THE CREATIVE WORK OF ARCHITECTOR PIERRE RICAUD DE TIRREGAILLE

Abstract

In this article we examine the figure of the military engineer, geometer, architect Pierre Rico de Tirregaille (Tirrgaille, French Pierre Ricaud de Tirregaille, Ricaud (Ricaut, Ryko) Pierre de Tirregaille (Tirgaille)). The years of his activity (about 1725 - after 1772) are relatively well known to researchers. But his biography remains unknown, except for the period of activity in the Commonwealth. Analysis of the results of previous research has shown that scientific research has been conducted in several areas. The first area includes research on biographical information about the architect. The second area includes studies on various projects that Pierre Rico de Tirregail commissioned. Manuscripts and graphics are important sources for finding out about Pierre Rico de Tirregail and his design work. They are stored in the archives of Warsaw, Krakow, the National Heritage Institute in Warsaw and the National Library of France in Paris. Pierre Ricaud de Tirregaille was born around 1725 in a French noble family in the district of Tiregale in Provence. His professional education was improved in Barcelona under the guidance of engineer Francis Ricode de Tierreagil. In the territory of the Polish– Lithuanian Commonwealth he worked from 1752 to 1762. We distinguish three periods in the activity of the architect: I - Warsaw (1752–1757), II - Lviv (1757–1760) and III - Warsaw (1760–1762). Most orders were received by the architect from several magnate families: Branicki, Potocki, Mniszeck, and others. The first mention of Pierre Rico de Tirregail's stay in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth dates back to 1752, when he received the rank of lieutenant in the infantry regiment of the Grand Crown Hetman Jan Kliment Branicki (1689–1771). In the architect's portfolio were included: the project and management of installation works on the water supply of the garden and menagerie in the city of Bialystok, the project of the palace with a garden in the city of Krystynopol, the palace in the village Pespa, a project of the Palace Chatsky-Felinsky in Lviv, a project for the modernization of the palace for Anthony Bielsky. Probably, the palace garden for the Greek Catholic Metropolitans in Lviv and the palace with a garden in Krakovets are his work as well. Pierre Ricaud de Tirregaille also made a detailed plan of the city of Warsaw on a scale of 1:1000 between 1762–1763. After an eleven-year stay in Poland, Pierre Rico de Tirregail moved to Berlin. In Berlin, he received a position in the military engineering corps and a position as a teacher at the court of King Frederick II of Prussia. In 1772, in Potsdam, he published a numismatic treatise devoted to Rossian medals of the eighteenth century.