Andrei Stackenschneider

{{Short description|Russian architect (1802–1865)}}

File:Shtakenschneider by N.Terebenev.JPG

Andrei Ivanovich Stakenschneider (also spelled Stuckenschneider; {{langx|ru|Андрей Иванович Штакеншнейдер|Andrey Ivanovich Shtakenshneyder}}; {{OldStyleDate|6 March|1802|22 February}} – {{OldStyleDate|20 August|1865|8 August}}) was a Russian architect. His eclectic approach and competence in period styles are manifest in ten palaces built to his design in St. Petersburg. He is often credited with turning Russian architecture from Neoclassicism to Romanticism.

Life

Born into a prosperous family, Stakenschneider trained at the Imperial Academy of Arts, helping Auguste de Montferrand supervise the construction of Saint Isaac's Cathedral. He was a revivalist, finding his inspiration in Greek, Renaissance, Baroque, and Gothic styles. His first independent work was a Neo-Gothic castle at Keila-Joa, a residence of Count Alexander von Benckendorff near Tallinn.

In the late 1830s, Stakenschneider emerged as the chief court architect of Nicholas I of Russia. For this monarch and his children, he designed the Mariinsky Palace (1839–1844), Nicholas Palace (1853–1861), New Michael Palace (1857–1861), as well as the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace (1846–1848) for Princess Kochubey. In Peterhof, he was responsible for the Farm Palace (1838–1855), the Belvedere Palace (1853–1856), and numerous garden pavilions.

Stakenschneider refurbished some rooms in the Winter Palace and applied the Greek Revival idioms to the imperial palace in Oreanda, Crimea (1842–1852; burnt down in 1882).

Selected works

File:Mariinsky Palace Saint Petersburg.jpg|Mariinsky Palace in Saint Petersburg

File:DvorecTruda 29622.jpg|Nicholas Palace in Saint Petersburg

File:Alferaki Palace 2008.jpg|Alferaki Palace in Taganrog

File:Beloselskii.jpg|Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in Saint Petersburg

File:Keila-Joa loss.JPG|Keila-Joa manor in Estonia, Stackenschneider's first independent work

File:2129. Петергоф. Императорский телеграф.jpg|Palace Telegraph Station, located in Alexandria Park, Peterhof

Sources