photo pairs

It is so great to be in a cafe with free wireless. I'm overworking my computer to get everything done that I need to. It's the first time I've been online on my own computer in nearly three weeks, so there's lots of uploading and downloading going on right now.
So, some photo pairs - taken on different days, in different places, but going together well.
First, paintings of the parable of the Prodigal Son.
#1 taken at the Russian Museum, painted by Ivan Chernov, 1795:
#2 taken at the Hermitage Museum, painted by Rembrandt, 1665:
Next, canals in St. Petersburg. Two of my favorite pictures.
#1 taken along the river Moika:
#2 taken along the Griboyedov canal:
Then, statues of writer and poet A.S. Pushkin.
#1 taken outside his restored apartment museum:
#2 taken outside the Russian Museum:
Next, the gravestone of Princess Elena Kurakina.
#1, the real thing taken at the cemetery outside the Nevsky monastery:
#2, a replica taken inside the Russian museum where flash photography is forbidden:
And the last pair of pictures may need a bit more explanation. It is the custom for Russians to get married and then go around the city with the entire wedding party taking pictures by all the landmarks/sights. So they'll be by statues, government buildings, etc. I run across wedding parties all the time, the bride shivering, the groom smoking and/or drinking, the photographer barking out instructions (how stressful), and the friends drinking and yelling "gorko! gorko!" This is another Russian custom - the friends yell "bitter" and the couple kisses to make it "sweet."
so, picture #1 by the Rostralye Columns on Vasilyevsky Island:
#2 outside the Church on Spilled Blood: