La Russie en 1839, Volume II

The narrator recounts attendance at an imperial marriage and chapel ceremonies in St. Petersburg, emphasizing the spectacle of court pageantry, Greek liturgical music, and lavish decorations. He provides a close portrait of the sovereign’s severe, constrained visage and the Empress’s fragile affability, linking personal mannerisms to the burdens of absolutist rule. He contrasts monumental architecture, vast empty public spaces, and ill-suited neoclassical forms with climatic realities and local tastes, criticizing how ambitious designs neglect function. Throughout, reflections on despotism examine how centralized power shapes etiquette, family life, public spectacle, and the emotional costs borne by rulers and courtiers.