An exhibition dedicated to a single monument of medieval Russian architecture recently opened at the Moscow Museum of Architecture. But what a monument it is—St. George's Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky, the last surviving church from the pre-Mongol period. It is one of the most mysterious and, at the same time, attractive monuments of our medieval history. It is a monument that requires attention and restoration.

The main value of the exhibition is the opportunity to see the white stone carvings and sculptures kept by the Yuryev-Polsky Museum up close and, for the most part, in good contrasting lighting. It is possible to appreciate the nature of the plasticity—for example, the smooth deepening of the backgrounds and halos, as if “pushing” large figures out of the plane, or, conversely, receding, sinking behind them—but in any case, the result is an enhancement of volume due to reflection, and perhaps even a hint of “distance” from the background.

The exhibition features copies from the 1930s and 1980s - the former are brilliantly executed, and it is not even easy to distinguish them from real stones.