Vasily Raev depicts the legendary storm that broke out over St Petersburg on the night of the grand opening on 30 August 1834. Vasily Zhukovsky wrote: "Night fell and the whole sky was covered with storm-clouds. Finally the storm broke. Lightning bolts struck in a thousand places, as if they stood above the town... All at once the massive column was shining clearly out of the darkness, throwing a momentary shadow over the surrounding illuminated square, before disappearing with it...".

Raev Vasily

Raev, Vasily Egorovich
1808, Volok (Pskov Province) å 1870, Moscow
Painter,landscapistandgenreartist,authorofpain¬tings on historical subjects. Born into a serf family. Received his first art education at the Alexander Stupin School in Arzamas, later attended classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts, studying under Maxim Vorobyov. Non-class artist of history paint¬ing (1840). Lived in Rome (1842–1848). Aacade-mician of landscape painting (1851) for View of Rome from Monte Mario (1845, State Russian Mu-seum).ReturnedtoRussiaandworkedfortwoyears at the mosaics department, Imperial Academy of Arts. Moved to Moscow, curator of Kozma Solda¬tenkov s art collection.