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City monuments appeared in provincial Russia only in the first part of the nineteenth century. Their construction was both initiated and financed by the nobility. As a result each statue reflected the ideas, ideals and values of this social group. The city-dwellers were mostly proud of the monuments devoted to famous artists and scientists originating from the city, and described the memorials pathetically. Half of the century passed and the situation changed dramatically. The attitude to the monuments changed radically from one of admiration to one of irony. The transformations were caused due to the change in addressees. In the second part of the nineteenth century the main recipient and consumer of cultural values was no longer from the nobility but the bourgeoisie. This new social group was not able to get the hidden message of the monuments, the meanings were not accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]