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Charles Cameron (architect)
Encyclopedia
Charles Cameron was a Scottish
architect who made an illustrious career at the court of Catherine II of Russia
. Cameron, practitioner of early neoclassical architecture
, was the chief architect of Tsarskoye Selo
and Pavlovsk
palaces and the adjacent new town
of Sophia from his arrival in Russia in 1779 to Catherine's death in 1796. All his indisputable tangible works "can be encompassed in a day's tour"; Cameron concentrated exclusively on country palaces and landscape garden
s. Twice dismissed by Paul of Russia during the Battle of the palaces
, Cameron enjoyed a brief revival of his career under Alexander I
in 1803–1805. Apart from the well-researched Catherinian period (1779–1796), Cameron's life story remains poorly documented, not in the least due to Cameron's own efforts to shake off the bad reputation he had earned in the 1770s in London.
Cameron's British neoclassicism was an isolated episode in Russian architecture, then dominated by Italian artists (Antonio Rinaldi, Giacomo Quarenghi
, Vincenzo Brenna
). According to his first biographer Georgy Lukomsky, "Cameron remains one of the greatest exponents of British taste and British Art abroad, and if he has been so completely forgotten in his own country, it would seem only right to rectify this omission". Howard Colvin
ranked Cameron "one of the major urban architects of the eighteenth century ... an accomplished designer and decorator in a neoclassical style that has affinities with that of Robert Adam
. His style is sufficiently individual to exonerate him from the imputation of being merely an imitator... Although still a Palladian
, Cameron was a pioneer of Greek Revival in Russia."
, a Scottish clan
deeply involved in the Jacobite rising of 1745. Cameron used the Lochiel coat of arms for his personal bookplate
, although modern researchers since David Talbot Rice
question or deny his claims for Lochiel lineage. Researchers also disagree on the exact year of Cameron's birth, which may be either 1743, 1745 or 1746.
Cameron trained in London with his father and with architect Isaac Ware
. After Ware's death in 1766 Cameron settled on continuing his late master's work on a new edition of Lord Burlington
's Fabbriche Antiche, a project that required personal studies and surveys of ancient Roman architecture
. He spent 1767 in London, preparing prints of works by Andrea Palladio
, and arrived in Rome
in 1768. There, he surveyed the Baths of Titus
and Nero
's Domus Aurea
, digging into subterranean remains that were rediscovered only in the 20th century. According to Dmitry Shvidkovsky
, Cameron met in Rome with another Charles Cameron, a Jacobite and a true member of the Lochiel clan, and "borrowed" the life story of the latter to embellish his own. Cameron returned from Italy around 1769 and published the results of his studies in 1772 (reissues 1774, 1775) under the title The Baths of the Romans explained and illustrated... with proper scientific commentaries in English and French.
Cameron's life between 1769 and his departure to Russia in 1779 remains barely known. Archives attest to his involvement in only one construction contract in London, for an Adam style
building in Hanover Square
(1770–1775). Walter Cameron, the main contractor, was ruined by litigation with the property owner and had to sell his son's art collection to raise funds. Charles sued his father, who was jailed in Fleet Prison
for debt. In 1791, when Cameron applied for a membership in the Architect's Club of London, he was barred admission due to this and other episodes that had stained his reputation in England.
Catherine's tastes in architecture evolved from Rococo
and Gothic Revival architecture
in the first decade of her reign to emerging Neoclassicism
in the 1780s. She leaned to French variety of neoclassicism
(Clerisseau
, Ledoux
) mixed with ancient Roman motifs. Catherine, perhaps the first of European monarchs, realized that the emerging style had the potential to become a definitive form of imperial art. She spared no expense in hiring foreign architects and craftsmen trained in the neoclassical manner. She instructed Baron Melchior Grimm
, her European agent in matters of art and antiques, to hire Italian architects because "the Frenchmen we have here know too much and build dreadful houses - because they know too much." These Italians, Giacomo Quarenghi
and relatively unknown Giacomo Trombara, arrived in Russia after Cameron.
