Auguste Montferrand’s St Isaac’s Cathedral (1818–1858) took several decades to build and was the most important event in the life of St Petersburg. The painting is dated 1844, when construction of St Isaac’s Cathedral was well under way. Like other artists, however, Vorobyov painted the monument while it was being built as if it were complete. St Isaac’s Cathedral was consecrated in the presence of Tsar Alexander II on 30 May 1858 and became the cathedral church of the Russian capital. The ensemble of Senatskaya Square, which has survived to the present day, took shape in the 1840s, when the Admiralty Canal was interred in pipe and filled with water.

Vorobyov Maxim

Vorobyov, Maxim Nikiforovich
1787, Pskov - 1855, St Petersburg
Painter, draughtsman, engraver. Studied architecture under Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomons and landscape painting under Fyodor Alexeyev and possibly under Mikhail Ivanov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1798-1809). Awarded second silver medals (1806, 1807), first silver medal (1808), first gold medal and first-class degree (1809). Reputedly joined Fyodor Alexeyev''s expedition to paint views of central Russian towns (1810-12). Academician (1814). Painted views of the environs of Moscow for the Imperial Academy of Arts (1817) and studies for the court during the Russo-Turkish War (1828). Mostly painted Italian views during the last years of his life. Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1815-55), professor (1823), headed the perspective painting class and landscape class (from 1826). Academy councillor for perspective painting (1827), professor emeritus (1843).