Park sculpture

For more than two centuries, the regular part of the Catherine Park has been adorned with marble statues and busts created by Venetian masters of the early 18th century: Bonazza, Baratta, di Talyapietra, Modolo, Dzeminiani, Dzordzoni, and Tarsia.

The sculptures intended to decorate the garden laid out in front of the Catherine Palace were brought to Tsarskoye Selo in the mid-18th century from Saint Petersburg, mainly from the Summer Garden, and originated from collections of sculptures acquired during the Petrine era.

Statues of mythological characters (Perseus and Andromeda, Hercules, Mars, etc.), allegories (Military Valor, Patriotism, Wisdom trampling vice, Splendor, Peace, the seasons and months), created by order of Peter I and his associates to glorify Russia’s victories and to educate and instruct subjects, took on a purely decorative role in the garden of his daughter, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Today, the sculptures by Venetian masters can be seen at the ceremonial and garden entrances to the Catherine Palace, as well as along the main alley of the Old Garden and in the “Grotto” pavilion.

On the Cameron Gallery, in the portico of the Agate Rooms, on the Ramp, and in the Hanging Garden during the reign of Catherine II, bronze busts and statues were placed—copies of the most outstanding antique sculptures as judged at that time, made in the 1780s–1790s, mainly based on models and casts brought from Italy by Shuvalov and Yusupov. The casting was carried out at the Imperial Academy of Arts by foundry masters Gastclu and Mozhalov under the supervision of sculpture professor Gordeev. In addition, allegorical busts of the four elements by Adan, Canova’s “Genius of Death,” as well as cast portraits of Lomonosov by Shubin and the English politician Fox by Nollekens were copied in bronze. Among mythological figures, ancient generals, poets, philosophers, and Roman emperors, Catherine II included two portraits of her contemporaries, thus honoring them with special attention. Busts cast in the 1790s by V. Yekimov after models by Albani are also installed on the Cameron Gallery.

In the 1930s, works by Russian sculptors of the mid-19th century—Brodsky and Zabello—were installed in the Private Garden of Catherine Park, along with a copy of Canova’s “Dancer.”

It is necessary to mention the losses suffered during the Great Patriotic War. At that time, Tsarskoye Selo lost colossal bronze sculptures: the bust of Emperor Titus from the Cameron Gallery, statues of Niobe with her daughter from the Colored Garden, and the sleeping Ariadne (“Cleopatra”) from the grotto beneath the gallery; two bronze statues of Catherine II: one of the variants of the famous Mikeshin monument that stood on the main alley of Catherine Park, and the statue of the Empress as Cybele by J.D. Rashette, which was located in the “Grotto” pavilion.

Sources:

https://www.tzar.ru/objects/ekaterininskypark/regular/sculpture