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Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ

Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The drawing of this remarkable building in Saint Petersburg, Russia was completed in 1993, and was based upon a public domain photo I had found in a book. This likely was the most challenging building I had rendered to date, due to the incredibly complex and uniquely detailed structure of these types of Russian churches. This probably helped develop much of my style in rendering complicated images and, as the drawing took me several weeks, likely helped develop the patience to create an image like this.

Info about the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ:

One of the man sites for tourists to visit in Saint Petersburg is the Cathedral of the Resurrection of the Christ, also called the Church on Split Blood (but the former is the official name). The building sits on the site of Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by a member of the "People's Will" group. The cathedral was built by Alexander III, as a tribute to his father. The cathedral wasn't completed until 1907, and was funded by the imperial family along with private donors. The church, done in the style of the romantic nationalism of medieval Russian architecture, stands along the Griboedov canal. The interior of the church contains many impressive works of religious art, including 7500 square meters of mosaics, believed by some to be the most in the world. After the Russian revolution in 1917, the church was raided and pillaged, leaving it badly damaged. It was shuttered by the Soviets in the 1930s. During World War II, the church was used to store the dead, then after the was was over it served as a warehouse for vegetables. The church was reopened in 1997, after 27 years of restorative work. Regular services are not performed there, although occasionally special ceremonies are held. It serves mostly as an attraction to tourists visiting Saint Petersburg.