Pyotr Shamshin

Pyotr Shamshin studied at Imperial Academy of Arts. Vassily Maximov and Nikolai Bodarevsky are recorded as having studied under Pyotr Shamshin. The field of work recorded is painting. Work by Pyotr Shamshin is recorded in the collections of Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Oryol Museum of Fine Arts, Vyatskiy Art Museum and Yaroslavl Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Order of St.

• Native Name — Пётр Михайлович Шамшин • Born — 10 January 1811 • Birthplace — Saint Petersburg • Died — 6 February 1895 • Place of death — Saint Petersburg • Resting Place — Smolensky Cemetery, St. Petersburg • Education — Member Professor • Alma Mater — Alumni • Awards — Medal • Known for — History painting

His father, Шамшин, Михаил Никитич, was a portrait painter who taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts. At the age of ten, he entered the primary school at the Academy and studied under Alexei Yegorov and Vasily Shebuyev, with Pyotr Basin joining much later. In 1836, he was awarded a large gold medal for his depiction of the massacre of Niobe's children by Artemis and Apollo. He graduated in 1838 with the title of "Artist" and a small gold medal for a scene from the Iliad. His title included a stipend to study abroad, so he went to Italy and remained there for seven years. After returning, he became a teacher at the Academy. He was elected an Imperial Academician in 1844 for his paintings of Hagar in the desert and Peter the Great rescuing drowning soldiers near his estate in Lakhta; an act that probably hastened Peter's death. He was awarded the title of Professor in 1853 for his version of the Resurrection. Six years later, due to changes in the Academy's charter, he was redesignated as an "Associate Professor". In 1863, he became a "Professor, First Degree". After holding that position for twenty years, he was named the Rector for painting and sculpture. Among his best-known students were Isaak Asknaziy, Vasily Savinsky, Viktor Bobrov and Vasily Smirnov. Shortly before his death, due to a new statute for the Academy, he was dismissed because of age. His burial, at the Smolensky Cemetery, was lost during the Soviet era. Most of his works were religious in nature and may be seen at Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. He also painted for smaller churches throughout Russia, but some of those works were lost or destroyed during the early Soviet period.