Russian landscape artist. He was born into the family of a famous sculptor Pheodosiy Shchedrin. His uncle, Semion Shchedrin, a landscape painter, was considered to be the founder of the Russian landscape genre. In 1800, Sylvester entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, in which he specialized in landscape. He graduated with honors and a gold medal, which gave him the right for studies abroad. But he had to wait with his postgraduate studies because of the wars with Napoleon. Sylvester left for Italy only in 1818. The biggest achievement of that period is ‘New Rome. The Castle of the Holy Angel'. It was a great success and was imitated much. Sylvester himself was commissioned for 8-10 copies of the picture, though he never copied it, but drew different variants changing time, angle of view, details. His pension came to an end in 1823, but he decided to stay in Italy as a freelance painter. His works of the time were already so popular that he had many commissions to support himself. He lived in Rome and Naples, working much out-of-doors. He liked to draw terraces in vines with a view of the sea. At the end of the 1820s, he started to draw night time landscapes full of an uneasy, anxious mood. His sickening might be the reason. After his early death in 1830, his friends tried to bring Shchedrin's pictures home, to Russia, but failed. Most of his pictures are in private collections all over the world.
Russian landscape artist. He was born into the family of a famous sculptor Pheodosiy Shchedrin. His uncle, Semion Shchedrin, a landscape painter, was considered to be the founder of the Russian landscape genre. In 1800, Sylvester entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, in which he specialized in landscape. He graduated with honors and a gold medal, which gave him the right for studies abroad. But he had to wait with his postgraduate studies because of the wars with Napoleon. Sylvester left for Italy only in 1818. The biggest achievement of that period is ‘New Rome. The Castle of the Holy Angel'. It was a great success and was imitated much. Sylvester himself was commissioned for 8-10 copies of the picture, though he never copied it, but drew different variants changing time, angle of view, details. His pension came to an end in 1823, but he decided to stay in Italy as a freelance painter. His works of the time were already so popular that he had many commissions to support himself. He lived in Rome and Naples, working much out-of-doors. He liked to draw terraces in vines with a view of the sea. At the end of the 1820s, he started to draw night time landscapes full of an uneasy, anxious mood. His sickening might be the reason. After his early death in 1830, his friends tried to bring Shchedrin's pictures home, to Russia, but failed. Most of his pictures are in private collections all over the world.
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