On May 24 (May 12 according to the old style), 1855, the grand opening of the monument to Ivan Andreevich Krylov took place in the Summer Garden.

After the death of the fabulist in November 1844, the infantry general Yakov Ivanovich Rostovtsev, who was a friend and executor of I.A. Krylova, began to petition for the installation of a monument to the Russian Aesop. Thanks to the energy and connections of Yakov Ivanovich, in January 1845, the “gracious consent” of Emperor Nicholas I was obtained for the erection of the monument and the organization of fundraising for this. This was announced through newspapers, magazines and newsletters throughout the Russian Empire.

Here is how Ivan Andreevich’s work was described in the information leaflet: “Fables are his lively and faithful echo of the Russian mind with its sharpness, observation, simple-hearted craftiness, with its playfulness and thoughtfulness not distracted, not speculative, but practical and worldly. His poems were reflected in his native impression in “the mind of his readers. And who in Russia is not one of his readers?” We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the full text of “Invitation to a Subscription for the General Fundraising for the Construction of the Monument to I. A. Krylov,” which is attached in the illustrations.

Thanks to the expanded company (the first crowdfunding in Russia) by 1848, more than 30 thousand rubles were raised, which allowed the Academy of Arts to announce a competition for the creation of the monument. At the end of 1849, the project, presented by the sculptor Peter Klodt, won. In the spring of 1853, the monument to Krylov was made, and a long discussion begins: “Where to install the monument”? We have already mentioned this in our previous publications. Information can be found on the website: https://igardens.ru

In the end, the Summer Garden was designated the site for the installation of the monument, and in May 1855 the monument was inaugurated.

As always a small question. In the photographs illustrating this publication, the first photograph of the 1860s shows a monument without a fence, and the second photograph of the 1870s already has a fence.
Now the question is:

WHY WERE THE FENCES AROUND AROUND THE KRYLOV MONUMENT?

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