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One of the most serious students of the old
Russian architecture was Vladimir Vasilevich Suslov, a prominent member of the
Academy, who dedicated most of his life to historical research, studying
ancient monuments, making sketches and collecting material. He was particularly
interested in eh architecture of Novgorod and Pskov. As an architect Suslov was
unable to re-create the ancient beauty, but instead he wrote a few books that
contributed much to increased interest in he national style, which in turn
helped the preservation of what architecture had survived. After two centuries
of "Westernization" of Russian architecture, it would be illusory to
expect a large scale return to a "Genuine" Russian style. As we have
seen, Russian revivalists did not go beyond imitating the past and had to
satisfy themselves by superficially repeating old ornamentation.
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