Jean-François Thomas de Thomon: Drawings for Saint Petersburg

Jean-François Thomas de Thomon (1760–1813) is one of the best-known French architects of Neoclassicism. Blessed with drawing talent and endowed with the necessary ambition, he left turbulent revolutionary France for distant Russia and commenced a successful career in its capital city of Saint Petersburg, where he created his most celebrated works. Thomas de Thomon first made a name for himself as a draughtsman and only later as an architect. His most famous projects include the Big Stone Theatre (Bolshoi Theatre) and the design of the eastern tip of Vasilyevsky Island with the Stock Exchange, that has become one of the most popular post card motifs of the city on the Neva. The exhibition is on loan from the Art Library – Berlin State Museums and presents a selection of virtuoso drawings showing representative buildings in Saint Petersburg, not only by the architect himself but also by colleagues from his circle, including Giacomo Quarenghi (1744–1817), Andrei Voronikhin (1759–1814) and Luigi Rusca (1758–1822). These drawings by Thomas de Thomon were probably made for a presentation album for the Tsar.