Winter Palace in the mirror of eras. Elizabethan Baroque Hermitage in the Baroque style
The flourishing of the Baroque in Russian art is traditionally associated with the reign of the daughter of Peter I, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1741 - 1761). However, the main trends in the decoration of ceremonial interiors reflected not so much the personal preferences of the queen as modern fashion, dictated mainly by France. In Russia, which joined the pan-European process later than the other countries of Western Europe, such stylistic movements as Baroque and Rococo existed almost simultaneously, easily getting along with each other, including in interior decoration.
Palace construction, which developed widely in the mid-18th century, was determined by the activities of outstanding architects - S.I. Chevakinsky, D.V. Ukhtomsky and, above all, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. An Italian by birth, born in France, Rastrelli fully realized his creative potential in Russia, where he worked for almost thirty years. Almost all of the largest palace buildings of the 1730s-1750s, which involved solemn, ceremonial forms of life, are associated with the name of the architect. He designed not only majestic reversals of facades and long suites of rooms, but also created their decorative decoration. Among the architect's population, dozens of drawings of type-setting parquet floors, details of sculptural carvings, pieces of furniture, figured banquet tables, lighting fixtures, etc. have been preserved.
According to the tradition of that time, the ceremonial enfilades of the Baroque palace included several living rooms, a picture hall, rooms with oriental rarities, a ceremonial bedchamber, a boudoir, an office, and a library. The culmination was the Throne and Dance Halls. The total area of the Throne Hall in the Winter Palace, built by Rastrelli for Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740) in 1734, was, for example, about a thousand square meters. The appearance of interiors with exaggerated dimensions in relation to people and “architectural elements of decoration” marked a new stage in the design of palace apartments.
Construction, unusual in its scope, unfolded not only in the capital, but also on the approaches to it: on the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow alone, during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, twenty-five travel palaces were erected. The creation of magnificent baroque ornaments required the efforts of hundreds of carpenters, carvers and gilders, who were constantly sent to St. Petersburg from all over the country. In addition to artisans from government departments, numerous craftsmen sent from monasteries and even noble estates also arrived in the capital. 1 But the shortage of experienced carvers was so noticeable that craftsmen had to be specially ordered from Moscow, where the inherited experience in wood processing went back to the ancient tradition of creating complex multi-tiered iconostases. For the needs of St. Petersburg construction, carvers were also brought in from remote areas of the upper Volga. Under the guidance of the metropolitan craftsman Johann Franz Duncker, they cut various ornamental details from linden, into the baroque curls of which “wildflowers, sunflowers, oak leaves, and reeds were woven. 2
Attracted by the unprecedented scale of construction work, more and more foreign artisans began to come to the capital of Russia. Along with them, those who had established themselves back in Peter's time continued to work - master carpenter Jean Michel and master of bed-dressing Antoine Rushbot. In the 1730-1740s, a whole galaxy of talented carvers worked in the capital, performing decoration in palaces in the “French style”. Many of them were trained at a school organized by Nicolas Pinault (Pino himself, who was at the zenith of his fame during these years, had already left Russia and successfully worked at the court of Louis XV).
During the heyday of the Elizabethan Baroque, the furnishings of state rooms began to take shape, which traditionally included gilded or silvered console tables, chairs, armchairs, canapés, floor lamps and mirror frames. As Jacob Shtelin wrote, “in 1750 and in the next few years there was not a single noble house in St. Petersburg that was not furnished in the latest French taste and richly decorated with gilded carvings (Everyone preferred the latest and often baroque decoration in carvings) . 3
With the strengthening of rocaille trends in the mid-18th century, in addition to gilding, painting furniture on gesso - white or colored - came into fashion. Sometimes the background and carvings were painted in two tones, harmonizing with elegant embroidered or damask upholstery. Furniture made in the rocaille style was distinguished by greater refinement of proportions and elegance of contours. In pieces of furniture with a predominance of baroque features, voluminous carvings were often covered with solid gilding, and asymmetrical floral decoration was often adjacent to allegorical elements, enhancing the contrasts of mass and light and shade.
The place of furniture in the interior, as a rule, was predetermined. Sometimes they were directly connected to the wall, such as console tables, with wooden bases attached to the walls, supported by one. Two or three curved supports. The decorative functions of such furniture, richly decorated with carved ornaments, noticeably prevailed over its utilitarian purpose. There are few similar examples of the Baroque era that have survived to this day, which is understandable: the carved parts quickly broke, the gilding fell off, and their pronounced “style orientation did not fit well with subsequent fashion in art.
The haste of palace construction, which gained particular momentum in the 1750s, led to the fact that even in the imperial chambers there was a constant shortage of elegant furnishings. The famous memoirist A.T. Bolotov, who was on duty in 1762 in the newly finished new Winter Palace, noted: “The worst of all misfortune was that there was nothing to sit on at all; in all the rooms where we visited, there was not a single chair then, but There were only sofas in one passage room, but they were also upholstered in rich damask and such as we at first did not dare even think of sitting on 4
Rare surviving examples of furniture designed by Rastrelli for the Winter Palace include multi-tiered floor lamps with twenty-nine candles. They look like exotic trees with curved branches spread out to the sides and putti figures sitting under them. Floor lamps have concentrated features. Characteristic of the style searches of the era: an abundance of carved details (from shallow curls and grooves to volumetric sculptural compositions) and the desire to hide the design of the product under the external decoration. These monumental lamps were inextricably linked with the rest of the decorative decoration of the interior with equally elaborate contours and general carving motifs.
Rare monuments of the mid-18th century also include a gilded sofa, which was once part of the furnishings of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace, built according to the design of F.B. Rastrelli. The carved decor of the canapes is dynamic and relaxed; it conveys the skill of an experienced carver, accustomed to dealing with large planes. The wavy contours of the backrest are repeated in the motifs of the figured frames of desudéportes and mirrors.
However, such common pieces of furniture from the Elizabethan era (which went down in history with magnificent celebrations), such as tables, have practically not reached us. Huge tables for banquets at that time were made up of several dozen individual pieces so that they created some intricate shape: a crown, monogram, shells, etc.
They were covered with tablecloths, tied at the bottom with elegant bows and ribbons. The French diplomat de la Messeliere recalled, for example, a reception in a large and richly decorated hall, lit by nine hundred candles, where in the middle there was a table for four hundred people. 5
A special type of furniture was represented by tables for the “Hermitage”, which servants served on the lower floor and then lifted upstairs using special mechanisms; so that the hosts and guests could indulge themselves without unnecessary witnesses.
For any crowded celebration, a large amount of seating furniture was required - quite comfortable, beautiful and durable in design. Practical chairs and armchairs were purchased, as a rule, from English merchants who regularly delivered their goods to St. Petersburg. The influx of such products especially increased after the conclusion in 1734 of a special “tract” on friendship and commerce between Russia and England. There are known cases when Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered several dozen items in London with “fan” backs and legs with knees.
