Alberta Iela (Albert Street) 13, Riga

Among the most famous Art Nouveau buildings found in Riga there is one particularly fine, at 13 Alberta iela (Albert street). Designed in an eclectic and decorative Art Nouveau manner, this residential building is a brainchild of the architect Mikhail Eisenstein.

Essentially a block of flats, it was built in 1904 for the State Councillor Andrey Lebedinsky. Evidently a very rich man, Lebedinsky also had a number of other apartment houses built throughout the city to Eisenstein's design – among them Alberta iela #4 (in 1904), #6 (in 1903) and Elizabetes iela #10b (in 1903).

The central risalits (projections) on the façades are crowned, above the eaves, by sculptural reliefs, saturated with multi-stage pediments. The latter are filled with masks of various expressions as well as dragons, cartouches, straight and curved lines, circles and other geometric figures.

The central mask – one with a radiant tiara – is a symbol of freedom, sun or victory. Especially common in Riga's Art Nouveau architecture, and richly presented here, are the female images. There are two huge masks with half-open mouths.

Other common Art Nouveau symbols include a peacock with an open tail, a knight's head (protector of feminine beauty), and a huge variety of ornaments. The typical Art Nouveau line pattern is seen in metal handrails on the balconies.

In 1998, the building was acquired by the Soros Foundation and donated to the Riga Graduate School of Law. For that purpose, it was renovated, from 1999 to 2002, with both façades carefully restored.