Light & Engineering Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 24-30, 2016 Svetotekhnika No. 6, 2015, pp. 12-16 ILLUMINATION OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE MEMORIALS IN SEARCH OF AUTHENTICITY1 Yuliya E. Revsina and Dmitry O. Shvidkovsky The Moscow Arhitectural Institute (MArhI SA), Moscow E-mail: n_shchepetkov@inbox.ru ABSTRACT The article discusses modern principles of illumination for classical architectural buildings, using examples of the illumination of St. Peter’s cathedral and of the basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, piazza dei Signori in Vicenza, etc.). <...> The desire to reflect truthfully the building tectonics by means of artificial illumination had engendered a variety of methods, none of which are ideal. <...> The authors insist that when architectural landmark illumination projects are developed, it is not only light designers and architects who should take part but also architectural historians. <...> Keywords: illumination, light design, classical architecture, architecture history, tectonics 1 Despite the intensity with which illumination of architectural landmarks is discussed, the wealth of literature available on the subject, as well as the living examples of illuminated buildings themselves, the only conclusions we can draw with any confidence is how not to do it, especially in respect of classical architecture. <...> Often the light sources were installed at foundations of the porticoes, and searchlights illuminated their col1 The research is completed under the grant of the Russian scientific fund “Past and future of classical architecture” (project № 14–18–01601) in MArhI (SA). 24 umns or pilasters with harsh light directed from the bottom upwards. <...> Since then a considerable amount of time has elapsed, and there are examples of illumination of architectural buildings, including classical ones, which demonstrate good understanding of light design theory and practice [1, 2]. <...> But even today we cannot say that a universal recipe for architectural illumination of classical buildings exists, or even specify one indisputable example, which could be a guideline for new work. <...> Most likely, neither such a recipe, nor such an example exist, at least because the buildings in question were constructed, when both illumination methods, and ideas about a building’s “night image” were absolutely <...>