The ever-increasing needs for a comfortable environment encouraged St. Petersburg residents to set up their own production facilities. Chairs and armchairs similar in shape to the then popular English “Chippendale style” became widespread. The name of the outstanding master Thomas Chippendale, who created his own artistic movement, enjoyed extraordinary fame in Europe, thanks to a collection of representative samples published in 1754.
The definition of “Chippendale style” refers to chairs and armchairs with a rigid through back that widens upward and an openwork vertical insert - a plate in the middle, embedded in the drawer. Their characteristic feature was also a special configuration of strongly curved legs - cabrioles with a wide frontal part, usually decorated with a carved rosette or palmette. Such legs ended with a detail in the form of a bird's paw holding a ball, or a flattened thickening simplified and stylized as it.
The solution to the central part - the splat - in Chippendale's products was very diverse. At first it was a curved wooden plate, reminiscent of a vase in its outline. Over time, the master lightened the design of the furniture, slightly reduced its height, and turned the smooth surface of the splat into an openwork insert of a figured shape (among the many options for carving, the rocaille motif in the form of intertwined ribbons was especially successful). The contours of the back became more elegant, with a smooth curve turning into legs that thickened downwards.
In imitation of English models, Russian carpenters increasingly tried to make their things from walnut, which at that time became fashionable mahogany. However, there was little expensive imported wood, so often chairs and armchairs had to be made from local species - oak or “simple wood (according to the terminology of that time) - birch, pine, spruce, painted “in a walnut color (like walnut)” or in “the color of Megon wood (mahogany).
The fascination with products from England, even to the point of literally copying them, was so palpable that the attribution of Russian furniture of the second quarter of the 18th century, similar in appearance to English furniture, remains one of the most difficult to this day. The makers of “English-looking furniture” were both visiting foreign craftsmen (in this case it is almost impossible to distinguish it from genuine English furniture) and local artisans. The latter made objects that were very similar to Western-made items, but still noticeably different in proportions, design, and individual small decoration details.
The production of comfortable Chippendale furniture was mastered not only by urban “chair makers”, but also by home-grown serf craftsmen. However, the latter comprehended new forms as if “at a glance, reproducing only the diagram, but not always comprehending the principles and logic of constructing the object. This led to the creation of things to which the concept of “primitive” is applicable. They are characterized by generalized forms, laconic carvings and simplified decor. Their proportions in comparison with the reference samples are violated. 6
Among the most interesting examples of estate furniture made according to English motives is part of the set (seven chairs and an armchair) that existed in the estate of Count A.R. Vorontsova Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. These objects differ from their foreign prototypes not only in their design features, but also in their external weight and enlarged details, giving the overall impression of an “Englishman who has grown fat on Russian bread.” 7 Compared to the matte surface of the wax-impregnated noble mahogany of English samples, Russian objects are more multi-colored, distinguished by an abundance of carved rocailles and gilded relief contours. Somewhat exaggerated forms, plastic decoration and excessive color saturation give away a powerful folk principle, introducing national features into the examples of Russian Baroque. It should be noted that domestic joiners, carpenters and carvers branded their products extremely rarely, especially in the 18th century. The names of local performers can only be found out through archives or references from contemporaries; however, these are predominantly the names of foreign craftsmen - it was they who, as a rule, entered into written contracts for various contract works, hiring Russian craftsmen into their “teams”. 8
Private customers were also not inclined to advertise the names of their compatriots: in the era of the formation of the furniture business, when domestic products rarely reached the European level, it was considered much more prestigious to bring goods from abroad or resort to the services of visiting craftsmen. Hence - numerous nameless copies of foreign furniture products. 9
Imitating Western European models, Russian masters mastered new, unfamiliar forms and artistic solutions. In the interior decoration of the Elizabethan era, two main trends were observed: furniture for state rooms was made mainly with an eye on fashionable French designs, and when creating furnishings for residential or administrative premises, they were guided by a more rational Anglo-Dutch direction.
Among cabinet furniture, the most difficult to execute, expensive and prestigious were office cabinets, which combined the functions of a desk, chest of drawers, and bookcase cabinet. One of the famous metropolitan workshops that produced similar furniture at that time was headed by Fyodor Martynov. By decree of Peter I, from 1717 to 1724, he studied “cabinet work” in London, and then returned to his homeland and worked on orders from the court. Since 1738, Martynov headed at the Office of Buildings all work related to the manufacture of furniture veneered in oak, walnut and mahogany. It is known that his products were often decorated with various “piece ornaments,” that is, using the marquetry technique. Metal fittings for them were made to order, according to special samples. 10
The main staircase in the Grand Palace of Peterhof
Saint Petersburg. According to the drawing by F.B. Rastrelli
1750-1760s
Tree; carving, gilding; mirror. 73x66
State Hermitage Museum
The asymmetrical composition of the mirror frame, the dynamic plasticity of the forms, and their looseness reveal the hand of a master who is accustomed to working on large surfaces, decorating the enfilades of palace chambers with endless lace of gilded carvings. There is reason to believe that the mirror has been preserved from the original decoration of the Winter Palace.
Table
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VIII century.
Tree; carving, coloring, painting, gilding.
75x37x37
State Hermitage Museum
The table comes from the collection of the famous St. Petersburg collector Yu.E. Ozarovsky. Having started collecting a collection in the late 1890s, Yu.E. Ozarovsky created a private museum in his small house on Solyanoy Lane in St. Petersburg called “Old House. The guide was the owner himself - a great storyteller, a passionate lover of antiquities, the author of a number of publications about the antique market of that time. This table “in the Rococo style is mentioned in the guidebook “The Old House of U.E. Ozarovsky
Dressing table
Saint Petersburg. Middle X VIII century.
Tree; carving, gilding, painting; upholstery - damask.128x175x65
State Hermitage Museum
Such “stylish things” intended for ceremonial enfilades, as a rule, were conceived by architects simultaneously with other details of the decoration: doors, chandeliers, parquet floors, carved cartouches, mirror frames and desudéportes.
The master's main attention is focused not on convenience, but on the decorative qualities of the canapes: the seat is slightly raised, which gives it a special monumentality. Instead of the usual soft backrest in baroque furniture for sitting in a carved figured frame, the master decorates its entire surface with abundant ornamentation, in which shell motifs predominate. The shine of the gilding is set off by the green color of the background of the carving. The upholstery is made of green damask in several shades to match the paint color.
The characteristic contrasting comparisons of shapes, masses, and textures are also reflected in the peculiar cartouches on the back, which are given volume due to special substrates. The soft mattress that was placed on the seat has not been preserved.
Console table
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Saint Petersburg. Middle 18th century
tree; carving, gilding, painting
150x92x57
State Russian Museum
During the Baroque era, furniture made using the wood-compositing technique increasingly appeared in Russia. However, in contrast to the complex subject compositions of Western European designs, Russian artisans often used repeating geometric patterns in decoration. In its appearance and technique it was extremely close to the patterned ornaments of parquet floors, since the performers, as a rule, were the same masters of “sticker work”.