Cameron arrived in Russia in 1779, also invited by Catherine's agents. Exact details of Cameron's hire remain vague, but on August 23, 1779 an enthusiastic Catherine wrote to Grimm that "At present I am very taken with Mr. Cameron, a Scot by nationality and a Jacobite, great draughtsman, well versed in antique monuments and well known for his book on the Baths of Rome. At the moment we are making a garden with him on a terrace..." Catherine also wrote that Cameron was raised at the Roman court of the Pretender
and that he was a nephew of Jenny Campbell, reflecting a new "romanticized" persona that Cameron assumed in Russia. Cameron settled first in Chernyshev House in Saint Petersburg but soon moved to his own house in Tsarskoye Selo
; it was later taken from him by emperor Paul.
Cameron, a Londoner, had no practical experience in landscaping
prior to 1779. Peter Hayden suggested that Cameron learned the trade from his father-in-law, John Bush (or Busch) who worked in Tsarskoye Selo
since 1771.
Cameron's career in Russia started with expansion of the Chinese Village
in Tsarskoye Selo
park, borrowing design ideas from William Chambers
. The theatre of Chinese Village had already been in place, designed by Antonio Rinaldi and Ivan Neelov; Cameron's undisputed additions are the living quarters of the Village and the Chinese Bridges over the canal. During Paul's reign Cameron's buildings were stripped of exterior finishes and later rebuilt by Vasily Stasov
in 1817.
In 1780–1784 he redecorated the formerly Rococo
halls of the main Catherine Palace
built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli
in the 1750s; what started as a modest remodeling soon resulted in the most lavish interiors of the whole palace, reminiscent of Palladio
, Raphael
, Robert Adam
and Clerisseau
yet blending into Cameron's unmistakingly own style. As early as June 22, 1771 Catherine praised the architect: "There are not yet but two rooms to do and there one rushes, because just here one sees nothing to equal it. I confess that I myself will not tire during nine weeks of watching this."
Catherine had another specific task for Cameron: she envisaged a new, relatively modest Neoclassical building in Tsarskoye Selo
near the older Rococo
Catherine Palace
. Clerisseau, Catherine's first choice, produced drafts for a gigantic and expensive Roman structure based on the Baths of Diocletian
, that were rejected out of hand but later influenced Quarenghi
and Cameron. In 1782 Cameron started his first standalone building, the Cold Baths, a two-story bathhouse in mixed Italian-Greek classicism with luxurious interiors (notably the Agate Pavilion). In 1784–1787 it was expanded with a two-story gallery (Cameron's Gallery), mixing natural stone Roman ground floor with a lightweight, snow-white upper floor gallery marked with unusually wide spacing between columns. The gallery, adorned with statues of foreign poets and philosophers, became Catherine's favorite promenade for years. It was flanked with a formal garden on one side and an English landscape park on the other.
In the beginning of the Gallery project Cameron himself acted as Catherine's recruiter
, hiring fellow Scotsmen to work in Tsarskoye Selo. 73 craftsmen, including William Heste
and Adam Menelaws
,
agreed to move to Russia (many took their families with them), causing a futile protest of the Foreign Office. The number was too high for Cameron, and the Scots eventually dispersed to other projects; Menelaws became assistant to Nikolay Lvov
.
Sophia, a model town
, was built near Tsarskoye Selo to Cameron's plan. It was designed to be viewed from the walkways of Cameron's Gallery and represent Constantinople
, the coveted target of Catherine's Greek project; the name of the town and its cathedral
clearly alluded to Hagia Sophia
. Catherine decreed that the streets of Sofia must blend with the roads of Tsarskoye Selo park. Cameron arranged the streets to make an impression that they all radiate from the Gallery. The streets were brightly lit at night when Catherine was present at Tsarskoye.
More historical allegories
were scattered in the park: the lake with Rinaldi's rostral column
represented the Black Sea
; Doric
ruins symbolized the former might of Ancient Greece
. These follies
, scattered along the road to Catherine Palace, doubled as the setting for triumphant procession
for visiting dignitaries.
Peter Hayden drew parallels between Cameron's landscaping in Sophia with that of Stowe House
park, notably the similarity between Cameron's Temple of Memory and the Temple of Concord and Victory built at Stowe by an unknown architect in 1740s. Another direct quote from Stowe is the Pyramid Tomb over the grave of Catherine's three Italian greyhound
s; it survived to date but the Temple of Memory was razed by Paul of Russia in 1797.
