“Everything is going well here”: visits of Emperor Nicholas I to the St Isaac’s Cathedral under construction in the 1840s (based on documents of the Russian State Historical Archive)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of previously unpublished documents on the history of the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. These documents are also of interest as a source related to the life of Emperor Nicholas I. We are talking about the journals of the Commission on the Construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive. These documents recorded in great detail the facts of the emperor’s visits to the cathedral under construction and the artist’s workshops in the 1840s. At present, eight journals have been identified of the emperor’s visits to St. Isaac’s Cathedral during its construction from 1844 to 1850. From them we learn about eight visits by the emperor to St. Isaac’s Cathedral under construction over three years. The journals recorded information on the progress and results of the highest visits, reported mainly by Montferrand himself, as well as what the Commission on the Construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral determined to do based on their results. The exceptional value of the considered set of sources is due to the fact that there are no references to Nicholas I inspecting the construction site in the chamber-furrier journals. Comparing the information from the two sources, some details are revealed. In particular, the emperor visited the cathedral during daytime trips to the city or walks, and the visits themselves, which took place around two o’clock in the afternoon, did not exceed an hour in time. The journals and accompanying documents considered by the authors represent an important source on the history of the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the creation of its artistic decoration. In addition, they capture the figure of Nicholas I in a working environment and reflect some models of his behavior, adding new strokes to the portrait of the multifaceted personality of the emperor. The article is accompanied by a scientific publication of the three journals.