Monument to Krylov

In 1845, when the famous Russian fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov died, almost immediately it was announced the beginning of fundraising for the installation of a monument in his honor. This idea was enthusiastically received by citizens and city authorities. Soon a special Committee was created, which in the three years of its existence managed to collect a huge sum. As soon as the funds were collected, the Academy of Arts announced a competition for the project of the best monument, in which the best sculptors of St. Petersburg took part. The choice of the best project took about a year and a half, and as a result, on November 26, 1849, a monument designed by P. K. Klodt was approved.

The sculptor worked on the monument for about five years, and in the spring of 1854 the monument was cast and the minting of bas-reliefs began. They depict scenes from the famous works of Krylov. Here you will meet a fox with a crow, and a frog with an ox, and an elephant from the fable "Elephant in Voivodeship", and a rooster and a pearl seed, and of course the famous quartet of beasts-musicians, a monkey and many, many characters created by Krylov. Each character depicted is expressive and naturalistic, which is not surprising, because the sculptor’s “studymakers” were real animals!

In 1855, the monument was solemnly opened, and a few years later an elegant fence was installed to protect against vandals. During the siege of Leningrad, the monument was closed with wooden shields, but fragments of shells still damaged the sculpture. After the end of the war, in 1945, the shields were removed, and the monument was restored.