Pavlovsk, the largest landscape park in 18th century Russia (1,500 acres), is attributed to a succession of architects, starting with Cameron and ending with Carlo Rossi
. Cameron built the original palace core that survives to date, the Temple of Friendship, Private Gardens, Aviary, Apollo Colonnade and the Lime Avenue and planned the original landscape, but true authorship of Pavlovsk as a whole should be credited to empress Maria Feodorovna.
The Temple of Friendship was the first building in Pavlovsk, followed by the main palace. Cameron's Pavlovsk was far from Paul's vision of what an imperial residence should be: it lacked moats, forts and all other military paraphernalia so dear to Paul; "Cameron created a markedly private world for the Grand Duke. The palace could have belonged to anyone... not to the tsar of Russia in waiting."
Conflicts between Cameron and Paul and Maria date back to the couple's Grand Tour
of Europe (1781–1782). Maria complained about Cameron's delays since 1782. Constrained financially, Paul and Maria closely watched Cameron's progress and regularly curbed his far-reaching, expensive plans. Cameron also displayed signs of aversion to their management since 1782, but court intermediaries downplayed the conflict for a while. By 1785 it became public: Cameron quarreled with Paul over costs of Pavlovsk and Paul himself detested Cameron as Catherine's agent. Between 1786 and 1789 Cameron's duties in Pavlovsk passed to an Italian, Vincenzo Brenna
, hired by Paul in 1782. Dismissed by Paul, Cameron continued working on Catherine's own projects until her death in 1796.
His activities during Paul's reign are largely unknown. Georgy Lukomsky wrote than in 1799 Cameron redesigned the Baturyn
Palace of count Kirill Razumovsky
; according to contemporary researchers, Baturyn was a collaborative effort led by Nikolay Lvov
and Cameron's involvement cannot be reliably measured.
Lukomsky also wrote that in 1800–1801 Cameron temporarily left Russia for England; according to Colvin, this opinion is unsubstantiated: in 1800–1801 Cameron worked in Pavlovsk, then owned by Maria Fyodorovna, where he built the Ionic Pavilion of Three Graces.
Alexander, who succeeded Paul in March 1801, appointed Cameron the chief architect of the Russian Admiralty
During this brief (1802–1805) employment Cameron designed the Naval Hospital in Oranienbaum
and two unrealized drafts for the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt
. He also worked in Pavlovsk, restoring the palace after a fire. In 1805 Cameron finally retired; his tenure at the Admiralty passed to Andreyan Zakharov
. Lukomsky noted that Cameron, who once executed Catherine's soaring dreams, was hardly interested in building barracks and repairing gateways.
In 1784 Cameron married Catherine Bush, daughter of imperial gardener John Bush. They had a daughter, Mary, however, her birth has not been evidenced by church records. Mary Cameron, engaged to James Grange, left Russia in 1798. Grange returned to Russia in 1803, and, according to Anthony Cross, could have helped Cameron's career revival in 1803–1805. By 1839 the Granges had seven surviving children.
Ironically, during retirement Cameron and his wife lived in Paul's favorite palace, Saint Michael's Castle
. The redundant and still incomplete castle was converted to living quarters and housed up to 900 residents, including the Camerons and future field marshal
Diebitsh
. Cameron died in 1812, before Napoleon's invasion of Russia; his widow secured a pension from the Russian Government, sold out Cameron's library and either returned to England or died in Saint Petersburg.
school, and published in 1943 in England with introduction by David Talbot Rice
. Nikolay Lanceray
had compiled substantial material on Cameron earlier, in 1920s. It was lost after his arrest, apart from the fragments used in his book on Vincenzo Brenna
, first printed in 2006. In the last quarter of the 20th century Anthony Glenn Cross researched Cameron's life as part of the British diaspora in Saint Petersburg and tracked his family connections; John Martin Robinson
contributed studies of Cameron's early career in England. A definitive modern biography of Cameron, The empress and the architect, was published by Dmitry Shvidkovsky
in English in 1996 (most recent Russian edition: 2008). Cameron's concise biography in the fourth edition of Howard Colvin
's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects cites all the English sources listed above. pp. 211–213 pp. 282–297 Also includes:
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
architect who made an illustrious career at the court of Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
. Cameron, practitioner of early neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, was the chief architect of Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
and Pavlovsk
Pavlovsk Palace
Pavlovsk Palace is an 18th-century Russian Imperial residence built by Paul I of Russia near Saint Petersburg. After his death, it became the home of his widow, Maria Feodorovna...
palaces and the adjacent new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
of Sophia from his arrival in Russia in 1779 to Catherine's death in 1796. All his indisputable tangible works "can be encompassed in a day's tour"; Cameron concentrated exclusively on country palaces and landscape garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
s. Twice dismissed by Paul of Russia during the Battle of the palaces
Battle of the palaces
The "battle of the palaces" occurred in the Russian Empire in the last decade of the reign of Catherine II and the reign of Paul I , with ripple effects extending into the beginning of the reign of Alexander I...
