History of St. Petersburg: Exhibition at the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Museum dedicated to 200th anniversary of Kazan Cathedral

The Russian Academy of Fine Arts Research Museum (St. Petersburg) has launched an exhibition “To you as a gift of love towards Fatherland” dedicated to 200th anniversary of the Kazan Cathedral.

The exhibition unveils unique documents related to the construction of the cathedral: they carry the signature of the Kazan Cathedral’s creator, architect Andrei Voronikhin. On display are also samples of stones the cathedral was built from.

The exhibition also opens up a unique opportunity to see the icons painted for the Kazan Cathedral by brilliant masters of academic school, which today are dispersed among various museums of St. Petersburg (State Russian Museum, State Museum of History of Religion).

During the Patriotic War of 1812 the Kazan Cathedral was turned into a storage building for sacred relics and trophies of the triumphant victory. Among the trophies which were brought here were military banners and standards of Napoleonic armies, keys of the conquered cities, marshal’s batons. Relics of the war of 1812, samples of weapons and modern military uniforms – are the materials which represent the Kazan Cathedral as the monument of military glory of 1812.

In 1837 in front of the cathedral were placed monuments to field marshals Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly, which have become an integral part of the Kazan Cathedral ensemble. Models of these statues at the exhibition remind of another remarkable Russian master, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts – B. I. Orlovsky.

The Kazan Cathedral became a starting point of the “Golden Age” of Russian architecture, while St. Petersburg finally got the panoramic view to match its status as the capital of the Russian Empire. Nevsky Avenue became not only the central street leading from Alexander Nevsky Monastery to the heart of the city, but also a representative avenue of the city. In this connection the exhibition puts on show the famous Panorama of Nevsky Avenue which was lithographed by V. S. Sadovnikov according to the drawings of P. S. Ivanov (1791-?) and I. A. Ivanov (1779-1848) from the collection of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Research Museum.