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The same commission which removed Witberg
later approved new plans for the cathedral, prepared by professor of
architecture Konstantine Andreyevich Ton, 1794-1881, one of the most ardent
proponents of the Russian "National" style. The style he formulated
was nothing but a combination of some elements primarily decorative, of
Byzantine and ancient Russian architecture. This was part of the much larger
movement of Slavophilism which felt that the reforms of Peter the Great had
interrupted the development of genuine Russian political, social and cultural
forms, considered to be superior to those of the decadent west, and that Russia
had to undergo her own Renaissance. That Renaissance came, but in the form of
"Official patriotism" which was felt in architecture more than in any
other form of art because Nicholas I was interested in it and considered
himself an authority. Designs for new churches and public buildings had to be
approved by the government and had to include certain features of ancient
Russian architecture as modeled and imitated by Ton.
Ton too was a graduate of the Academy of Arts, where he studied under
Voronokin. In 1830 he designed the Church of Saint Catherine in Saint
Petersburg, the first to show some characteristics of ancient Russian forms.
Following the official position of the Church, Ton too had found that western
influence was very strong and that some new Orthodox churches had borrowed much
from the classical style, considered to be advanced primarily by Catholics, the
spread of which the very Orthodox Moscow did not want to continue. It was at
this time that Ton had the idea to design a new cathedral, majestic and rich,
that could serve as an example to the entire country and restore confidence in
what he designated the national style. The plans he drew were for a huge
temple, not so grandiose as those of his predecessor, Witberg, but able to meet
the approval of the Emperor. Curiously enough, neither of the two patriotic
architects were ethnic Russians, though they were both Orthodox.
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