, Cameron enjoyed a brief revival of his career under Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
in 1803–1805. Apart from the well-researched Catherinian period (1779–1796), Cameron's life story remains poorly documented, not in the least due to Cameron's own efforts to shake off the bad reputation he had earned in the 1770s in London.
Cameron's British neoclassicism was an isolated episode in Russian architecture, then dominated by Italian artists (Antonio Rinaldi, Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of Palladian architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg.- Career in Italy :...
, Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna was an Italian architect and painter who was the house architect of Paul I of Russia. Brenna was hired by Paul and his spouse Maria Fyodorovna as interior decorator in 1781 and by the end of 1780s became the couple's leading architect...
). According to his first biographer Georgy Lukomsky, "Cameron remains one of the greatest exponents of British taste and British Art abroad, and if he has been so completely forgotten in his own country, it would seem only right to rectify this omission". Howard Colvin
Howard Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin, CVO, CBE , was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field.-Life and works:...
ranked Cameron "one of the major urban architects of the eighteenth century ... an accomplished designer and decorator in a neoclassical style that has affinities with that of Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
. His style is sufficiently individual to exonerate him from the imputation of being merely an imitator... Although still a Palladian
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
, Cameron was a pioneer of Greek Revival in Russia."
Early career
Charles Cameron was the son of Walter Cameron, a London carpenter, speculative builder and a member of London Carpenter's Company. He claimed descent from the Camerons of LochielClan Cameron
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands is the mountain Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The chief of the clan is customarily referred to as...
, a Scottish clan
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
deeply involved in the Jacobite rising of 1745. Cameron used the Lochiel coat of arms for his personal bookplate
Bookplate
A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...
, although modern researchers since David Talbot Rice
David Talbot Rice
David Talbot Rice CBE was a British art historian. His father was "Talbot-Rice" and both he and his wife published using "Talbot Rice" as a surname, but are also sometimes found under "Rice" alone....
question or deny his claims for Lochiel lineage. Researchers also disagree on the exact year of Cameron's birth, which may be either 1743, 1745 or 1746.
Cameron trained in London with his father and with architect Isaac Ware
Isaac Ware
Isaac Ware was an English architect and translator of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.He was apprenticed to Thomas Ripley, 1 August 1721, and followed him in positions in the Office of Works, but his mentor in design was Lord Burlington.Ware was a member of the St...
. After Ware's death in 1766 Cameron settled on continuing his late master's work on a new edition of Lord Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
's Fabbriche Antiche, a project that required personal studies and surveys of ancient Roman architecture
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
. He spent 1767 in London, preparing prints of works by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
, and arrived in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1768. There, he surveyed the Baths of Titus
Baths of Titus
The Baths of Titus were public baths built in Rome in 81 by Emperor Titus.The baths sat in the base of the Esquiline hill, an area of parkland and luxury estates which had been taken over by Nero for his Golden House or Domus Aurea...
and Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
's Domus Aurea
Domus Aurea
The Domus Aurea was a large landscaped portico villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes built in the heart of Ancient Rome by the Emperor Nero after the Great Fire of Rome had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes of the Palatine...
, digging into subterranean remains that were rediscovered only in the 20th century. According to Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky is a Russian educator and historian of architecture of Russia and the United Kingdom during the Age of Enlightenment. A 1982 alumnus and long-term professor of Moscow Architectural Institute, Shvidkovsky was appointed its rector in 2007....
, Cameron met in Rome with another Charles Cameron, a Jacobite and a true member of the Lochiel clan, and "borrowed" the life story of the latter to embellish his own. Cameron returned from Italy around 1769 and published the results of his studies in 1772 (reissues 1774, 1775) under the title The Baths of the Romans explained and illustrated... with proper scientific commentaries in English and French.
