Count Fyodor Tolstoy

Sculptor, medallist, draughtsman, engraver, painter, illustrator, writer, teacher. Born in St Petersburg to Count Pyotr Tolstoy and Elisabeth Barbot de Marny (1783). Studied at the Jesuit College in Polotsk (1792–96), Naval Academy in St Petersburg (1798–1802) and under Ivan Prokofiev at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1804–09). Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1809), Königlich Preussische Akademie der Künste in Berlin (1822), Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna (1836) and Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence (1846). Employed at the Imperial Hermitage (1806–10) and the St Petersburg Mint (1810–28). Designed a series of twenty-one medallions depicting Russian victories in the Patriotic War (1814–36) and twelve medallions of scenes from the Russo-Persian War and Russo-Turkish War (1836–39). Painted trompe-l’oeil still-lifes (1817–22) and illustrated Ippolit Bogdanovich’s poem Dushenka (1820–33). Composed the ballets The Aeolian Harp (1838) and Echo (1842), including the choreography and proposed costume designs. Sculpted reliefs for the doors of the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (1846–51). Married Anna Dudina (1810) and Anastasia Ivanova (1838). Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1825), professor of medallion art (1842), professor of sculpture (1849), head of the mosaic department (1852). Vice-president (1828–59) and deputy president (1859–68) of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Lost his eyesight towards the end of his life. Died at the age of ninety in St Petersburg and buried at the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery (1873).