Dome

Close view of a colorful onion dome; On the site where Emperor Alexander II (reigned 1855-1881) was assassinated, Alfred Parland (born 1842) erected the church of the Resurrection of the Bleeding Christ (Khram Voskreseniya Khristova; completed 1907), which employs motifs from Russian 16th- and 17th-century architecture. [Grove] The common name of the church, referring to the Tsar's death, is "Saviour on spilled blood." Mosaics were designed by Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov, Mikhail Vrubel and others. It harks back to earlier Russian art and architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. In 1923, the church acquired the status of a cathedral, in 1930 it was closed. From 1973 to 1998, restoration was carried out. Today the church functions as a museum. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 12/17/2008)