Cameron's life between 1769 and his departure to Russia in 1779 remains barely known. Archives attest to his involvement in only one construction contract in London, for an Adam style
Adam style
The Adam style is an 18th century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practiced by the three Adam brothers from Scotland; of whom Robert Adam and James Adam were the most widely known.The Adam brothers were the first to advocate an integrated style for architecture and...
building in Hanover Square
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London, is a square in Mayfair, London W1, England, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street....
(1770–1775). Walter Cameron, the main contractor, was ruined by litigation with the property owner and had to sell his son's art collection to raise funds. Charles sued his father, who was jailed in Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...
for debt. In 1791, when Cameron applied for a membership in the Architect's Club of London, he was barred admission due to this and other episodes that had stained his reputation in England.
Arrival in Russia
Catherine's tastes in architecture evolved from Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
and Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
in the first decade of her reign to emerging Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
in the 1780s. She leaned to French variety of neoclassicism
French Rococo and Neoclassicism
18th-century French art was dominated by the Rococo and neoclassical movements. In France, the death of Louis XIV lead to a period of licentious freedom commonly called the Régence. The heir to Louis XIV, his great grandson Louis XV of France, was only 5 years old; for the next seven years France...
(Clerisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....
, Ledoux
Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux was one of the earliest exponents of French Neoclassical architecture. He used his knowledge of architectural theory to design not only in domestic architecture but town planning; as a consequence of his visionary plan for the Ideal City of Chaux, he became known as a utopian...
) mixed with ancient Roman motifs. Catherine, perhaps the first of European monarchs, realized that the emerging style had the potential to become a definitive form of imperial art. She spared no expense in hiring foreign architects and craftsmen trained in the neoclassical manner. She instructed Baron Melchior Grimm
Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm
Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm was a German-born French author.-Early years:Grimm was born at Regensburg, the son of a pastor...
, her European agent in matters of art and antiques, to hire Italian architects because "the Frenchmen we have here know too much and build dreadful houses - because they know too much." These Italians, Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of Palladian architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg.- Career in Italy :...
and relatively unknown Giacomo Trombara, arrived in Russia after Cameron.
Cameron arrived in Russia in 1779, also invited by Catherine's agents. Exact details of Cameron's hire remain vague, but on August 23, 1779 an enthusiastic Catherine wrote to Grimm that "At present I am very taken with Mr. Cameron, a Scot by nationality and a Jacobite, great draughtsman, well versed in antique monuments and well known for his book on the Baths of Rome. At the moment we are making a garden with him on a terrace..." Catherine also wrote that Cameron was raised at the Roman court of the Pretender
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
and that he was a nephew of Jenny Campbell, reflecting a new "romanticized" persona that Cameron assumed in Russia. Cameron settled first in Chernyshev House in Saint Petersburg but soon moved to his own house in Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
; it was later taken from him by emperor Paul.
Cameron, a Londoner, had no practical experience in landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
prior to 1779. Peter Hayden suggested that Cameron learned the trade from his father-in-law, John Bush (or Busch) who worked in Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
since 1771.
Tsarskoye Selo
Cameron's career in Russia started with expansion of the Chinese Village
Chinese Village (Tsarskoe Selo)
The Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Russia was Catherine the Great's attempt to follow the 18th-century fashion for the Chinoiserie....
in Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
park, borrowing design ideas from William Chambers
William Chambers (architect)
Sir William Chambers was a Scottish architect, born in Gothenburg, Sweden, where his father was a merchant. Between 1740 and 1749 he was employed by the Swedish East India Company making several voyages to China where he studied Chinese architecture and decoration.Returning to Europe, he studied...
. The theatre of Chinese Village had already been in place, designed by Antonio Rinaldi and Ivan Neelov; Cameron's undisputed additions are the living quarters of the Village and the Chinese Bridges over the canal. During Paul's reign Cameron's buildings were stripped of exterior finishes and later rebuilt by Vasily Stasov
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov was a Russian architect.-Biography:Stasov was born in Moscow....
in 1817.
In 1780–1784 he redecorated the formerly Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
halls of the main Catherine Palace
Catherine Palace
The Catherine Palace was the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo , 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.- History :...
built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was an Italian architect naturalized Russian. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic...
in the 1750s; what started as a modest remodeling soon resulted in the most lavish interiors of the whole palace, reminiscent of Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
and Clerisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....
yet blending into Cameron's unmistakingly own style. As early as June 22, 1771 Catherine praised the architect: "There are not yet but two rooms to do and there one rushes, because just here one sees nothing to equal it. I confess that I myself will not tire during nine weeks of watching this."
