Baron Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg

Sculptor, teacher. Father of Baron Mikhail Petrovich Clodt von Jürgensburg, uncle of Baron Mikhail Konstantinovich Clodt von Jürgensburg, grandfather of Baron Nikolai Clodt von Jürgensburg. Born in St Petersburg to a Baltic German military family (1805) and spent his childhood in Omsk (until 1822). Studied at the College of Artillery in St Petersburg (1823–27). Worked as an amateur sculptor and resigned his commission to become a professional artist (1827). Occasional student of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1829–33), where he studied under Vasily Yekimov. Founding father of the animalist genre in Russian sculpture. Sculpted the horses for the chariot of glory on the Narva Triumphal Gates (1831–33), four equestrian groups for the Anichkov Bridge (1833–50) and bronze casts for Berlin (1842) and Naples (1846), and reliefs for St Isaac’s Cathedral (1844–52) and the Marble Palace in St Petersburg (1845–50). Designed the statue of Ivan Krylov in the Summer Garden (1855) and the monument to Tsar Nicholas I on St Isaac’s Square (1856–59). Contributed to the interior decor of the Church of Christ the Saviour (1858–60) and St George’s Hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow (1858–60). Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1838), where he headed the casting workshop. Academician and second-class professor (1838), first-class professor (1848), professor emeritus (1858). Member of the Königliche Akademie der Künste in Berlin (1835), Accademia di San Luca in Rome (1852) and Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1859). Died at his estate of Gute Khalala in Finland and buried in St Petersburg (1867).