Since the 1750s, the inclusion of walrus ivory parts in mosaic patterns has become typical for capital furniture. It was to St. Petersburg that most of the northern master bone carvers, who were fluent in the marquetry technique, went to work during seasonal work. Among them, the bone master Osip Dudin especially stood out, who, judging by his advertisement in the St. Petersburg Gazette for 1761 and 1764, knew how to make not only various products from bone, but also “caskets, trunks, cabinets from various trees. Unique examples of cabinet furniture have survived to this day, the surface of which is completely covered with thin carved bone plates with end-to-end patterns like openwork lace or snow frost.
Lacquer painting was also a special type of decoration. Ever since the times of Peter the Great, entire offices have been decorated in the oriental style. As they were called then, “varnish chambers. As a rule, they were decorated with authentic examples of Chinese art, which were transported in significant quantities to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities via Kyakhta and Irkutsk. However, objects made in imitation of them in the “chinoiserie” style also appeared. An example of such furniture is a cabinet of white painted lacquer, made in 1759 by the “lacquer master Condor (according to other documents - Conrad) commissioned by Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna for the Hermitage in Oranienbaum.
The very fact of the existence in St. Petersburg of an established production of typesetting and lacquered furniture indicates the appearance in the capital of craftsmen capable of producing the most fashionable furnishings already in the mid-18th century. In addition to visiting “free artisans”, they were also performed by government carpenters from leading St. Petersburg departments, primarily the Office of Buildings.
The largest construction organization in the country, where the most significant forces of the artisans were concentrated, the Chancellery became for them a kind of Academy of Arts. The department constantly took care of future personnel. The children of all artisans learned to read and write in a special school, and from the age of twelve, each student began to be introduced to some kind of craft. eleven
In terms of the volume of work performed and the staff of artisans, only the Admiralty College could compare with the Chancellery, in which in 1751, according to the statements of the Particular Shipyard belonging to it, there were seven hundred and fifty-five Okhta “translators”; from them, they know how to make artistic furniture - finishing the houses of the nobility, since even in the time of Peter the Great, the artisans who lived on Okhta established themselves as performers of high-quality and relatively inexpensive “house decorations”.
The largest departments - the Office of Buildings, the Admiralty Collegium, the Academy of Sciences and the Kamortsalmeister office, which was in charge of the interior decoration of the imperial residences, indirectly influenced the general artistic direction of St. Petersburg furniture art. Both the leading architects and the master craftsmen who inspired the team were constantly busy not only with government orders, but also with numerous private works in the homes of wealthy residents of the capital.
In addition, guild artisans were closely associated with them and were periodically involved in joint contract work.
All this information makes us treat with great caution the famous statement of Catherine II: “The court at that time was so poor in furniture that the same mirrors, beds, chairs, tables, chests of drawers that served us in the Winter Palace were transported after us to Summer Palace, from there to Peterhof and even went with us to Moscow. 13 Based on these words, it is usually concluded that the amount of furniture in residential premises of the mid-18th century, even in palaces, at the request of Elizabeth Petrovna, several were built at once. However, for personal chambers it was always possible to buy furniture with your own money, without waiting for the empress’s permission. Therefore, in the end, the young Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (the future empress) began to arrange the furnishings of the rooms assigned to her herself, and, as can be seen from her Notes, quite successfully. 15
It should be noted that the furniture that was manufactured or sold in the capital was enough not only for St. Petersburg residents, but also for residents of other Russian cities. There were cases when a noble nobleman made several copies at once for various possessions, such as Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who built himself a house in Moscow in 1753 “according to the most exact model of his existing house in St. Petersburg: all the rooms here were located exactly the same as in the St. Petersburg house. 16
As a result of the increased activity in interior decoration, in 1731 a special “Duty Tariff” was published in Moscow under the Senate, which mentioned a lot of “household cleaning and various expensive materials imported from abroad. There is, in particular, walnut wood in planks, red, yellow and blue wood in logs, French, Hamburg and Lubeck glass (that is, from Hamburg and Lubeck). Among the pieces of furniture, especially highlighted are tables and chairs of all kinds, cabinets, caskets, heridons, bedsteads, painted and varnished boards, as well as slides for valuable (porcelain) dishes.
However, it is absolutely clear that the majority of Muscovites, as well as residents of provincial cities, were far from fashionable innovations, furnishing their homes with the help of home-grown craftsmen. This is how A.T. describes it. Bolotov saw upon his return from St. Petersburg in 1750 “the best and first room in his estate: “In the front corner there was a long table, in another there was my mother’s bed, in the third there was a stove and a wide bench next to it, and in the fourth there was a bench like this.” blackened locker. What had to be scraped with a knife to find out that it was once painted with paints. 17
But Bolotov’s son-in-law furnished his home with much greater comfort; He created special workshops where serfs worked as a carver, a blacksmith, a mechanic, a saddlemaker, several weavers, tailors, shoemakers and other similar artisans and handicraft people. 18 With the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, when many nobles, freed from compulsory military service, returned to their estates, the process of arrangement became noticeably more intense, and Russian furniture art approached its highest rise.
Canapes
Saint Petersburg. Middle X 8th century
Tree; carving, gilding; upholstery - wool cross stitch. 129x294x54
State Hermitage Museum
Canapés from the Baroque era are characterized by some exaggerated forms, the complexity of a variable silhouette, and striking polychrome. In this case, the upholstery is skillfully composed of several embroideries from earlier times.
Floor lamp
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Saint Petersburg. Around 1762.
Tree; carving, gilding. 474x140x90
State Hermitage Museum
The six-tier floor lamp with twenty-nine candles with sculptural putti figures is a unique example of the original decoration of the Winter Palace, made according to Rastrelli’s designs. Lush carved ornamentation, the desire to hide the design of the product under the decoration, which was perceived inextricably with the rest of the carved interior decoration, are characteristic features of ceremonial furniture of the Baroque era.
Canapes
Saint Petersburg. According to the project by F.B. Rastrelli. 1750s
Tree; carving, gilding; upholstery - damask
123x229x69
Tsarskoe Selo
Made according to Rastrelli's design for the furnishing of the state rooms of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace under the direction of the Austrian carver-sculptor I.F. Dunkera
Chairs
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Russia. 1750-1760s
Tree; carving, painting, gilding; upholstery - damask 105x54x48
State Hermitage Museum
The chair in the center is published for the first time
Painted in a walnut color. The top of the back, legs and drawers are decorated with carved gilded rocailles. The relief contours of the structure are highlighted with gilding. On the reverse side of the backs of the chairs there are carved Latin letters: D, G, L. If we assume that this is a designation of the sequence in which the chairs were made, then we can conclude that there were at least fourteen of them. The authentic upholstery of the chairs consists of embroidered overlays attached to damask fabric. These are nothing more than details from the decoration of a bed lambrequin. Having gone out of fashion or worn out, the embroidered “bed cover”, which had cost considerable effort and painstaking work, was carefully cut and became a furniture decoration. Such examples are not isolated and indicate that the upholstery can be not only of a later, but also of much earlier origin than the thing itself as a whole.