Catherine had another specific task for Cameron: she envisaged a new, relatively modest Neoclassical building in Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
near the older Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
Catherine Palace
Catherine Palace
The Catherine Palace was the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo , 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.- History :...
. Clerisseau, Catherine's first choice, produced drafts for a gigantic and expensive Roman structure based on the Baths of Diocletian
Baths of Diocletian
The Baths of Diocletian in Rome were the grandest of the public baths, or thermae built by successive emperors. Diocletian's Baths, dedicated in 306, were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths. The baths were built between the years 298 AD and 306 AD...
, that were rejected out of hand but later influenced Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi
Giacomo Quarenghi was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of Palladian architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg.- Career in Italy :...
and Cameron. In 1782 Cameron started his first standalone building, the Cold Baths, a two-story bathhouse in mixed Italian-Greek classicism with luxurious interiors (notably the Agate Pavilion). In 1784–1787 it was expanded with a two-story gallery (Cameron's Gallery), mixing natural stone Roman ground floor with a lightweight, snow-white upper floor gallery marked with unusually wide spacing between columns. The gallery, adorned with statues of foreign poets and philosophers, became Catherine's favorite promenade for years. It was flanked with a formal garden on one side and an English landscape park on the other.
In the beginning of the Gallery project Cameron himself acted as Catherine's recruiter
Recruiter
A recruiter is someone engaging in recruitment, or the solicitation of individuals to fill jobs or positions within a corporation, nonprofit organization, sports team, the military, etc. Recruiters may work within an organization's human resources department or on an outsourced basis...
, hiring fellow Scotsmen to work in Tsarskoye Selo. 73 craftsmen, including William Heste
William Heste
William Hastie was a Russian architect, civil engineer and town planner of Scottish descent. His name is also transliterated back from Russian as William Heste or, seldom, Vasily Heste....
and Adam Menelaws
Adam Menelaws
Adam Menelaws, also spelled Menelas was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831...
,
agreed to move to Russia (many took their families with them), causing a futile protest of the Foreign Office. The number was too high for Cameron, and the Scots eventually dispersed to other projects; Menelaws became assistant to Nikolay Lvov
Nikolay Lvov
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Lvov was a Russian artist of the Age of Enlightenment. Lvov, an amateur of Rurikid lineage, was a polymath who contributed to geology, history, graphic arts and poetry, but is known primarily as an architect and ethnographer, compiler of the first significant collection of...
.
Sophia
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
, was built near Tsarskoye Selo to Cameron's plan. It was designed to be viewed from the walkways of Cameron's Gallery and represent Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the coveted target of Catherine's Greek project; the name of the town and its cathedral
Sophia Cathedral
The Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sophia in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg, was one of the first purely Palladian churches to be built in Russia. Rather paradoxically, it may also be defined as "the first example of Byzantinism in Russian architecture".- Construction...
clearly alluded to Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
. Catherine decreed that the streets of Sofia must blend with the roads of Tsarskoye Selo park. Cameron arranged the streets to make an impression that they all radiate from the Gallery. The streets were brightly lit at night when Catherine was present at Tsarskoye.
More historical allegories
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
were scattered in the park: the lake with Rinaldi's rostral column
Rostral column
A rostral column is a type of victory column, originating in ancient Greece and Rome where they were erected to commemorate a naval military victory. Traditionally, rostra — the prows or rams of captured ships — were mounted on the columns...
represented the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
; Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
ruins symbolized the former might of Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. These follies
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
, scattered along the road to Catherine Palace, doubled as the setting for triumphant procession
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
for visiting dignitaries.
Peter Hayden drew parallels between Cameron's landscaping in Sophia with that of Stowe House
Stowe House
Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school. The gardens , a significant example of the English Landscape Garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust...
park, notably the similarity between Cameron's Temple of Memory and the Temple of Concord and Victory built at Stowe by an unknown architect in 1740s. Another direct quote from Stowe is the Pyramid Tomb over the grave of Catherine's three Italian greyhound
Italian Greyhound
The Italian Greyhound is a small breed of dog of the sight hound type, sometimes called an "I.G.", or "Iggy" for short.-Appearance:The Italian Greyhound is the smallest of the sighthounds, typically weighing about and standing about tall at the withers...
s; it survived to date but the Temple of Memory was razed by Paul of Russia in 1797.
