Montferrand's Death

According to the prediction Montferrand had to die just after the St.Isaac's Cathedral construction completion.

In the sculptural decoration of St.Isaac's Cathedral there is the group of the saints, greeting Isaac Dalmatsky with the bow. There is the sculptural depiction of Montferrand among the saints - with the Cathedral's model in his hands.  During  Cathedral's blessing ceremony one of the Tsar's associates draw the attention of Alexander II, that all the saints greet Isaac with the bow and only the architect is standing with the proudly raised head. The emperor said nothing, but didn't give his hand to the architect, who passed by and didn't thank him. The architect was very upset with the fact, went home before the end of the ceremony, fallen ill and died within the month.

Montferrand is really died in a month after the celebratory Cathedral opening in the age of 72 years. More than the half of his life he devoted to the construction of the main Cathedral of St.-Petersburg. He was so sure in his postmortem glory, that long before his death he put  the motto onto his coat of arms: "Will not die all". And in 1835 he composed the will with the request " to bury him in one of the underground vaults of the Cathedral". It was usual in Europe from the ancient times. But Alexander II decided, that it was just too much honour for an architect, although the court architect. Montferrand received the golden medal with the diamonds and forty thousand rubles for St.Isaac's Cathedral construction. But the coffin with his body was only carried round the Cathedral and then placed in the catholic Church in Nevsky avenue. Very soon the widow took the body of her husband to his motherland - France.