Carved chair backs
Saint Petersburg. Second third 18th century
Walnut, oak; thread; upholstery - leather. 95x51x42
State Hermitage Museum
The chair and armchair on the right are published for the first time.
A chair from the furnishings of the ceremonial interiors of the estate of Count A.R. Vorontsova
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Middle 18th century
Tree; carving, gilding, painting. 110x48x58
An armchair from the furnishings of the ceremonial interiors of the estate of Count A.R. Vorontsova
Russia. Vladimir province Andreevskoe estate
Workshops of Count A.R. Vorontsova
Middle XVIII century
Tree; carving, gilding, painting. 120x57x60
State Museum of Architecture
Parquet from the Western Chinese cabinet of the Grand Palace in Peterhof.
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General view and fragments
Saint Petersburg. Master O. Dudin
Around 1777
Tree; bone, foil; relief and openwork carving, engraving. 94x86.4x39
Private collection
Bureau - cabinet with a top hinged lid and four drawers, has five bronze keys, two bronze side handles for moving the cabinet, six bone handles for pulling out drawers and - on brackets supporting the folding board. The cabinet is lined with bone plates attached to a wooden base using glue and thin bone pins.
The surface of the cabinet is decorated with thirty-six relief plates, twenty of which are in black frames. Eight plates contain portrait images of Russian emperors and empresses of the 18th century.
The facade of the cabinet, in addition to the plates with portrait images, is decorated with twelve more relief plates.
All thirty-six relief images are decorated with plates of openwork through carvings of a plant nature with figures of birds and animals. Under which is placed colored foil: green, red and golden. The remaining plates with images of flowers, herbal patterns, flowers and trees in flowerpots, which line the cabinet, are made using the engraving technique.
These designs are applied to bone plates with shallowly incised lines, strokes and grids and etched with green, brown, red or black paint. Bone carving has existed in the northern regions of Russia for a long time, but bone products became most popular and widespread in the second half of the 17th century. There were several centers of bone art: in the north - Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk, in the center, in Moscow - the Armory Chamber (in the 17th century), but after its foundation. St. Petersburg, in the first half of the 18th century there was a redistribution of the country's artistic forces, and by the middle of the century the most skilled craftsmen were working in the capital. Their work creates a demand for bone products. Bone carvers fill the market with small crafts: caskets, handicraft boxes, toilet boxes, combs.
For wealthier customers, they make desk cabinets, toilets, and bureaus. The most expensive was the manufacture of furniture, when the wooden frame was lined with bone plates decorated with the finest carvings.
Bureau-office
Saint Petersburg. Masters of the Admiralty College. 1750s.
Tree; carving, gilding, polychrome painting.
State Hermitage Museum.
The cartouche is one of the rare authentic examples of decoration of St. Petersburg interiors of the Baroque era. The rich volumetric carving contrasts with the smooth centerpiece, on which is placed the painted coat of arms of Count P.I. Shuvalova.
Gilding, as is typical for the 18th century, is applied to a dense layer of gesso and red polyment - an adhesive composition that serves to more firmly adhere the leaves of gold foil to the surface of the carving. Some details (fruits and flowers in wreaths, putti figures, female half-figures) are painted directly on the gilding; naked areas of the body are pale pink, hair is dark, eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows are highlighted, blush is applied to the cheeks. A similar technique of painting “from nature” was especially typical of ship carvings of the 18th century, which were carried out by masters of the Admiralty College.
Cabinet
Saint Petersburg. Master F. Condor 1759
Tree; painting on varnish, carving. 234x91x57
Oranienbaum
The bureau was made to order for the young Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (the future Empress Catherine II), about which there is an entry in her account book: “To the varnisher Condor for the lacquered cabinet he made in 1759 in the Oranienbaum Hermitage - 600 (rubles) - the amount for those at times quite significant. For comparison, the monthly salary of the “cabinet manager F. Martynov in the Office of Buildings” was one hundred and eighty rubles.
Ballroom of the Grand Palace in Tsarskoe Selo
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Architect F.B. Rastrelli. 1750s
The hall conceived by Rastrelli became “the hallmark of the era of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The baroque elongated shape of the hall (width 17, length 47 meters), the texture and color variety in the decoration, repeatedly reflected by mirrors in carved gilded frames, create a major and upbeat mood.
The program dedicated to the Winter Palace, the residence of the Russian emperors, invites you to take a fascinating journey through time. Computer models represent the palace and the urban space around it in different historical eras - during the reign of Emperors Nicholas I (mid-19th century), Nicholas II (late 19th - early 20th century), as well as today. The panoramas are accompanied by commentaries and supplemented with works of painting, graphics and documentary photographs.
The texts tell in detail how the appearance of the Winter Palace and its interior decoration changed over the course of 250 years, as well as various aspects of the life of the palace, as an official residence and as the home of representatives of the reigning Romanov dynasty.
A special section of the program is dedicated to the Alexander Column - a monument erected in honor of Emperor Alexander I - the winner of Napoleon.
Winter Palace - a monument of Russian Baroque
“I built in stone,” Rastrelli writes in the description of his works, “a large Winter Palace, rectangular in shape, with four facades... This structure has three floors, not counting the basements; inside this great building in the middle there is a large courtyard, through which The Empress herself enters, and the main picket of the Guard is located there.”
The elegant and monumental palace is a striking monument to the Baroque style in Russian art of the mid-18th century. The building is designed to be perceived from all sides, both close and far. The significant length of the facades required the creation of large and expressive forms. The palace is a brilliant example of the synthesis of architecture and decorative sculpture. All facades are decorated with a two-tier colonnade. Forming a complex rhythm of verticals, the columns rush upward, and this movement is picked up by numerous statues and vases on the roof. The abundance of stucco decorations - fancy cornices and window frames, mascarons, cartouches and rocailles, torn pediments - creates a rich play of light and shadow, giving the building a splendid appearance.
Developing the same architectural motif, Rastrelli created all four facades of the palace with different rhythms of construction. The southern facade facing the square is solemn. Here the architect, having cut through the façade with three arches, arranged a ceremonial passage into the courtyard and accentuated it with the verticals of paired columns. The majestic northern facade, creating the impression of an endless colonnade, faces the wide surface of the Neva. The western facade, looking at the Admiralty, resembles the composition of a country palace with a small front courtyard. The monumental eastern facade with massive side buildings forming a large courtyard (front courtyard) faces Millionnaya Street, where the mansions of the nobility were located.
In plan, the palace is a grandiose tetrahedron, in four powerful corner projections of which the Throne Hall, the Main Staircase, the church and the theater were located - the four centers of life of the imperial residence, interconnected by buildings with enfilades of living rooms.
According to Rastrelli’s project, the palace was surrounded by fake cannons, which “guarded” it for 15 years, and then, by order of Empress Catherine II, they were replaced with 24 pairs of stone pillars. Under Catherine II, the passages to the palace were closed with pine gates, the courtyard was paved with large cobblestones, and a sidewalk of stone slabs was laid around the building. In 1763-1767, the Neva embankment was dressed in granite.
