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Saint Isaac's Cathedral. To the history of creation

Exhibition August 22, 2018 − January 14, 2019
An exhibition has opened at the State Russian Museum "Saint Isaac's Cathedral. To the history of creation "which presents sketches and cartoons of famous masters, created to decorate the interiors of St. Isaac's Cathedral, stored in the funds of the Russian Museum. The exposition is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the temple and reveals the difficult history of its interior decoration.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful monuments of St. Petersburg. Many people know that such masters as Karl Bryullov, Fyodor Bruni, Peter Basin and others participated in the process of its design. But few know that the original interior was different. Unfortunately, many oil paintings did not withstand the test of the harsh Petersburg climate, therefore in the middle of the 19th century they were replaced with mosaics of other authors.

Yet 103 wall paintings and 52 paintings on canvas, created by famous artists, have been preserved intact. The pride of St. Isaac's Cathedral - the ceiling of the main dome, measuring 816 square meters, was painted by Karl Bryullov.

The exhibition in the Russian Museum makes it possible to see the original intent of the interior of the cathedral, which was not fully implemented, because, fortunately, the museum’s collection contains sketches of paintings and cartoons of many masters. Their huge dimensions (sometimes 400 x 300 cm) do not allow them to be shown in permanent exposure.

In addition to drawings and large-format sketches, the exhibition will show sculptures on religious subjects, as well as portraits of artists working on the decoration of one of the most beautiful sights of St. Petersburg.

Based on site materials The State Russian Museumand sites cathedral.ru, laform.ru.