Fyodor Gordeyev

Fyodor Gordeyevich Gordeyev (Russian: Фёдор Гордеевич Гордеев; 1744 - 4 February 1810) was a Russian sculptor.

Born in Saint Petersburg, he attended the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in the city^[1][2] and then went on a study trip to Western Europe thanks to the bursary.^[3][2] This took him to Paris, where he studied in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne,^[1] then Rome, where he was influenced by classical art.^[3]

After returning to Russia, he was commissioned to teach sculpture at the Academy in 1769^[1] Around the same time he produced the noted bas-relief Mercury Entrusting Bacchus to the Nymphs (1776). In 1802 he was made rector of the Academy.^[3] Art critics came to see Gordeyev as one of the best Russian neo-classical sculptors,^[2] although his early work such as Tomb of N. M. Golicyn (1780) still included influences from the Baroque.^[2][3] His final works also showed traces of Baroque influence.^[3]

His most important works include Prometheus (1769), Monument to A. M. Golitsyn in Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg (1788), the bas-reliefs of the Ostankino Palace in Moscow (1798), and the bas-reliefs on the tympanum of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg (1804).^[3][1][2] He also produced portraits and history paintings.^[1] He died in St Petersburg.