The Russian Academy Of Arts

One of St. Petersburg most majestic churches, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (Kazan Cathedral) was commissioned by Paul I and took over a decade to build (1800-1811) under the Emperor Alexander I. The impressive design by the Russian architect Andrey Voronikhin was inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Cathedral with its colonnades embracing the Nevsky Prospect like the outstretched wings of a gigantic eagle housed the venerated Icon of Our Lady of Kazan. The exhibition at the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts presents the history of its construction and significance in the life of St. Petersburg, Russian history and art.

For many years before the design and construction of the Cathedral one of the eminent Russian architects Andrey Voronikhin had worked on commissions by the Stroganov family and it was the Count Alexander Stroganov who revealed the talent of his young serf and contributed to his promotion as an architect.

Pre-History: the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the Nevsky Prospect
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan was built on the site of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the Nevsky Prospect to house a miracle working Icon of Our Lady of Kazan and became its successor in the religious life of St. Petersburg. On display are the engravings from the Jubilee Edition of 1753 edited by M. Makhaev with views of St. Petersburg where the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God with a wooden dome and belfry consecrated in 1737 was emphasized as a major city object.

The History of the Design and Construction of the Kazan Cathedral The Kazan Cathedral is one of the largest and most scared Russian Orthodox churches. In 1799, the Emperor Paul I announced a competition for the best design of the Cathedral. The architects Thomas de Thomon, Pietro Gonzaga, Charles Cameron presented their designs including semi-circular colonnades in front of the northern facade similar to the colonnades in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. All the designs were rejected. The visitors of the exhibition can see a drawing by Thomas de Thomon from the collection of the State Hermitage.

In 1800, Andrey Voronikhin recommended by the Count Alexander Stroganov was commissioned to make a design for the Cathedral. On show is Voronikhin’s original variation from the collection of A. Schusev Research Museum of Architecture (Moscow), which very much differs from his final design and proves the creative searches of the architect.

Voronikhin’s work on the design of the Kazan Cathedral approved in 1800 did not stop. In 1810 the architect presented a grandeur design with two colonnades and a semi-circular square fenced by a railing with pylons and statues of St. Peter and St. Paul in front of them. Only the railing for the western side of the Cathedral has been executed from this project.

The Interior of the Kazan Cathedral: Iconostasis. Painting. Sculpture.

The exterior and the interior of the Cathedral are adorned with sculptures created by the best Russian masters such as Pimenov, Martos, Demut-Malinovsky, Prokofiev, Schedrin. The integral part of its interior is painting. The eminent Russian painters of the early 19th century - Carl Bryullov, Carl Bruni, Orest Kiprensky, Vladimir Borovikovsky, Grigory Ugryumov and others painted the Cathedral’s iconostasis, walls and pylons. All the works were executed in the academic style in the manner imitating the masters of the Italian Renaissance. The exhibition offers a unique possibility to see the icons from the collections of various St. Petersburg museums including the State Russian Museum, the State Museum of the History of Religion.

In one of the exhibition halls there is a permanent exhibit of the Russian Academy Museum - a plaster cast of the Eastern Doors of the Florentine Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberty. It was commissioned by N.A. Demidov and presented to the Academy as a gift in 1774. It is this exhibit that served as a specimen for the northern doors of the Kazan Cathedral.

Of major interest is a history of the Cathedral’s iconostasis. Voronikhin’s variant existed till 1836 and was disassembled because of the decay. The design of the new iconostasis created by the Professor of the Russian Academy of Arts Konstantin Ton was selected among several other designs by noted masters. For the facing of the new iconostasis were used 40 pounds of the trophy silver taken away from the enemy during the War against Napoleon by the Cossacks headed by Ataman M.I. Platov. The exhibition presents projects for the iconostasis executed by Auguste Montferrand, Carl Bryullov, William Hastie, Joseph Charlemagne (St. Petersburg State University for Architecture and Civil Engineering).

The Kazan Cathedral – Monument of the Military Glory of 1812
During the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon the Kazan Cathedral became a storage place for relics of the War of 1812. In the Cathedral there is a tomb of Marshal Kutuzov overhung with captured Napoleonic banners, he was buried here with full honors in 1813 on the spot where he had prayed before setting off to the war. The object of his prayers was the icon of Our Lady of Kazan. In 1837, two statues by Boris Orlovsky were erected at either end of the colonnade: to the west – Marshal Barclay de Tolly; to the east – Marshal Kutuzov. On display are models of the statues and engraving by M.V. Vorobiev “The Funeral Procession with the Coffin of Marshal Kutuzov”.

The Cathedral’s Iconography. Historical Events Connected with the Cathederal

It is the construction of the Kazan Cathedral that started the “golden period” of the Russian architecture and finalized the architectural image of the Russian capital. The Nevsky Prospect became not only a main street connecting Alexander Nevsky Lavra with the center of the city, but also a front city’s highway. The exhibition presents the well-known Panorama of the Nevsky Prospect - lithographs by V.S. Sadovnikov according to the drawings by P.S. Ivanov (1779-1848) from the collection of the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts. The water-colored sheets present the view of the left side of the Nevsky Prospect (1836) that is over 9 meter long and the view of the right side (7 meter long) (1831).

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