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Neither do the architects
of St. Petersburg understand mouldings or the value of shadow, there
is scarcely a moulding in the city which casts a deep, broad or
delicate shadow: hence the facades look flat and thin as if built
of cards. In the same way the details are poor and treated without
knowledge; it thus happens that conceptions bold and grand are
carried out incompletely. The great mistake is that the architects
have made no attempt to gather together the scattered elements of a
national style. With the noteworthy exception of the use of fine,
fanciful and fantastic domes, often gilt or brightly coloured, the
architecture of Russian capitals is either Classic or Renaissance
of the most commonplace description.
I shall not think it worth while to dwell on the very many churches
which adorn the northern capital, because, with few exceptions,
there is nothing in point of art which merits to be recorded. Yet
I can scarcely refrain from again referring to the fine fantasy
played by many-coloured domes against the blue sky.


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