Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg in the context of Central Saint Petersburg

The Provisional Committee of the State Duma (Russian: Временный Комитет Государственной Думы) was a special government body established on March 12, 1917 (27 February O.S.) by the Fourth State Duma deputies at the outbreak of the February Revolution in the same year. It was formed under the jurisdiction of the Russian Provisional Government, established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II.

The committee declared itself the governing body of Russian Empire, but competed for power with the Petrograd Soviet, which was created on the same day. The Government of Golitzine as the Council of Ministers of Russian Empire retreated to the Admiralty building. The committee of the State Duma appointed 24 commissars to head various state ministries replacing the Imperial Government. According to Milyukov Chkheidze never participated in the work of the committee.

Nevsky Prospect (Russian: Не́вский проспе́кт, romanized: Nevsky prospekt, IPA: [ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt]) is a main street (high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the monastery which stands at the eastern end of the street, and which commemorates the Russian hero Prince Saint Alexander Nevsky (1221–1263). Following his founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, Tsar Peter I planned the course of the street as the beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow. The avenue runs from the Admiralty in the west to the Moscow Railway Station and, after veering slightly southwards at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Stepan Stepanovich Pimenov (Russian: Степан Степанович Пименов; 1784 – 3 April [O.S. 22 March] 1833) was a Russian artist and sculptor. He was closely associated with Vasily Demut-Malinovsky, with whom he worked on the decoration of buildings designed by Carlo Rossi and Andrey Voronikhin. He was an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1807, and a full professor from 1814.

Born in 1784, Pimenov attended the Imperial Academy of Arts and distinguished himself there, winning several medals for his artistic compositions. Graduating in 1803, he was soon involved in an important commission, working with several other famous sculptors and artists on Andrey Voronikhin's project for the Kazan Cathedral. Making his name with two particular sculptures, Pimenov became an academician and went on to teach at the Academy. He combined his teaching duties with carrying out important commissions, and also worked as a designer at the Imperial Porcelain Factory. He co-operated with Voronikhin and Demut-Malinovsky once more on the decoration of the Mining Institute, and worked on Andreyan Zakharov's Admiralty building. He began an enduring relationship with architect Carlo Rossi in the late 1810s, producing works for the Yelagin and Mikhailovsky Palaces, and the General Staff Building.

Saint Isaac's Square or Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad (Russian: Исаа́киевская пло́щадь), known as Vorovsky Square (Russian: Площадь Воровского) between 1923 and 1944, in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a major city square sprawling between the Mariinsky Palace and Saint Isaac's Cathedral, which separates it from Senate Square. The square is graced by the equestrian Monument to Nicholas I.

The Lobanov-Rostovsky House (1817–1820) on the west side of the square was designed by Auguste de Montferrand. It may be described as an Empire style building that has an eight-column portico facing the Admiralty building. The main porch features the twin statues of Medici lions on granite pedestals; they were made famous by Pushkin in his last long poem, The Bronze Horseman. Nearby is Quarenghi's Horse Guards' Riding Hall (1804–1807), in part inspired by the Parthenon and flanked by the marble statues of the Dioscuri, by Paolo Triscornia.