before the Patriotic War of 1812, resonated with the heroism of the struggle against foreign invaders and the pathos of victory over the enemy.
The patriotic theme was embodied also in the sculptural works that formed a single whole with the architectural forms. And life itself took care to link the cathedral with the most important historical events, making the building a monument to Russian military glory.
It was from the Kazan Cathedral, after a solemn prayer service, that Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov set off to the active army. And here in June 1813, when French troops were expelled beyond Russia’s borders, the remains of the great commander were brought from the small German town of Bunzlau. Kutuzov’s body is buried in a crypt built in the northern chapel of the temple, on the side of Nevsky Prospect. Nearby, on special brackets fixed to the walls, are placed the trophy banners and keys from the cities surrendered to the Russian army.
The memorial significance of the Kazan Cathedral was cemented in 1837 by the installation of two monuments in front of the side porticos of the colonnades, dedicated to M.I. Kutuzov and M.B. Barclay de Tolly, who led the Russian troops during the Patriotic War of 1812.
The strict fence at Kutuzov’s grave and the brackets for trophies, made according to Voronikhin’s drawings, are the last finishing details of the remarkable ensemble that glorified the architect.
While designing the Kazan Cathedral and overseeing its construction, Voronikhin created many other projects in which his talent shone brightly. From 1806 to 1811, according to Voronikhin’s plan, the buildings occupied by the Mining Cadet Corps were completely rebuilt. At that time, it was one of the oldest educational institutions in St. Petersburg, created on the basis of the Mining School and later transformed into the Mining Institute.
The scattered buildings were connected into one structure, a unified architectural ensemble.
As a result of the reconstructions, a monumental building with a colossal Doric colonnade in the center was formed on the shore of Vasilievsky Island. The Mining Institute, from the sea side where the development of the Neva banks began, symbolizes their strict beauty and grandeur.
In the 1800s, Voronikhin worked extensively in the suburbs of the capital, mostly in the royal Pavlovsk. Pavlovsk Park was adorned with bridges designed by Voronikhin and the poetic Rose Pavilion built according to his project. In the palace, which suffered a fire in 1803, Voronikhin restored the enfilades of magnificent halls.
In the southern gallery, a small cabinet called the “Lantern” was created, of elegant form with an exquisite interior, where palace luxury naturally combines with the coziness of living quarters.
In 1813, at the request of Count Stroganov, the architect built a small two-story house in the suburban estate of Brattsevo to replace the mansion burned down in 1812. In the park, a rotunda gazebo with columns called “Milovid” was erected.
The landscaped English park merged with the orchard and, together with the gazebo, stone bridge, cascade of ponds, and statues, formed a unified ensemble of the estate. The graphic heritage of the architect, which includes hundreds of drawings, sketches, watercolors, and preparatory sketches made with pencil or ink, speaks of Voronikhin as an artist possessing a characteristic technique of soft, blurred strokes. Developing his ideas on paper, the architect paid serious attention both to the composition as a whole and to its smallest details. This ensured his works that great unity of style to which Voronikhin constantly aspired.
In 2019, there was a jubilee date — the 260th anniversary of A.N. Voronikhin’s birth. This became yet another reason to look back, to once again appreciate the depth of the architect’s talent and his passion for his work, who achieved mastery not only through natural giftedness but also largely thanks to the awareness of his life’s purpose. Voronikhin lived a short life filled with events and impressions.
At the old Lazarevsky Cemetery, one of the monuments bears the architect’s name. The tombstone is a red granite column on a heavy base crowned with a sculptural composition.
The column is intersected by rustication, on which a relief depicting the Kazan Cathedral is placed. The relief is a kind of window into the world of the past, for the inquisitive visitor to these places it will present the view of St. Petersburg as it was at the very beginning of the 19th century.
Not far from Andrey Voronikhin’s tomb lie the simple sarcophagi of the Stroganov counts — Alexander Sergeyevich, his son Pavel Alexandrovich... Glorious names immortalized in Russian history and in the life of the talented architect.
Sources:
https://artlegends.ru/arhitektura/raboty-arhitektora-a-n-voronihina
