Show all images on one page	#006407 Title: St.Petersburg Artist: Dmitriev Sergey Size: 24x18x5.5 Size (inches): 9.5x7x2.25 Price : $3250 SOLD!

Kholuy's Top 10 Master Sergey Dmitriyev depicts the glorious sight of St. Petersburg from the rolling currents of the Neva River.
Saint Petersburg was the first European-style city in Russia. Built from nothing in 1703, it was the brainchild of Peter the Great to create a naval stronghold nearer to the Gulf of Finland, and get further away from Moscow. Peter was none too fond of Moscow due to childhood nightmares caused by seeing his mother's advisors and uncle killed by terrorists in an attempted coup. He made Petersburg the official and symbolic capital in 1712. Moscow stayed the true economic and religious capital, but the monarchy was in Petersburg as was the political power until 1918 when the communists moved the capital back to Moscow.
On front of the composition the artist has chosen to depict a view of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
Construction of this beautiful Church began in 1883 under Alexander III, as a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The Church was built on the bank the Griboedov Canal. The embankment at that point runs along either side of a canal. On March 13 1881 , as Tsar Alexander's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The Tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. Another conspirator took the chance to explode another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died a few hours later.
On the back side of the composition we see the domes as prelude to St. Isaac's Cathedral. The present version of St. Isaac's, the fourth, was constructed from 1818 to 1858. On the right, the Stock Exchange. In December of 1811 the Exchange opened its doors. The massive building resembles the Temple of Poseidon in Paestum. To the far left is the Hermitage founded by Catherine the Great, which is now a world famous museum. Just to the right of the Hermitage we have the Admiralty Spire. The original Admiralty was one of the first structures to be built in St. Petersburg. The Admiralty that we can see today was built in 1806-23 by Adrian Zakharov. He maintained the original plan of the building, but turned it into a marvelous example of the Russian Empire style.
The composition is painted in blue and gray tones against the dark blue skies and water of river Neva. The buildings are detailed and highlighted with gold paint, which is most noticeable in the domes on the churches. Aluminum paint is also used to highlight the architecture. The linear construction of the architecture is precisely drawn and the proportions give an accurate portrayal of the buildings. The realistic sense of time and place contribute to the composition's integrity as a work of art and a documentation of one of Russia's most beautiful waterways.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. Gold line frames the scene on the lid, while highly complex ornamentation, that weaves a spectacular array of gold lines with aluminum accents, makes it way around the sides of the box. The box has a hinge above the scene and rests on four legs. It is signed with the artist's name, title, village, and year (2011).