View of the Queue at Lenin's Tomb from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin

Accession Number
2014/2.312

Title
View of the Queue at Lenin's Tomb from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1941; printed 2003

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
11 in x 14 in (27.94 cm x 35.56 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)

Subject matter
This 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 Description
A view down onto a large public square where a long line of people file into a stone mausoleum.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
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Keywords
cityscapes (representations)
mausoleums
public buildings (governmental buildings)
sculpture (visual works)
squares (open spaces)
tombs

& Author Notes

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