Pavlovsk
Pavlovsk, the largest landscape park in 18th century Russia (1,500 acres), is attributed to a succession of architects, starting with Cameron and ending with Carlo Rossi
Carlo Rossi (architect)
Carlo di Giovanni Rossi, was an Italian architect, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia. He was the author of many classical buildings and architectural ensembles in Saint Petersburg and its environments...
. Cameron built the original palace core that survives to date, the Temple of Friendship, Private Gardens, Aviary, Apollo Colonnade and the Lime Avenue and planned the original landscape, but true authorship of Pavlovsk as a whole should be credited to empress Maria Feodorovna.
The Temple of Friendship was the first building in Pavlovsk, followed by the main palace. Cameron's Pavlovsk was far from Paul's vision of what an imperial residence should be: it lacked moats, forts and all other military paraphernalia so dear to Paul; "Cameron created a markedly private world for the Grand Duke. The palace could have belonged to anyone... not to the tsar of Russia in waiting."
Conflicts between Cameron and Paul and Maria date back to the couple's Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
of Europe (1781–1782). Maria complained about Cameron's delays since 1782. Constrained financially, Paul and Maria closely watched Cameron's progress and regularly curbed his far-reaching, expensive plans. Cameron also displayed signs of aversion to their management since 1782, but court intermediaries downplayed the conflict for a while. By 1785 it became public: Cameron quarreled with Paul over costs of Pavlovsk and Paul himself detested Cameron as Catherine's agent. Between 1786 and 1789 Cameron's duties in Pavlovsk passed to an Italian, Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna was an Italian architect and painter who was the house architect of Paul I of Russia. Brenna was hired by Paul and his spouse Maria Fyodorovna as interior decorator in 1781 and by the end of 1780s became the couple's leading architect...
, hired by Paul in 1782. Dismissed by Paul, Cameron continued working on Catherine's own projects until her death in 1796.
Retirement
Upon ascension to power in 1796, Paul fired Cameron from all his contracts and deprived him of his house in Tsarskoye. Cameron experienced financial difficulties and had to sell his collection of books to Pavel Argunov.His activities during Paul's reign are largely unknown. Georgy Lukomsky wrote than in 1799 Cameron redesigned the Baturyn
Baturyn
Baturyn , is a historic town in the Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine. It is located in the Bakhmatskyi Raion of the oblast, on the banks of the Seym River...
Palace of count Kirill Razumovsky
Kirill Razumovsky
Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky was a Ukrainian Registered Cossack from the Kozelets regiment in north-eastern Ukraine, who served as the last Hetman of Left- and Right-Bank Ukraine until 1764; Razumovsky was subsequently elected Hetman of the sovereign Zaporozhian Host in 1759, a position...
; according to contemporary researchers, Baturyn was a collaborative effort led by Nikolay Lvov
Nikolay Lvov
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Lvov was a Russian artist of the Age of Enlightenment. Lvov, an amateur of Rurikid lineage, was a polymath who contributed to geology, history, graphic arts and poetry, but is known primarily as an architect and ethnographer, compiler of the first significant collection of...
and Cameron's involvement cannot be reliably measured.
Lukomsky also wrote that in 1800–1801 Cameron temporarily left Russia for England; according to Colvin, this opinion is unsubstantiated: in 1800–1801 Cameron worked in Pavlovsk, then owned by Maria Fyodorovna, where he built the Ionic Pavilion of Three Graces.
Alexander, who succeeded Paul in March 1801, appointed Cameron the chief architect of the Russian Admiralty
Russian Admiralty
Admiralty Board was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the Great on December 12, 1718, and headquartered in the Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg....
During this brief (1802–1805) employment Cameron designed the Naval Hospital in Oranienbaum
Oranienbaum
Oranienbaum may refer to:Germany:* Oranienbaum, Germany, a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany* Oranienbaum-WörlitzRussia:* Oranienbaum, Russia , a Russian royal residence* Lomonosov , the former name of the adjacent town...
and two unrealized drafts for the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt
Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt
The Naval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt is a Russian Orthodox cathedral built in 1903–1913 as the main temple of the Baltic Fleet and dedicated to all fallen seamen. The cathedral was closed in 1929, and was converted to a cinema, a House of Officers and a museum of the Navy...
