Commemorative issue.
Monument rouble minted for the unveiling of the monument to Nicholas I in St. Petersburg.
Obverse: head of Nicholas I facing left
НИКОЛАЙ I ИМПЕРАТОРЪ И САМОДЕРЖЕЦЪ ВСЕРОССIИС
Reverse: equestrian statue of Nicholas I, in the section РУБЛЬ
ГОДА НИКОЛАЙ I ИМПЕРАТОРЪ И САМОДЕРЖЕЦЪ ВСЕРОССIИС ИЮНЯ 25 ДНЯ 1859
Diameter 35 mm, weight 20.36 g
Tsar Alexander II, immediately after the death of his father, Nicholas I, made a decision to preserve his memory. It was the period in which the construction of the cathedral of St. Isaac, and the square between the cathedral and the Mariinsky Palace was empty. Therefore, it was decided to develop a project to create a monument to Nicholas I in this place. The architect of the project was Henri Louis Auguste Ricard de Montferrand, but he did not live to see the monument unveiled. Its original design was abandoned during installation and the concept was changed 180 degrees. The monument consists of a 6-meter horse-drawn figure of Emperor Nicholas I and a pedestal. The plinth consists of crimson Karelian quartzite and white Italian marble, and gray granite. The horse figure was designed and cast by the sculptor, Baron Petr Karlovich Klodt von Jurgensburg. St. Isaac's Cathedral was consecrated on May 30, 1858 and it was at this point that the unveiling of the monument was planned, but the first casting failed and the entire operation was postponed for a year.
The monument was unveiled on June 25, 1859, on the 63rd anniversary of the birth of the late Tsar Nicholas I. Tsar Nicholas I is depicted on horseback as the commander of the Life Guard Cavalry Regiment, which he was during his lifetime. It was this regiment that took part in the suppression of the uprising on December 14, 1825 in Senate Square. At the corners of the pedestal are four allegorical sculptures depicting Justice, Strength, Wisdom and Faith, which have the faces of the deceased emperor's wife and his three daughters.
