Georg Johann Mattarnovy
Encyclopedia
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
) was a German Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and sculptor, notable for his work in Saint Petersburg.
The birthplace of Mattarnovi is unknown, but most probably it was Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. His year of birth is also unknown. He was a sculptor, and a disciple and assistant of German architect Andreas Schlüter
Andreas Schlüter
Andreas Schlüter was a German baroque sculptor and architect associated with the Petrine Baroque style of architecture and decoration.-Biography:...
. Mattarnovi arrived in Saint Petersburg in 1714, following Schlüter. After the death of Schlüter, Matarnovi continued work on Schlüter's projects.
In 1715-1719, Mattarnovi managed the construction of the grotto pavilion in the Summer Garden
Summer Garden
The Summer Garden occupies an island between the Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in Saint Petersburg and shares its name with the adjacent Summer Palace of Peter the Great.-Original:...
originally designed by Schlüter. He also built two pavilions there, and a colonnade-gallery for an ancient sculpture of Venus. Mattarnovy built the Tsar Peter I
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
's main residence of Saint Peterburg, the so-called "new Winter Palace", or the "third Winter Palace". Originally, as designed by Schlüter, it was a small two-storey house, but in 1719-1721 the building was significantly expanded. The building was the centre of the ensemble of buildings on the Palace Embankment
Palace Embankment
The Palace Embankment or Palace Quay is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg which contains the complex of the Hermitage Museum buildings , the Hermitage Theatre, the Marble Palace, the Vladimir Palace, the New Michael Palace and the Summer Garden.The street was laid out...
. The Great Hall of the Winter Palace was the site of the public mourning ceremony for Peter I. Mattarnovi's Winter Palace was later torn down, and 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 :...
built the Hermitage Theater on the site. In 1718-1719, Mattarnovi built a mansion for the Procurator General of the Senate
Governing Senate
The Governing Senate was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Ober-Procurator...
, P.I. Yaguzhinsky, on the Palace Embankment.
Mattarnovi built Mytny (Gostinny
Gostiny Dvor
Great Gostiny Dvor is a vast department store on Nevsky Avenue in St Petersburg.This Gostiny Dvor is not only the city's oldest shopping centre, but also one of the first shopping arcades in the world...
) Dvor on the intersection of Nevsky Prospect and Moyka River (1716-1720). The building was destroyed by fire in 1736 and a new Gostiny Dvor was built on a different spot. Mattarnovi was the originator of the "standard houses" built on Petrogradsky Island
Petrogradsky Island
Petrogradsky Island is the third largest island in the Neva River deltain Saint Petersburg, Russia.Along with Zayachy Island, Aptekarsky Island, and Petrovsky Island,it constitutes the Petrogradskaya Side...
and the first version of Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city...
, built from 1717-1723.
The only surviving building of a Mattarnovi project is the Kunstkammer, the first museum in Russia, built from 1718-1734.
Mattarnovi died on 2 November 1719. He had worked in Saint Petersburg for five years. His son Philipp Georg Mattarnovy (1716-1742) was a noted engraver.