Salvatore Tonchi ( Nikolai Ivanovich Tonchi ; 1756 - 1844 ) - artist, graphic artist, musician, poet and singer of Italian descent, who worked in Russia.
| Nikolai Ivanovich Tonchi | |
|---|---|
 Self portrait, after 1812 | |
| Birth name | Salvatore Tonchi |
| Date of Birth | 1756 |
| Place of Birth | Rome |
| Date of death | 1844 |
| Place of death | Moscow |
| A country | |
| Genre | Historical painting portrait |
| Study | |
Content
Biography
Born in January 1756 in Rome. In his youth he served in the Neapolitan Royal Guard. Classes in poetry brought him fame at home. At the same time, Tonchi was engaged in singing and studied painting. Member of the Roman Academy de Forti (1792) and the Bologna Academy (1793).
First, he came from Italy, as a singer, to the court of the Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski , and in 1795, together with the abdicated king, he moved to Petersburg . Since 1800, he worked in Moscow, where in 1805 he married the daughter of Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Gagarin . Thanks to this marriage, Tonchi became an entrant to high society, according to D. P. Runich , he “became the luminary of all Moscow clubs and a friend of F. Rostopchin, and all the princes and counts” [1] . S. P. Zhikharev wrote in his diary [2] :
| At Prince Gagarin I met the famous painter Tonchi. He is married to the eldest daughter of the prince. Sed, like a moon. Judging by the appearance, he should be about 60 years old, but by the liveliness of the conversation, he should not be given 40; he occupied the whole conversation. Awesome man. It seems to be a painter, but it is worth any professor: he knows everything, he saw everything, he studied everything. What kind person and with what polysyllabic education this Tonchi. He passionately loves literature and writes poetry himself ... Tonchi now does little in painting and only paints portraits from his wife’s relatives. |
The ruin of Moscow in 1812 and the terrible death in front of Vereshchagin before his eyes influenced Tonchi so much that he was temporarily clouded with reason and, having left for Vladimir, tried to cut his throat with a razor. The wound was not dangerous, and he soon recovered, and in memory of his salvation, he painted a large painting, “The Baptism of Vladimir,” for the cathedral.
In 1815, he entered the service of the Kremlin expedition , and then for 25 years he was an inspector of drawing classes at the Architectural School in Moscow. In 1831 he was preparing the publication of his works, which remained in the manuscript. He retired as a college adviser in 1842, and died in December 1844.
Family
Since 1806 he was married to Princess Natalya Ivanovna Gagarina (1778-1832), their union was a misalliance and led the family of Prince Gagarin to despair. The princess in love insisted on marriage and "nothing in the world could change her intentions." She left Tonchi from Moscow and got married to him [3] . They had two daughters in marriage:
- Maria Nikolaevna (1812-1898), after the death of her relatives, she first entered the Moscow Novodevichy Convent, and in 1848 the Fedorov Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, in which she lived until her death. Not taking on monasticism, she led a monastic life as a novice.
- Sofya Nikolaevna (1816-1825)
Gallery
He performed a number of portraits ( G.R.Derzhavin , 1801, Paul I, F.V. Rostopchin , etc.), paintings on religious and historical themes, lithographs. Creativity Tonchi inherent features of realism and romantic elation, characteristic of contemporary Russian art. He also painted cartoons, always well-aimed, but not evil.
G. R. Derzhavin Emperor Paul I Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna F. Rostopchin
Literature
- Russian portraits of the XVIII — XIX centuries . Ed. Led. Prince Nikolai Mikhailovich. SPb. 1906. V. 5 vol. 3. No. 90.
- Selivanov A.V. Artist Salvator Tonchi // Transactions of Vladimir Scientific Archival Commission. Vladimir, 1904, Prince 6, pp. 133-155.
- Vladimir Suzdal Museum-Reserve
- S. Tonchi
- State Vladimir-Suzdal Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve. "Drawings by Salvator Tonchi. Catalog". Compiled by Igolnikova M.E. 116 p. 2005.
- Yurovetskaya A.V. Works on Christian subjects in the works of Salvator Tonchi. // Actual problems of the theory and history of art : Sat. scientific articles. Vol. 2. Ed. A.V. Zakharova — St. Petersburg: NP-Print - 2012. - p. 389-394 ISBN 978-5-91542-185-0
Notes
- ↑ Runich D.P. One Hundred Years Ago. (From notes of D.P. Runich) // Russian Antiquity, 1896. - T. 88. - No. 11. - S. 279-319.
- ↑ S.P. Zhikharev. Notes by a contemporary.
- ↑ Letters from Ya. I. Bulgakov to his eldest son from Moscow to Naples 1805 // Russian Archive. 1898.V. 5. - S. 66.
Links
- Tonchi, Salvator // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.