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GlavUpDK unveils unique sculpture on façade of Povarskaya Street mansion built by Lev Kekushev
The three-meter-tall 3D sculpture is rare for Moscow. It depicts the Goddess of Dawn, Aurora, holding a palette and two babies in her hands. The sculpture was restored to its original position at an altitude of 16 meters in the early hours of August 25.
The missing element was restored by the method of graphic reconstruction based on archive materials and field survey. The project relied on photographs taken in 1908 and 1917. Acclaimed sculptor V. Usov made the composition’s mockup.
“We could not find precise information about the circumstances of Aurora’s disappearance from the façade even in the archives, but we could presume that it was lost in street clashes of the 1917 Revolution. It is possible that an artillery shell hit the house’s corner,” a representative of the Service of the Chief Architect of GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia said.
The building, which was erected in 1903-1904 by celebrated architect Lev Kekushev, is believed to be one of the most remarkable monuments of Moscow modern. It went down in the history of architecture as the mansion of I.A. Mindovsky, a major textile manufacturer from the upper Volga region. The Mindovsky family owned the mansion until 1917. The Swiss Embassy to the Soviet Union had its residence in the mansion until the 1970s, and the Embassy of New Zealand moved in in 1972.
GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia continues the mansion’s reconstruction and overhaul. Large-scale works are in progress: the mansion layout dating back to the early 20th century is being rebuilt, unique interiors and facades of both buildings are being restored, and missing decorative elements are being reproduced, GlavUpDK and specialized organizations are thoroughly restoring the federal cultural heritage site to its original looks.
Specialists are restoring the mansion under the watchful eye of architects and restorers. The professionals have discovered and restored plenty of decorative elements and structures of the mansion, information about which was unavailable even in the archives.
The project is implemented as required by the Federal Law on Cultural Heritage Sites (History and Culture Monuments) of Peoples of the Russian Federation. It has been approved by the State Historical and Cultural Inspection and the Moscow Cultural Heritage Department.
