Giuseppe Bernasconi (''Iosif Ivanovich Bernaskoni''; Russian: Джузеппе/Иосиф Иванович Бернаскони; 1778 – 18 March 1839) was a
Russian decorative
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
of
Swiss-Italian origins. He worked on decorations in many palaces and other buildings in and around
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Biography
Giuseppe Bernasconi was born in 1778 (other sources give the date as 1796) in Saint Petersburg, in the family of
Antonio Bernasconi
Antonio Bernasconi (''Antonio Bernaskoni''; Russian: Антонио Бернаскони; 1726–1805) was a Russian stuccoist born in Switzerland. He worked on decorations in many palaces and other buildings in and around Saint Petersburg, parti ...
, who had come to work as a stuccoist in the Russian capital from
Castel San Pietro
Castel San Pietro is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
History
Castel San Pietro is first mentioned in 1171 as ''Castellum Sancti Petri''. A settlement near the village was mentioned in 865, ...
, a settlement near
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
canton. The area, and the
Bernasconi family The Bernasconi family is a Swiss Italian family from Ticino which produced numerous stuccoists, architects and sculptors active in Italy, Spain, Germany and Russia. The Lugano region also produced many other internationally successful people in thes ...
in particular, had produced numerous artists and architects, active across Europe, in England, Spain, Italy and Germany, as well as several distant cousins who had also come to work in Russia.
Bernasconi trained in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and came to the Russian capital Saint Petersburg in 1820, where he was engaged to redorate the interiors of the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
after damages caused in a fire. He executed the work in a new, more rigorous, classical style than before. In 1825, having impressed Emperor
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
, he was made decorative painter to the Imperial court, and granted the sum of 3,000 rubles.
The accession of
Nicholas I saw marked reduction in expenditure, and Bernasconi was reduced to near poverty and compelled to seek official recognition from the Russian
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...
in order to earn a living as a drawing teacher. On presenting his portfolio to the Academy, with the support of his associate Stasov, he was made professor of interior decoration and painting in 1833, with an annual salary of 1,500 rubles.
He died 18 March 1839 in Saint Petersburg. Bernasconi never married, and was buried by his friend Andrea Staffieri of
Bioggio. His books and drawings were then auctioned off.
Works
* At the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
, Saint Petersburg. Classical interiors.
* At the Catherine Palace,
Tsarskoye Selo. 80 medallions depicting mythological figures, painted decoration of the study of Princess Yelizaveta Alekseyevna, painted flowers on the doors and furniture of Empress Maria Feodorovna's private chambers (1825).
* At the
Pavlovsk Palace. Decorated the library built by Carlo Rossi. Paid 3,000 rubles.
* Interiors of the
Military Medical Academy, Saint Petersburg. Painted panels and decorated the main rooms, particularly the conference hall.
* Paintings in the Church of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker at the Saint Nicholas Hospital, Saint Petersburg.
References
Bibliography
Antonov V.: ''I Bernasconi a Pietroburgo'', in "Bollettino Storico della Svizzera Italiana", Fasc. III, 1990
External links
For several pictures of Bernasconi's painting, see here: https://tsarselo.ru/yenciklopedija-carskogo-sela/adresa/ekaterininskii-dvorec-opochivalnja-marii-fedorovny.html#.V5UdA0v38pE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernasconi, Giuseppe
19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
1778 births
1839 deaths
History of Saint Petersburg
Swiss emigrants to the Russian Empire
People from Lugano
Artists from Saint Petersburg