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SENATE
1776-88
Opposite the Arsenal is a long building erected at the end of the eighteenth century by the eminent Russian architect Matvei Kazakov for the Senate (the supreme administrative body in Russia, which was turned into the supreme court and supervisory agency in the nineteenth century).
Council of Ministers of the USSR (former Senate)
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The building was erected at a time when the architect was at the height of his powers and had not yet reached the age of forty.
It marked the beginning of his extensive plan for reconstructing the Kremlin on a symmetrical basis, which was never fully carried out. The Senate building merged well into the Kremlin ensemble. The majestic dome of this "Russian Pantheon", as contemporaries called the Senate, enhanced the transverse axis of Red Square. Subsequent building in the northeast section of the Kremlin has consolidated Kazakov's original town-planning idea.
The building's plan is in the shape of an isosceles triangle containing three courtyards of geometrical forms: a pentahedral one in the middle and two triangular ones at the sides. At the top of the triahgle, on a line with the main courtyard, is a majestic round hall with a dome, the compositional centre of the whole building. The rounded corners soften the building's contours and enhance the impression of great size.
Kazakov showed considerable tact in relation to the early Kremlin monuments near the Senate. This can be seen in the restrained architecture of the new buildings which served as a neutral background for these monuments. At the same time this did not detract from the harmonic majesty of the artistic image created by him. The brilliance and maturity of the architect's talent also showed themselves in his proposed composition of Senate Square and the establishment of an architectural connection with the Arsenal building opposite. He made them of equal height and also rusticated the ground floor. The architect planned to place a portico of paired Ionic columns opposite the main entrance to the Arsenal.
The long two-storey building rests on a high socle. The facades are divided up by Tuscan pilasters and pilaster strips, which makes the building look impressive and austere. It is crowned by a powerful corbelled cornice. The side facade has a most classical appearance: in the centre is a niche which unites the two upper floors, and on either side of the window are columns supporting an entablement. The brilliant architectural treatment of the Senate led to the use of Kazakov's forms and devices in the construction of administrative buildings for many Russian provincial centres.
The semi-rotunda of the domed hall with its three rows of windows, best seen from the main courtyard, is adorned with a Doric colonnade and a powerful cornice which is continued by the line of the cornices on the adjoining structures. In the majestic beauty of its decor and the boldness of its constructional treatment this pristine white hall is rightly considered to be one of the finest Russian interiors of the eighteenth century. It is adorned by a sumptuous Corinthian colonnade and eighteen reliefs of allegorical subjects (by Grigory Zamorayev). Their themes are Law, Justice and Enlightenment.
In the spaces between the windows of the second tier are bas-reliefs of the Russian grand princes and tsars. They are plaster replicas of marble originals made by the famous Russian sculptor Fyo-dor Shubin for the Cesme Palace in St. Petersburg. Today these bas-reliefs are in the Armoury.
The hall has a huge caisso-nated dome (in those days the largest in Russia) with a diameter of 24.6 metres. The dome's dimensions and shape are still impressive today. It is made of a single layer of bricks. Legend has it that Kazakov climbed up onto the dome to show how strong this construction suggested by him was.
Originally the Senate building was topped by a statue of St. George on horseback, who was the patron saint of the city and province of Moscow. This was replaced by a gilded figure of Justice, which was destroyed by Napoleon's troops in 1812 and not restored.
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