The images were first displayed online in April, sparking a storm of protest among bloggers who called them "depressing" and stirred speculation that the images could attract suicides.

The opening of the station, which was originally set for May 15, has been postponed indefinitely. As we read in the Independent, from whence also comes the illustrative photo:

"The metro has refused to comment but the daily Izvestia claims that it was the transport system's chief who raised the question of changing the decorations when he visited the site last week. Sources at the metro told The Independent that the controversy was convenient cover for the fact that the stations are not ready.

"The fate of the murals is now in the hands of Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, a man familiar with controversial public art. ... Whatever the mayor decides, Ivan Nikolaev, the artist behind the murals, is unapologetic. 'What did you want? Scenes of dancing? Dostoevsky doesn't have them,' he told Izvestia. 'I tried to convey Dostoevsky as a man, an artist, a philosopher.'"

Is the postponed opening of the station a matter of, for lack of a better word, overkill? Is it mass censorship typical of nanny states? Can mosaics really spark suicide? I think that if someone is depressed, art could prove a healthy distraction -- even "depressing" art, as any art takes the viewer outside him- or herself if even for a few moments. I'm not a psychotherapist, but as a longtime book reviewer I can attest that reading "sad" novels -- which viewing these mosaics might inspire metro riders to do -- can also have the positive effect of putting one's own life in perspective and making one's own troubles seem trivial as compared to the woes and dramas on the page.