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Rastrelliesque baroque
Baroque bud domes (St. Andrew's Church in Kiev- 1754, Bartolomeo Rastrelli). The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The Summer Palace in Saint Petersburg (1741-44), destroyed in 1797).
The Church of Saint Andrew in Kiev (1749-54). Smolny Cathedral, St. Petersburg. The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg (1754-62).
     
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о Растре́лли) (1700 - 29 April 1771) was a Russian architect of Italian origin. He developed an easily recognizable style of late baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg and the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, are famed for extravagant luxury and opulence of decoration.

Bartolomeo went to Russia in 1715 with his father, Italian sculptor Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675-1744). His ambition was to combine the latest Italian architectural fashion with traditions of the Muscovite baroque style. The first important commission came in 1721 when he was asked to build a palace for Prince Demetre Cantemir, former ruler of Moldavia. He was known in Russia as Varfolomei Varfolomeyevich Rastrelli.

Rastrelli was appointed to the post of senior court architect in 1730. His works found favour with female monarchs of his time, so he retained this post throughout the reigns of Empresses Anna (1730-1740) and Elizabeth (1741-1762). His major works include:
1730 - The Annenhof Palace in Lefortovo, Moscow demolished in the 19th century
1733 - The first Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, subsequently demolished
1736 - The Rundāle Palace for Ernst Biron, Duke of Courland and intimate friend of Empress Anna
1738 - The Mitava Palace in Jelgava, Courland, also for Biron
1741 - The Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, demolished in 1797
1747 - Expansion and renovation of the Grand Peterhof Palace
1747 - Winter Palace in the Moscow Kremlin, replaced by the Grand Kremlin Palace in the 19th century
1749 - The Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg
1749 - The Church of Saint Andrew in Kiev
1749 - The Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg
1752 - 1756 - Demolition and replacement of the old Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo by a new one.
1752 - The Mariyinsky Palace in Kiev (now the ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine)
1753 - 1754 The Stroganov Palace on the Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg
1753 - The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

Smolny Cathedral, St. Petersburg.

Rastrelli's last and most ambitious project was the Smolny convent in St. Petersburg where Empress Elizabeth was to spend the rest of her life. The projected bell-tower was to become the tallest building in St Petersburg and all of Russia. Elizabeth's death in 1762 prevented Rastrelli from completing this grand design.

The new empress, Catherine II, dismissed baroque architecture as an old-fashioned "whipped cream", and the aged architect had to retire to Courland where he supervised decoration of the ducal palaces.

His last years were spent in obscure commerce with Italian art-dealers. He was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts several months before his death. A square before the Smolny convent has borne Rastrelli's name since 1923.