Master of Columns

Abstract

The reign of Alexander I was marked by the formation of grand architectural ensembles in the northern capital. Imitating the best examples of antiquity, St. Petersburg was decorated with majestic and solemn classical buildings with colonnades. Famous architects, engineers, and sculptors worked on the creation of the “city of columns”, and thousands of ordinary Russian artisans embodied their ideas in stone. Due to the incredible work and high skill of stonebreakers and stonecutters, St. Petersburg acquired its elegant image. One of these masters was a talented self-taught stonecutter Samson Sukhanov. The son of a poor shepherd became a famous stonecutter and left a noticeable mark in the history of the construction of the northern capital. There was no person in Russia, or in the whole world, under whose leadership or by himself about 400 columns were processed and erected, not counting the bases and capitals to them.