Over time, pavilions - “lanterns” appeared over the entrances of the palace and numerous balconies with canopies-marquises, wooden vestibules appeared at its doors, striped guard booths and lanterns appeared near the walls.
Throughout the history of the Winter Palace as an imperial residence, its interiors were remodeled in accordance with fashion trends. Some changes also affected its architectural appearance. So, in 1764, on the Neva side, a portico was built in place of the vestibule, in 1796, the building of the St. George (Great Throne) Hall was added to the eastern facade, and in 1833, a turret was placed on the roof to house the telegraph.
However, the magnificent Baroque image of the building was preserved and went down in history as one of Rastrelli’s masterpieces.
In the second half of the 18th century, under Catherine II, who had a passion for architecture, the Small Hermitage with the Hanging Garden (architect Y. M. Felten, J.-B. Vallin-Delamot), the Great Hermitage (architect Yu. M. Felten), the building of the Raphael Loggias and the Hermitage Theater (architect G. Quarenghi). This is how a unique architectural ensemble arose, which in the 19th century was supplemented by the imperial museum - the New Hermitage (architect L. Klenze).
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (Palace Square, 2 / Palace Embankment, 38)
The Winter Palace is a former imperial palace, currently part of the Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage.
The monumental and elegant Winter Palace, commissioned by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna by architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-1762, is a striking monument to the Baroque style. The building is a brilliant example of the synthesis of architecture and decorative plastics. All its facades are decorated with a two-tier colonnade. Forming a complex rhythm of verticals, the columns rush upward, and this movement is picked up by numerous statues and vases on the roof.
The abundance of stucco decorations - fancy cornices and window frames, mascarons, cartouches and rocailles, torn pediments - creates a rich play of light and shadow, giving the appearance of the building a special splendor. It is a cultural heritage site of federal significance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the historical center of St. Petersburg
From the end of construction in 1762 to 1904, it was used as the official winter residence of the Russian emperors. In 1904, Nicholas II moved his permanent residence to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. From October 1915 to November 1917, a hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich operated in the palace. From July to November 1917, the palace housed the Provisional Government. In January 1920, the State Museum of the Revolution was opened in the palace, sharing the building with the State Hermitage until 1941.
The Winter Palace and Palace Square form a beautiful architectural ensemble of the modern city and are one of the main objects of domestic and international tourism.
Story
In total, during the period 1711–1764, five winter palaces were built in the city. Initially, Peter I settled in a one-story house, built hastily in 1703, not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress.
First Palace - Wedding Chambers
Peter the Great owned the site between the Neva and Millionnaya Street (on the site of the current Hermitage Theater). In 1708, here, in the depths of the site, a wooden “Winter House” was built - a small two-story house with a high porch and a tiled roof. In 1712, the stone Wedding Chambers of Peter I were built. This palace was a gift from the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, for the wedding of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna.
The Second Winter Palace - the palace of Peter I at the Winter Canal
In 1716, the architect Georg Mattarnovi, by order of the Tsar, began building a new Winter Palace, on the corner of the Neva and the Winter Canal (which was then called the “Winter House Canal”). In 1720, Peter I and his entire family moved from their summer residence to their winter residence. In 1725, Peter died in this palace.
Third Palace - Anna Ioannovna's Palace
Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and in 1731 entrusted its reconstruction to F.B. Rastrelli, who offered her his own project for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was necessary to purchase the houses that stood at that time on the site occupied by the current palace and belonged to Count Apraksin, the Maritime Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioannovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished, and construction began in the spring of 1732.
The facades of this palace were facing the Neva, the Admiralty and the “meadow side”, that is, the palace square. In 1735, construction of the palace was completed, and Anna Ioannovna moved to live there. The four-story building included about 70 state rooms, more than 100 bedrooms, a gallery, a theater, a large chapel, many staircases, service and guard rooms, as well as rooms for the palace chancellery. Almost immediately the palace began to be rebuilt; an extension began along the meadow side of technical buildings, sheds and stables[
Anna and Anton-Ulrich
Here, on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna's engagement to Prince Anton-Ulrich took place. After the death of Anna Ioannovna, the young Emperor Ivan Antonovich was brought here, who stayed here until November 25, 1741, when Elizaveta Petrovna took power into her own hands.
Fourth (temporary) Winter Palace
It was built in 1755. It was built by Rastrelli on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the river embankment. Sinks. Was dismantled in 1762
Fifth Winter Palace
From 1754 to 1762, construction took place on the existing palace building, which at that time became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg. The building included about 1,500 rooms. The total area of the palace is about 60,000 sq.m. Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the completion of construction; Peter III took over the work on April 6, 1762. By this time, the decoration of the facades was completed, but many of the interior spaces were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne, and construction of the Winter Palace was completed under Catherine II.
Initially, the color of the palace had yellow shades, like those of Versailles and Schönbrunn
In the mid-19th century, red shades appeared in the color of the palace.
First of all, the Empress removed Rastrelli from his work. The interior decoration of the palace was carried out by the architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi under the direction of Betsky.
On January 1, 1752, the Empress decided to expand the Winter Palace, after which the neighboring areas of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky were purchased. At the new location, Rastrelli added new buildings. According to the project he drew up, these buildings were to be attached to existing ones and be decorated in the same style.
In December 1752, the Empress wished to increase the height of the Winter Palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli was forced to redo the design of the building, after which he decided to build it in a new location. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to move the new Winter Palace. As a result, the architect decides to build the entire building anew; the new project was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16 (June 27), 1754
According to the original layout of the palace, made by Rastrelli, the largest state rooms were located on the 2nd floor and overlooked the Neva. According to the architect’s plan, the path to the huge “Throne” hall (which occupied the entire space of the north-western wing) began from the east - from the “Jordan” or, as it was previously called, the “Embassy” staircase and ran through a suite of five outer halls ( Of these, the three middle halls later formed the current Nicholas Hall).
Rastrelli placed the palace theater “Opera House” in the southwestern wing. Kitchens and other services occupied the north-eastern wing, and in the south-eastern part there was a gallery between the living quarters and the “Big Church” built in the eastern courtyard.
In 1763, the Empress moved her chambers to the southwestern part of the palace; under her rooms, she ordered the chambers of her favorite G. G. Orlov to be placed (in 1764-1766, the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage would be built for Orlov, connected to Catherine’s chambers by a gallery on the arch ).
In the northwestern risalit, the “Throne Hall” was equipped, and a waiting room appeared in front of it - the “White Hall”. A dining room was located behind the White Hall. The “Light Study” was adjacent to it. The dining room was followed by the “Grand Bedchamber,” which a year later became the “Diamond Chamber.”
In addition, the Empress ordered to equip herself with a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a restroom. In the restroom, the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Poniatowski. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine acquired a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists from the merchant I. Gotzkovsky. The paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name “Hermitage” (place of solitude); from 1767 to 1775 a special building was built for them east of the palace.
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In the 1780-1790s, work on finishing the palace interiors was continued by I. E. Starov and G. Quarenghi.
In 1783, by decree of Catherine, the palace theater was demolished.
