Domenico Gilardi’s Sketch of a Park Pavilion: Aspects of Attribution

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of the attribution of architectural graphics, the identification and analysis of the individual graphic style of Domenico (Dementi Ivanovich) Gilardi, a master of Swiss origin, the chief architect of post-fire Moscow. In spite of the formal, stylistic and iconographic knowledge of the Moscow Empire style, the issue of attribution of architectural graphics to the period remains open. The work of Gilardi is no exception in this respect.The objective of this research is to use stylistic and iconographic analysis of his most outstanding works to form an idea of the nature of his graphic style and its peculiarities. The relevance of the topic is dictated by the need to distinguish the graphic works of Gilardi himself from the sheets created by his pupil — the architect A. Grigoriev (and in the longer term — to identify the “hand” of A. Grigoriev).The method of formal and stylistic analysis and iconographic comparison was chosen. Artistic sources are the most striking architectural and graphic works by Gilardi, which have not yet been studied in detail: several signed drawings, as well as a draft design of a park pavilion from the collection of the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture (the latter was introduced into academic circles by the author and is central in terms of representation). The style of the unrealised design of the park pavilion reflects the historical perspective of birth, development and decline of the Moscow Empire style in one of its variants. The style distinctly refers to the antique, Renaissance and classic monuments.The following complex of problems is being solved within the framework of the research: the genesis of the post-fire Moscow style is presented, the specific features of the architectural graphics of the first quarter of the 19th century are evaluated; the sketch of the park pavilion and the series of several drawings (so called master’s exemplary graphics) are described and analyzed as the basis for the attribution; the work of Gilardi is examined in the context of the global neoclassicism style development.The conducted study, in which the relationship between architectural and graphic style plays a key role, allows us to form an idea of Gilardi’s individual style and approach a more complex issue of attribution, chronology and style in his constructions. The unity of harmony, beauty and technicality of Gilardi’s works is expressed in the juxtaposition of his manner with the ideal of timeless classicism.