Show all images on one page	#001753 Title: The XIXth century Moscow Sights Artist: Strunin Mikhail Size: 16x11x15 Size (inches): 6.25x4.25x5.75 Price : $1150 SOLD!

This big box has been painted by Mikhail Strunin from the village of Mstera. It is dedicated to Moscow, the capital of Russia. The artist has done tremendous work to paint it as it consists of nine masterfully painted compositions. So, the whole surface of the box is covered with splendid architectural landscapes featuring different sights of Moscow. It's interesting that the artist combined here the sights of modern Moscow and ancient Moscow giving the viewer a possibility to see how the city's architecture has changed. The lid shows the St. Basil's Cathedral, a true gem of medieval architecture. The lid's sides are covered with four different compositions showing the sights of modern Moscow. Looking at them we can easily recognize the following world famous monuments: the Bolshoy Theatre, the monument to M. Kutuzov, the hero of the war of 1812, the Triumphal arch built in honor of triumph over the French in the war of 1812, the monument to A.S. Pushkin, the great Russian poet, the State Historical Museum, the mausoleum of Lenin and some others.
The box's sides are covered with four compositions showing the sights of ancient Moscow. These composition look like old lithographs painted in the seventeenth century. One of them depicts the sight of Red Square with the monument to Minin and Pozharsky (they fought with Polish invaders) depicted in the right bottom corner; another one shows the buildings located the other side of the Kremlin's wall such as the Assumption Cathedral, the Archangel Cathedral, the Annunciation Cathedral, the Belfry of Ivan the Great, the Tsar Bell and some others. The third side depicts the Senate Building, while the fourth one shows the Pashkov's house.
The box is painted in the traditional for Mstera School palette. Gold and aluminum paints are used to detail the buildings, especially the domes. Beautiful gold ornamentations separate each composition from another one. The box is originally designed. It has two departments, and correspondingly it has also two hinged lids. If you want to put something in the first department, you should open the first lid. It is the highest part of the box, where St. Basil's Cathedral is depicted. If you want to penetrate into the second department, you should open the whole lid together with its sides.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The box rests on four legs. The box is signed with the artist's name, the village of Mstera, the year of 2005, the confirmation that it is the original artist's work and the title: "Moscow. The architecture of Moscow".