In the 1790s, by decree of Catherine II, who considered it inappropriate for the public to enter the Hermitage through her own chambers, a gallery-bridge with the Winter Palace - the “Apollo Hall” - was created, through which visitors could bypass the royal apartments. At the same time, Quarenghi erected the new “Throne (St. George)” hall, opened in 1795. The old throne room was converted into a series of rooms provided for chambers for the newly married Grand Duke Alexander. A “Marble Gallery” (of three halls) was also created.
In 1826, according to the design of K. I. Rossi, a Military Gallery was built in front of St. George’s Hall, which housed 330 portraits of generals who took part in the War of 1812, painted by D. Doe over almost 10 years. In the early 1830s, in the eastern building of the palace, O. Montferrand designed the “Field Marshal’s”, “Peter’s” and “Armorial” halls.
After the fire of 1837, when all the interiors were destroyed, restoration work in the Winter Palace was led by architects V.P. Stasov, A.P. Bryullov and A.E. Staubert.
Historical events
On April 7 (according to another version - April 11), 1762, on Easter, the ceremony of consecrating the palace took place, and the next day the imperial court moved into it.
K. J. Vernet. Fire in the Winter Palace
On December 29, 1837, there was a fire in the Winter Palace. They could not put it out for three days; all this time, the property taken out of the palace was piled up around the Alexander Column. Restoration work required enormous efforts, but the palace was revived in two years. The work was supervised by V.P. Stasov, who used new floor and roof structures.
Women's shock battalion defending the Winter Palace from the Bolshevik rebellion.
On February 5, 1880, Narodnaya Volya member S.N. Khalturin carried out an explosion in the Winter Palace with the aim of killing Alexander II, while eleven guard soldiers were killed and fifty-six were wounded, but neither the emperor nor his family members were injured.
On January 9, 1905, during a procession of columns of workers to the Winter Palace, a peaceful workers' demonstration was shot, which served as the beginning of the Revolution of 1905-1907. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the Second Patriotic (First World) War, some of the cultural property from the palace, including the Jewelry Gallery, was taken to Moscow, but the Art Gallery remained in place.
In mid-October 1915, a military hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was located in the palace. The halls of the Nevsky and Great Enfilades, as well as the Picket and Alexander Halls were allocated for hospital wards. During the revolution of February 1917, the palace was occupied by troops who went over to the side of the rebels.
Since July 1917, the palace became the residence of the Provisional Government, which announced the nationalization of the royal palaces and formed an artistic and historical commission to accept the values of the Winter Palace. In September, part of the art collection was evacuated to Moscow.
On the night of October 25-26 (November 7-8), 1917, during the October Revolution, the Red Guard, revolutionary soldiers and sailors surrounded the palace, which was guarded by a garrison of cadets and a women’s battalion, totaling 2.7 thousand people. The palace was fired upon by the cannons of the Peter and Paul Fortress. By 2 hours 10 minutes. On the night of October 26 (November 8), the palace was stormed and the Provisional Government was arrested. In cinema, the storming of the Winter Palace was depicted as a battle. In fact, it was almost bloodless - the defenders of the palace offered almost no resistance.
On October 30 (November 12), 1917, People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky declared the Winter Palace and the Hermitage state museums. For several months, the People's Commissariat for Education was located in the rooms on the first floor of the palace. Cinematic screenings, concerts, lectures, and meetings began to be held in the main halls. In 1919, the first exhibitions of paintings from paintings remaining in Petrograd after the revolution, as well as the exhibition “Funeral Cult of Ancient Egypt,” opened in the palace.
Workers of the Kirov plant and young sailors on the bridge. Defenders of Leningrad during the siege. Siege of Leningrad Russia, Leningrad region
On June 22, 1941, after the start of the Great Patriotic War, twelve bomb shelters were equipped in the basements of the palace, in which about two thousand people permanently lived until 1942. Part of the non-evacuated museum collection of the Hermitage, cultural values from suburban palaces and various institutions of Leningrad were hidden in the palace.
During the war, the palace buildings were damaged by Wehrmacht artillery fire and Luftwaffe bombing; a total of seventeen artillery shells and two aerial bombs hit them. The Small Throne (Peter's) Hall was damaged, part of the Armorial Hall and the ceiling of the Rastrelli Gallery were destroyed, and the Jordan Staircase was damaged. On November 7, 1944, the palace was partially opened to the public. The restoration of the halls and facades of the palace continued for many years after the war.
Architecture
Facade facing the Neva
The modern three-story building has the shape of a square of 4 wings with an internal courtyard and facades facing the Neva, the Admiralty and Palace Square. The magnificent decoration of the facades and premises gives the building a sense of splendor. The main facade, facing Palace Square, is cut through by the arch of the main passage, which was created by Rastrelli after his work on the renovation of the palace in Strelna, probably under the influence of the magnificent architectural design of Michetti (whose forerunner was Leblon). Differently composed facades, strong protrusions of risalits, accentuation of stepped corners, changing rhythm of columns (by changing the intervals between columns, Rastrelli either collects them into bunches or exposes the plane of the wall) create an impression of restlessness, unforgettable solemnity and splendor.
Clock mechanism of the Winter Palace clock
The palace building has 1084 rooms, 1945 windows, 117 staircases (including secret ones). The length of the facade from the Neva side is 137 meters, from the Admiralty side - 106 meters, height 23.5 meters. In 1844, Nicholas I issued a decree prohibiting the construction of civil buildings in St. Petersburg higher than the height of the Winter Palace. They had to be built at least one fathom less.
Despite the reconstruction and many innovations, the basic planning scheme of the palace retained the ideas of F.-B. Rastrelli. The palace buildings are formed around the internal Great Courtyard. In the northwestern and southwestern wings, on the site of the Throne Hall and the Opera House, light courtyards were created, around which enfilades of residential chambers were formed.
Adjacent to the Winter Palace from the east is the Small Hermitage, built along the Black Passage. The buildings of the St. George's Hall, the Great Church, the south-eastern and north-eastern wings of the palace open into this passage; the space is divided into a system of courtyards and depressions: “Small” and “Big Church” courtyards (from the Great Church located here, founded back in 1763), “Church” and “Garage” (from the garage located here) depressions, “Kitchen yard” .
Design features
The three-story building of the palace has a semi-basement floor and numerous mezzanine floors, some of the main halls on the second floor are double-story. The brickwork of the walls with lime mortar is very massive, the interfloor ceilings are made both in the form of brick vaults and along beams. The massive cornice of the palace is built on a stone foundation, which is supported by iron clamps passing through the brickwork of the outer walls, preserved from the time of Rastrelli.
The entire rafter system and all the ceilings above the halls in the 18th century were made of wood (the ceilings were insulated with felt and canvas, the rafters were tarred). There were no firewalls in the attics before the fire. During the restoration of the palace, iron structures began to play a major role. Such a massive use of iron in construction was unusual in world practice. Engineer M. E. Clark developed triangular trusses - “roofing trusses” - to support the roof of the Winter Palace, and “blown elliptical beams” to cover the palace halls.
