Walking in St.Petersburg

The romantic beauty of St.-Petersburg has been masterfully expressed in this box by one of the leading Fedoskino artists, Vladimir Monashov. Here we can see two elegant ladies strolling along the embankment of the Niva River. They breathe in cold winter air and discuss high-society gossips. 
The scene is painted in different shades of blue and gray of oil paints. These tones correspond perfectly to the atmosphere of the city called "Russian Venice". Lustrous gold and silver paint that shines through the oils is used to highlight the architecture. The domes of the cathedrals are painted in brilliant gold paint. Mother-of-pearl inlay shine through the architecture of the cathedrals. The costume of one the woman is inlaid with mother-of-pearl that sparkles brightly with a variety of tones raging from electric green to deep violet. The clouds look realistic being highlighted with silver powder. The composition is an absolute delight.
The scene is framed with a gold line; the box's sides are decorated with two parallel gold lines.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the box while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge is fastened to the left of the scene, and the box rests on four legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, Fedoskino and the year of 2011.