Accession Number2014/2.312
TitleView of the Queue at Lenin's Tomb from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin
Artist(s)Dmitri BaltermantsArtist NationalityRussian (culture or style)Object Creation Date1941; printed 2003Medium & Supportgelatin silver print on paperDimensions 11 in x 14 in (27.94 cm x 35.56 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)Subject matterThis photograph provides a view down onto Red Square in Moscow from the heights of the Spasskaya Tower. The orthogonal lines created by the wall of the Kremlin receding into the distance converge to form a steeply sloping triangle that bisects the image almost in half. The attenuated roof of a tower steeple in the background extends this triangular form and brings it almost to the top edge of the photograph. On the right-hand side of the image, the stacked blocks which constitute Lenin’s mausoleum stands out amid the open square, from which a long file of visitors winds like a ribbon off into the background. The left-hand side is taken up almost completely by the buildings of the Kremlin itself. A dark, ambiguous, vaguely animal-like shape is the closest element to the viewer, and dominates the central foreground.
Physical DescriptionA view down onto a large public square where a long line of people file into a stone mausoleum.
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Keywords
cityscapes (representations)
mausoleums
public buildings (governmental buildings)
sculpture (visual works)
squares (open spaces)
tombs