The covering of the St. George's Hall became one of the first examples of the use of rolled steel in domestic construction. In 1887, under the leadership of the architect Gornostaev, some deformed structures were updated and old structures were strengthened. Most of them still regularly serve in Zimny.
When constructing the floors between the nearest beams, microvaults were made from hollow pottery pots in lime mortar. Below in the halls a metal ceiling was fixed or plastered.
In the 1840s, the building was equipped with a unique heating system using Ammos stoves, which were located in the basements, and heated clean air entered the premises through heat ducts (later a water-air system would be created on this basis). At the end of the 19th century, much attention was paid to the ventilation system. Sewage accumulated in a collector built by Rastrelli, which drained sewage into the Neva. After the reconstruction of the embankment, this collector was sealed and the Winter Palace “became itself” for some time. In 1886, the Winter Palace was electrified.
The rafters above the Great Throne Room.
Brace supporting the cornice
I-beam elliptical beam
Pottery pots in the palace vaults
The facades and roof of the palace changed the color scheme several times. The original color had a very light warm ocher color, highlighting the order system and plastic decoration with white lime paint.
In the second half of the 1850s - 1860s, under Emperor Alexander II, the color of the palace facades changed. The ocher becomes more dense. The order system and plastic decor are not painted with an additional color, but acquire a very light tonal highlight. In fact, the facades are perceived as monochrome.
Clearing historical paint
In the 1880s, under Emperor Alexander III, the facades were painted in two tones: a dense ocher expression with the addition of red pigment and a weaker terracotta tonality. With the accession of Nicholas II in 1897, the emperor approved the project of painting the facades of the Winter Palace in the coloring of the “new fence of the Own Garden” - red sandstone without any tonal highlighting of the columns and decor.
Winter Palace. Coloring of the second half of the 18th century. B.F. Rastrelli
Winter Palace. Painting at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries.
All the buildings on Palace Square - the headquarters of the Guards Corps and the General Staff - were painted in the same color, which, according to the architects of that period, contributed to the unity of perception of the ensemble. In 2011, during the restoration of the Hermitage garage for painting it
Winter Palace. Coloring of the first quarter of the 20th century.
The terracotta-brick color of the palace remained until the end of the 1920s, after which experiments began and the search for a new color scheme began. In 1927, an attempt was made to paint it gray, in 1928-1930. - in a brown-gray color scheme, and the copper sculpture on the roof - in black.
Winter Palace. Coloring 1880s - 1890s.
In 1934, the first attempt was made to paint the palace with orange oil paint highlighting the order system with white paint, but oil paint had a negative impact on the stone, plaster and stucco decoration. In 1940, a decision was made to remove oil paint from the façade.
Winter Palace.Current painting
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, for camouflage purposes, the palace was painted with reversible adhesive gray paint.
Since the 1960s, when painting facades, instead of lime paints, synthetic dyes began to be used, which negatively affect stucco decoration, plaster and natural stone. In 1976, on the recommendation of the All-Union Central Research Laboratory, a decision was made to clear the surface of the sculptures from the paint coating to form a natural layer of patina, which at that time was considered a natural protection against aggressive environmental influences. Currently, the copper surface is protected with a special paint composition containing a copper corrosion inhibitor.
Over sixty-five years, the public and city authorities have developed a certain stereotype in the perception of the color scheme of the palace, however, according to the Hermitage researchers, the currently existing color scheme of the facades does not correspond to the artistic image of the palace, and therefore it is proposed to recreate the color scheme of the facades as close as possible to the volumetric-spatial composition of the palace created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
The sculptures and vases installed above the cornice along the entire perimeter of the building add elegance and splendor to the silhouette of the building. They were originally carved from stone and replaced by metal ones in 1892-1902 (sculptors M.P. Popov, D.I. Jensen). The “opened” composition of the Winter Palace is a kind of Russian reworking of the type of closed palace building with a courtyard, common in the architecture of Western Europe.
To be continued
The Kuskovo Estate Museum is a unique museum where the palace and park ensemble of the 18th century has been amazingly preserved. For several centuries, this “noble nest” belonged to representatives of the Sheremetev count family. The Kuskovo estate reached its heyday in the middle of the 18th century, when Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev took possession of the estate. The sophistication of the architecture, magnificent parks - landscape and regular, the mirror surface of the ponds - all this served as a backdrop, surrounded by grandiose theatrical celebrations. They were especially magnificent on the occasion of the arrival of royalty - Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II were here. Catherine the Great visited the estate six times! To entertain the guests, the owner of Kuskov, Count P.B. Sheremetev built pavilions in the regular park dedicated to various European countries: the Italian and Dutch houses and the French Hermitage pavilion, which still delight museum visitors today. The real “pearl” of the palace and park ensemble of the estate is the wooden Palace, built in the mid-18th century and has preserved its interiors to this day. Among the unique and one-of-a-kind buildings is the Grotto park pavilion, which symbolizes the cave of the underwater kingdom. The Kuskovsky Grotto is the only one that has preserved its “grottoic” decoration, in the creation of which numerous sea and river shells were used. Among Moscow estate parks, the Kuskovo estate park also occupies a special place. This is the only park of its kind in Moscow that has preserved its layout and is decorated with 18th-century sculpture. In 1919, the estate became a museum. In 1932, the Museum of Ceramics was transferred to Kuskovo, created on the basis of the art collection of A.V., nationalized after the revolution. Morozova. In 1937, the two museums were legally united. Today the museum is the owner of one of the world's largest collections of ceramics and glass from various countries from antiquity to modern times. Every year, the museum organizes exhibitions, holds classical music concerts, and revives ancient traditions of estate celebrations, receptions and festivities. Directions: metro station “Ryazansky Prospekt”, then bus. 133 and 208 to the stop. "Museum of Kuskovo"; metro station "Vykhino", then bus. 620, route. taxi 9M to the stop. "Museum of Kuskovo"; metro station "Novogireevo", then trol. 64, auto. 615, 247 to the stop. "Street of Youth".
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg: history and modernity. Who created the projects and built them, why didn’t all the owners like to live in the palace?
The main and largest residence of the Russian tsars, Winter Palace, is the creation of the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700 - 1771). An Italian Parisian who gave St. Petersburg such a recognizable ceremonial appearance.
The impressive building of the palace, with one of its facades reflected in the surface of the Neva, and with the other facing the huge one, inspires awe with its gigantic scale. When Russians look at him, they feel legitimate pride in their Motherland! The square along the embankment stretches 210 meters - its width is 175 meters!
Short description
The surviving Winter Palace complex was built in the mid-18th century in the Baroque architectural style. Characterized by splendor and richness of detail. Initially, the interiors were decorated in exactly the same style. Today it looks excessively pretentious.
In the 70s, under Catherine II, more modestly decorated rooms appeared inside. But, however, more elegant and stylish - they were created by architects Ivan Yegorovich Starov and Giacomo Quarenghi.
