Salvatore Tonci

Salvatore Tonci (Russian: Сальваторе Тончи; January 1756, Rome – December 1844, Moscow) was an Italian-born painter, musician, singer and amateur poet who spent most of his career in Russia. He generally called himself "Nikolai Ivanovich", in preference to "Salvatore Sigismondovich".

Biography His father was a doctor from Siena. In his youth, he was a member of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Naples. During this time, he also studied singing and painting. In 1793, he spent some time at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna.

Soon after, he left Italy and went to Poland to become a singer in the court of King Stanislaw II. This position did not last long, however, as the Third Partition forced the King to abdicate in 1795. Tonci followed him into exile in Saint Petersburg He missed his jugular vein and survived. As a way of giving thanks for his recovery, he created a large painting of the "Baptism of Vladimir the Great" for Dormition Cathedral. He lived there for two years and returned to Moscow in 1814.

After 1815, he worked for the "Экспедиция кремлёвского строения" (roughly: Dispatch Office for Kremlin Buildings), an agency that was responsible for construction and repairs at the Imperial palaces in Moscow. For twenty-five years, he was Supervisor of the drawing classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1831, he began preparing his poems and other written works for publication, but they remain in manuscript. Due to ill health, in 1842 he retired from all of his positions, with the rank of Collegiate Counselor, and died two years later.

Selected portraits