Focus on this artwork and analyze the Siege of Leningrad.
A 19th-century legend states that while the Bronze Horseman stands in the middle of Saint Petersburg, enemy forces will not be able to conquer the city. During the 900-day Siege of Leningrad by the invading Germans during the Second World War (Leningrad being the city's name from 1924 to 1991), the statue was covered with sandbags and a wooden shelter. Thus protected, it survived 900 days of bombing and artillery fire, virtually untouched. True to the legend, Leningrad was never taken.
Bronze sandbags Siege of Leningrad Saint Petersburg