



In 1826, in his diary Jacques-François Ancelot wrote on the Kremlin after the war and fire: “We shall leave the Kremlin at this, my dear Xavier; but, looking back at this ancient citadel, we shall feel sorry, for the builders, while trying to mend the damage caused by explosion, removed from the walls a centuries-old patina that was making it look so magnificent. As it camouflages the cracks, the white paint gives the Kremlin a youthful air, which is not suitable for the shape and denies its past.”