Bride and Groom at Russian Church

by Catherine Sherman

Title

Bride and Groom at Russian Church

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography Painterly

Description

"Bride and Groom at Church in St. Petersburg, Russia" by Catherine Sherman.

A bride and groom pose for photographs on a bridge over the Griboedov Canal in front of the The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, Russia. The church and the bridge are popular sites for bridal portraits.

If you look closely above the winged angel face medallion on the bridge to the rear of the couple, you can see two padlocks attach to the rails, known as "Locks of Love," which couples use to demonstrate their eternal love. I suspect some grouchy official will remove them soon after.

This Church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in March 1881 by an assassin. Built between 1883 and 1907, the church's construction was funded by the imperial family. It was officially called the Resurrection of Christ Church.

Inside the church is an elaborate shrine constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's death. The canal had been narrowed so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church.

Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

Initially only used by the imperial family, the church has undergone many changes far from its original purpose as a place of worship and to memorialize Alexander II. It has been vandalized and looted many times, used for vegetable storage, even served as a temporary morgue during World War II. After much reconstruction, the church is now a museum, which displays its magnificent mosaics. It's a major tourist attraction.

Featured in "Images That Excite You" group (12/15/2015); "All Art Welcome" group (01/08/2016); "Philanthropic Artists For A Cause" group (01/10/2016); " 500 And Beyond Fine Art" group (09/20/2017); "USA Photographers Only" group (05/28/2020)

Uploaded

December 14th, 2015

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