USPENSKY SOBOR (continued)

Inside the Cathedral of the Dormition, Fioravanti omitted the west Gallery and created a remarkably spacious hall, with groined vaulting which rests on four round pillars, with two square pillars behind the iconostasis).
The four huge circular columns support the central cupola which rests on a flat roof, and they give a stability without heaviness to the cathedral. These pillars are adorned with five rows of paintings portraying saints and martyrs decreasing in height towards the roof thus accentuating the height of the cathedral.

Walls, roof and pillars covered by frescoes applied onto a gilt undercoating giving them the richness of an illuminated manuscript. The predominant colors are amber, russet, indigo, green, and scarlet, with themes of the gospels, heaven, and the unity of Russian principalities, symbolizing the third Rome. The existing frescoes date from the cathedrals' first restoration in 1640s.
The upper three tiers of the northern and southern walls depict the life of the Blessed Virgin. In the window embrasures of the north wall are portraits of Saints Vladimir and Olga, the first Russian Prince and princess of Russia.
On the west wall is an incredibly complicated Last Judgement containing hundreds of figures, and the 15th century fresco, Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, separates the chapel from the main altar.

The cathedral was originally decorated by the famous icon-painters Dionysius, Timofei, Yarets, and Kon in the 1480s. These icons were overpainted in 1513-1515.
In 1642-43 more than a hundred icon painters from all over Russia took part in the third painting of the church, carefully following the designs of the older paintings. Some of the finest painters in Russia participated. These frescoes were overpainted in 1773, and again during the reign of Nikolai I. After the revolution, the frescoes of the 1640s underwent extensive restoration.

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