# Exterior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [KAZAKOV, Matvey Fyodorovich]() - Date: 1751-1800 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The Senate building bore witness to the spirit of Neoclassicism. The ground plan was an isosceles triangle, which enclosed a domed rotunda at its apex over the main hall - one of Kazakov's favourite motifs. Adjoining rooms were connected by corridors and gave on to a large inner courtyard defined by diagonal wings. This spatial arrangement represented a new type of administrative building. The exterior rested on a tall plinth divided by Doric pilasters which bracketed two floors. A portico of Ionic columns, giving entry to the interior courtyard, provided the façade's only relief. In the 1990s, the Senate was converted to house Russian presidential administration. An indiscriminate reconstruction destroyed Kazakov's interiors. View the <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/support/plans/k/kazakov/senate.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=400,height=600'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">ground plan</a> of Senate building, Kremlin, Moscow. ## Related artworks - [Exterior view]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()