Olga's Gallery

Johann Georg Mayr, a painter from Nuremberg, who came to Russia in 1778 at the age of 18 for service in the Academy of Science as a painter and draftsman. He stayed and worked in Russia till his death in 1816. His output was mainly illustrations for scientific treatises. But from 1796 until 1803 he also fulfilled a series of paintings with cityscapes of St. Petersburg. Some of them were engraved and published as "Views of St. Petersburg". The original paintings are in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
 

The Mars Field was a ground for military drills and parades. Behind the buildings is the Neva river, the buildings surrounding the field are: The Marble Palace (behind the obelisk) built by the architect A. Rinaldi, to its left is the service building of the palace, rebuilt by A.P. Bruloff. To the right of the obelisk is the Saltykov mansion, built by Giacomo Quarenghi, and further to the right, in the corner of the picture, the mansion of I.I. Betzky. The Rumiantsev Obelisk is devoted to the victories of the commander P.A. Rumyantzev-Zadunaisky and was erected by the architect V. Brenn in 1799. In 1818 the obelisk was moved to the Vasilyevsky Island, and the monument to Alexander Suvorov, by the sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky, was put in its place.
Johann Georg Mayr. The Mars Field with the Rumiantsev Obelisk.
 
This painting gives an idea of how the place looked at the beginning of the 19th century. The shipyard was founded by Peter I the Great in 1704. In the 1730s the architect I.K. Korobov erected the stone buildings and the tower with the spire. The Admiralty at the time was a fortress and was surrounded by ramparts and canals. In 1806 the new building of the Admiralty was started by the project of the architect A.D. Zakharov. You may see the new building on the paintings of Fyodor Alekseev and Olga Ostroumova.
Johann Georg Mayr. View of the Admiralty as Seen from the Embankment of Vasilievsky Island.

The painting, depicts the theater built in 1783 by the architect and painter L.F. Tischbein. The theater burnt down on January 1, 1811.
Johann Georg Mayr. The Big Theater in St. Petersburg.