. He also worked in Pavlovsk, restoring the palace after a fire. In 1805 Cameron finally retired; his tenure at the Admiralty passed to Andreyan Zakharov
Andreyan Zakharov
Andreyan Zakharov was a Russian architect and representative of the Empire style. His designs also alternated neoclassicism with eclecticism. He was born to a family that was employed by the Admiralty board, and his greatest work was his renovation and expansion of the Admiralty building...
. Lukomsky noted that Cameron, who once executed Catherine's soaring dreams, was hardly interested in building barracks and repairing gateways.
Private life
Cameron's personality remains a "shadowy figure": being "proud, aloof and difficult", he had a talent for alienating people. He did not participate in the social life of the English diaspora in Saint Petersburg; he had few Russian friends, did not speak Russian and was disliked for his attitude of "English superiority".In 1784 Cameron married Catherine Bush, daughter of imperial gardener John Bush. They had a daughter, Mary, however, her birth has not been evidenced by church records. Mary Cameron, engaged to James Grange, left Russia in 1798. Grange returned to Russia in 1803, and, according to Anthony Cross, could have helped Cameron's career revival in 1803–1805. By 1839 the Granges had seven surviving children.
Ironically, during retirement Cameron and his wife lived in Paul's favorite palace, Saint Michael's Castle
Saint Michael's Castle
St. Michael's Castle , also called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers Castle , is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. St. Michael's Castle was built as a residence for Emperor Paul I by architects Vincenzo Brenna and Vasili Bazhenov in 1797-1801...
. The redundant and still incomplete castle was converted to living quarters and housed up to 900 residents, including the Camerons and future field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Diebitsh
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
Count Hans Karl Friedrich Anton von Diebitsch und Narden was a German-born soldier serving as Russian Field Marshal....
. Cameron died in 1812, before Napoleon's invasion of Russia; his widow secured a pension from the Russian Government, sold out Cameron's library and either returned to England or died in Saint Petersburg.
Biographies of Cameron
The first comprehensive English biography of Cameron was written by Georgy Lukomsky, veteran of Russian neoclassical revivalRussian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
school, and published in 1943 in England with introduction by David Talbot Rice
David Talbot Rice
David Talbot Rice CBE was a British art historian. His father was "Talbot-Rice" and both he and his wife published using "Talbot Rice" as a surname, but are also sometimes found under "Rice" alone....
. Nikolay Lanceray
Nikolay Lanceray
Nikolay Lanceray was a Russian architect, preservationist, illustrator of books and historian of neoclassical art, biographer of Charles Cameron, Vincenzo Brenna and Andreyan Zakharov...
had compiled substantial material on Cameron earlier, in 1920s. It was lost after his arrest, apart from the fragments used in his book on Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna
Vincenzo Brenna was an Italian architect and painter who was the house architect of Paul I of Russia. Brenna was hired by Paul and his spouse Maria Fyodorovna as interior decorator in 1781 and by the end of 1780s became the couple's leading architect...
, first printed in 2006. In the last quarter of the 20th century Anthony Glenn Cross researched Cameron's life as part of the British diaspora in Saint Petersburg and tracked his family connections; John Martin Robinson
John Martin Robinson
John Martin Robinson, FSA is a British architectural historian and officer of arms.He was born in Preston, Lancashire and educated at the Benedictine school at Fort Augustus, the University of St Andrews and matriculated to Oriel College, Oxford University for his DPhil in 1970...
contributed studies of Cameron's early career in England. A definitive modern biography of Cameron, The empress and the architect, was published by Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky
Dmitry Shvidkovsky is a Russian educator and historian of architecture of Russia and the United Kingdom during the Age of Enlightenment. A 1982 alumnus and long-term professor of Moscow Architectural Institute, Shvidkovsky was appointed its rector in 2007....
in English in 1996 (most recent Russian edition: 2008). Cameron's concise biography in the fourth edition of Howard Colvin
Howard Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin, CVO, CBE , was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field.-Life and works:...
's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects cites all the English sources listed above. pp. 211–213 pp. 282–297 Also includes:
Biographies of contemporary artists
Also includes:-
- Vityazeva, V. A., Modzalevskaya, M. A. (2006, in Russian) Istorik russkoy arhitektury Nikolay Lanceray (Историк русской культуры Николай Лансере)