Shapovalenko, Ivan

Shapovalenko, Ivan [Шаповаленко, Іван; Šapovalenko], b 1820 in Hrechanivka, Kremenchuk county, Poltava gubernia, d 15 July 1890 in Duvan, Trans-Baikal oblast, Russia. Painter. A serf owned by P. Kapnist, he was granted freedom in 1836 while serving Kapnist in Naples. Having received a stipend from the Russian Committee for the Support of Artists he studied under R. D’Auria in Naples and A. Ivanov in Rome. With the support of Nikolai Gogol and Hryhorii Galagan he was able to remain in Rome. There he copied works by Raphael and other Italian masters. From 1845 he worked in the mosaic workshop of Saint Luke’s Academy in Rome, which trained mosaicists for Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. From 1851 to 1862 he worked as a master in the mosaic department of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts. His extant works include Portrait of a Neapolitan Woman (1851) and copies of two mosaic floors from the ancient baths of Otricoli, near Rome.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]