Chizhov was born the son of a peasant mason on November 10, 1838, in the village of Pudov in the
Podolsky District of
Moscow Oblast. Chizhov's father had a small workshop and made tombstones for the Moscow German cemetery. Even as a small boy Chizhov made clay figurines of animals, and from the age of eleven he helped his father in his work. Chizhov studied at Moscow's German School of St. Michael, then attended the
Stroganov School of Technical Drawing where he learned sculpting under Vladimir Brovsky, a graduate of that school. Brovsky recommended him to
Nikolai Ramazanov, a professor at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and advised Ramazanov to take the talented young man into the institution. There, Chizhov began to systematically study sculpture and quickly showed his adeptness. In 1858, he fashioned a
high relief sculpture, "Champions", for which the school awarded him a silver medal. Another high relief, "Agony of the Saviour", also won Chizhov a silver medal. Ramazanov took on Chizhov as his assistant in the execution of works for the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Chizhov, working from the drawings and sketches of his mentor, produced for the cathedral the huge high relief sculpture ""Christ's Descent into Hell". He also produced for two other Moscow churches the high reliefs "Assumption" and "Saint Nicholas". Chizhov was soon invited by
Mikhail Mikeshin to participate in the project to create "
Millennium of Russia", a large monument erected in
Novgorod in 1863. Chizhov created the high relief figures "Heroes", "Enlightenment", and "Statesmen" for this monument. Chizhov moved to
St. Petersburg, where in 1863 he enrolled in the
Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied under
Peter Klodt and Nikolai Pimenov. Chizhov soon won two silver medals for sculpting from life and a small gold medal in 1865 for "
Kievan riding with a bridle in his hands through the camp of the
Pechenegs", a bronze copy of which exists at the
Russian Museum in Petersburg. Chizhov's studies did not prevent him from performing a variety of private commissions and work for Mikeshin, including drawings for a model of the St. Petersburg monument to
Catherine the Great and the fashioning of parts of this colossal monument to the empress. Chizhov was graduated from the academy in 1867 with the title of Expert Artist of the First Degree and a large gold medal earned for a high relief of Christ's resurrection, copies of which are now located at the academy and in the Russian Museum. He then traveled in Europe, visiting several cities in Germany, Austria, and Italy before settling in Rome, where he spent six years in continuous work. ==Works==