Stepan Pimenov

Stepan Stepanovich Pimenov (; 1784 – ) was a Russian artist and sculptor. He was closely associated with Vasily Demut-Malinovsky, with whom he worked on the decoration of buildings designed by Carlo Rossi and Andrey Voronikhin. He was an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1807, and a full professor from 1814.

Born in 1784, Pimenov attended the Imperial Academy of Arts and distinguished himself there, winning several medals for his artistic compositions. Graduating in 1803, he was soon involved in an important commission, working with several other famous sculptors and artists on Andrey Voronikhin's project for the Kazan Cathedral. Making his name with two particular sculptures, Pimenov became an academician and went on to teach at the Academy. He combined his teaching duties with carrying out important commissions, and also worked as a designer at the Imperial Porcelain Factory. He co-operated with Voronikhin and Demut-Malinovsky once more on the decoration of the Mining Institute, and worked on Andreyan Zakharov's Admiralty building. He began an enduring relationship with architect Carlo Rossi in the late 1810s, producing works for the Yelagin and Mikhailovsky Palaces, and the General Staff Building.

Towards the end of his life Pimenov continued to carry out large commissions, his works adorned the Alexandrinsky Theatre and the Imperial Public Library. While working on compositions for Vasily Stasov's Narva Triumphal Arch in the early 1830s, he came into conflict with Emperor Nicholas I, supposedly over Pimenov's portraits of Nicholas and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. Nicholas criticised Pimenov's characters for the Narva Arch and he was forced to resign from the Academy in 1830. He was able to complete several of his commissions before his death in 1833.

Family and early life

Pimenov was born in Saint Petersburg in 1784. His father, Stepan Afanasyevich Pimenov, was a civil servant with the rank of . He entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1795 at the age of 11, studying under Mikhail Kozlovsky and . Pimenov received several awards during his studies, including a large silver medal in 1801 "for sculpting from life", a small gold medal in 1802 for his bas-relief composition "Jupiter and Mercury visiting Philemon and Baucis in the form of wanderers", and a large gold medal in the autumn of 1803 for his "Killing of Two Viking-Christians who refused to bow to Perun". In 1802 he took part in the competition to design a gravestone for his mentor, sculptor Mikhail Kozlovsky. Among his later works for the factory were "The transition of Russian troops across the Danube" and "The patronage of Russia of Moldova and Wallachia", created in 1829 in response to the Russo-Turkish War. In 1939 a granite altar-style tombstone was erected to the two Pimenovs.