https://www.delcampe.net/fr/collections/timbres/arts/sculpture/russia-1993-definitive-issue-statue-of-k-minin-and-d-pozharskyi-carduelis-908634856.html

The monument was conceived by the
Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Science, and the Arts to commemorate the 200th anniversary of those events. Construction was funded by public conscription in
Nizhny Novgorod, the city from where Minin and Pozharsky came to save Moscow.
Tsar Alexander I, however, decided the monument should be installed on
Red Square next to the
Moscow Kremlin rather than in Nizhny Novgorod. The competition for the best design was won by the celebrated sculptor
Ivan Martos in 1808. Martos completed a model, which was approved by
Dowager Empress
Maria Feodorovna and the Russian Academy of Fine Arts in 1813. Casting work using 1100 lbs of copper was carried out in 1816 in
St Petersburg. The base, made of three massive blocks of
granite from
Finland, was also carved at St Petersburg. Moving the statue and base to Moscow presented logistical challenges and was accomplished in winter by using the frozen waterways. However, in the wake of
Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the monument could not be unveiled until 1818.
The front of the base carries a bronze plaque depicting a scene of patriotic citizens sacrificing their property for the benefit of the motherland. On the left is an image of the sculptor Martos giving away his two sons (one of whom was killed in 1813)
Originally, the statue stood in the centre of Red Square, with Minin extending his hand towards the Moscow Kremlin. However, after the
1917 Revolution, the Communist authorities found the monument was obstructing parades on the square and discussed its demolition or transfer to some indoor museum. In 1936, the statue was moved closer to the cathedral where it remains to the present day.