Bové was born in St. Petersburg in the family of Vincenzo Giovanni Bova, a painter from Naples who settled in Russia in 1782.

In 1813, after the Fire of Moscow (1812) that razed most of the city, Bové was hired by the Moscow Building Commission and assigned to lead the "Facade Department", responsible for the approval of new facade designs and for enforcing the placement of new buildings according to the new master plan's street lines.

Emperor Alexander, visiting Moscow, was enraged to see buildings painted in all kinds of colors, especially deep red and dark green, and issued a decree that limited the city palette to modest, pale colours.

In fact, most of his buildings were demolished by accidents or real estate developers: In 1824 and 1825, he participated in the reconstruction of Moscow Manege.

He designed numerous private mansions in Moscow, but his most famous work remains the Bolshoi Theatre.