The exact number of internal halls is not reported anywhere: there are approximately 1,100 of them. Do not think that this is no match for, say, the Royal Palace of Madrid. It’s just that the area and height (2 floors) of the state halls of the royal residence have no precedents in Europe... and the world.
- The total area of the premises is approximately 60,000 m2
Note that the palace was not always painted turquoise and white. After the fire of 1837, for example, it was repainted sandy ocher. White columns and architectural decor initially stood out against the background of the walls, but later everything was painted over to look like sandstone.
Architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi, when constructing the General Staff Building, proposed painting all the buildings on Palace Square in a strict gray color with the decor and columns highlighted in white. It was supposed to be extremely solemn... but the project was not approved.
Today, the Winter Palace has been restored to its historical color: turquoise walls with white columns and yellow architectural decor.
- It is interesting that until the second half of the 19th century, no buildings were built in St. Petersburg that were taller than the Winter Palace, that is, 23.5 meters!
The Winter Palace, as well as the Small, Old and New Hermitages later added to it, house collections. And one of the largest in the world, of course. The collection contains more than 3 million storage units!
In addition to the gigantic collection of paintings and sculptures, tapestries and vases, jewelry and the Egyptian collection, visitors can see the original decoration of the ceremonial and residential enfilades, as well as halls for receptions and balls, chamber rooms for work and everyday life of royalty, their relatives and guests.
History and architecture
Initially, on the site where the Winter Palace is located, the mansion of Admiral Fyodor Matveevich Apraksin was located. Which is quite logical, since the Admiralty, which built the Russian fleet, is located nearby.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the admiral's estate was the largest and most beautiful in all of St. Petersburg. After the death of the naval commander, the buildings and lands were given to the young Emperor Peter II, since the Apraksins were relatives of the Romanovs.
First Winter Palace
in St. Petersburg was erected in the depths of the site between the Neva and Millionnaya streets. In 1712, the wooden two-story building was rebuilt in stone. Alexander Danilovich Menshikov presented it to the Tsar as a wedding gift.
In 1716-1720, the residence was rebuilt and expanded according to the design of the architect Georg Mattarnovi. Construction was carried out, among other things, on embankment territory reclaimed from the Neva.
The Second Winter Palace was located where the Hermitage Theater stands today. It is interesting that during the reconstruction of 1783-1787, the personal chambers of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna on the first floor were carefully preserved.
Peter moved to the winter residence from his own in 1720. And here in 1725 the first emperor of Russia died (28.01 -8.02 according to the new style).
In 1732-1735, a third palace was built for Empress Anna Ioannovna. Based on a design created by Francesco Rastrelli's father, Carlo Bartolomeo. It was much larger than Peter's residence. And it was located mainly on the other side of the Winter Canal, closer to the Admiralty.
The era of Elizabeth Petrovna
During the time of Peter's daughter, who adored luxury, outbuildings and service buildings were being added to the palazzo with might and main. The complex grew beyond any master plan. And it looked more and more like some Istanbul Topkapi than a European residence. As a result, they decided that this was unworthy of a great empire and began building a new palace.
The complex that has survived to this day was built according to the design of the architect Rastrelli the Son. It was founded under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1754) and basically completed (1762) only under Catherine II.
The surviving building is considered the fifth Winter Palace. Because at the time of its construction, a fourth wooden one was built for Elizaveta Petrovna’s residence.
It was located a little further away: on Nevsky Prospekt, between Moika and Malaya Morskaya Street. Construction of the temporary residence took place in the spring and summer of 1755 and was completed by November.
The queen's private chambers were located along the Moika River, with windows overlooking the Stroganov Palace. Standing on the other side of the river.
The outbuilding in which the heir to the throne, the future Peter III, lived with his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine II) stretched along Malaya Morskaya Street.
Under Catherine II
In 1764, Empress Catherine II bought the collection, which laid the foundation for the world-famous Hermitage collection. Initially, the paintings were placed in the private chambers of the palace and were not available for inspection. And the name comes from the French l’Ermitage, that is, “secluded.”
- Completion, alteration (Catherine did not favor the “golden” splendor of her predecessor) and expansion of the palace continued throughout the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
Little has been preserved from the time of this empress - under Nicholas I, the interiors were thoroughly rebuilt. The preferences and tastes of Catherine’s brilliant era are evidenced only by
- the magnificent Loggias of Raphael, created from exact copies that arrived from the Papal Palace in the Vatican;
- and the luxurious Great Palace Church, exactly recreated by Stasov after the fire of 1837.
A special building for the Loggias along the Winter Canal was created by Giacomo Quarenghi.
Elizabeth moved into her new winter residence long before finishing was completed. But her heir, Emperor Peter II, took the building into operation. Settled in new apartments in April 1762.
The enfilade of state halls occupied the entire length of the northern, Nevsky façade of the palace. And in the northeastern risalit there is the Ambassadorial or Jordanian staircase. Opposite her on the Neva at Epiphany, according to tradition, an ice hole was cut in which the water was blessed.
Empress Catherine II did not really like the Winter Palace, like her predecessor. Rastrelli was immediately dismissed from work, and the work was entrusted to the architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin-Delamote. In 1764-1775, he, in collaboration with Yuri Matveyevich Felten, created the Small Hermitage.
In which Catherine hosted private evenings and stored art collections. The Hanging Garden was built for the empress to take walks.
The luxurious Pavilion Hall at the end of the building facing the Neva was created later, in the mid-19th century, according to the design of Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider. Today it houses the famous peacock clock and a unique ancient Roman mosaic.
From Paul to Nicholas II
Paul I was forced to live in the Winter Palace while his own residence, Mikhailovsky Castle, was being built. But the two subsequent emperors: Alexander I and Nicholas I, lived mainly here.
The first one loved to travel and therefore did not see much difference where he lived. The second literally personified himself with the power of Russia. And he could not imagine living in any other, smaller palace. Most of the surviving ceremonial and residential interiors date back to the reign of Nicholas I.
In the first third of the 19th century, according to the design of the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi, a Military Gallery was created in memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War, and a number of other premises.
Fire of 1837 and restoration
By the way, it was under Nicholas I, in 1837, that a grandiose fire occurred in the Winter Palace. After which the residence was restored literally from scratch. The tragic incident happened shortly before Christmas, on the evening of December 17 (29 new style). The cause is believed to have been a fire in the chimney.
During the restoration, construction solutions that were innovative for that time were used. In particular, iron beams in the ceilings, and new chimney systems. And perhaps that is why the palace remained unchanged after the renovation - the ceremonial interiors turned out to be too luxurious...
The restoration work was led by: Vasily Petrovich Stasov and Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov. By the way, the brother of the famous painter who wrote the epic “The Last Day of Pompeii”. Over 8 thousand people worked at the construction site every day.
Most of the halls received a different decoration in the mature Russian Empire style. The interiors are much more luxurious than before.
Under Alexander II, the residential halls of the Winter Palace were thoroughly remodeled, decorating them according to the fashion of that time.
The next two kings chose not to live here. Alexander III and his family left the city for security reasons. And when he left the Great Gatchina Palace, he stopped at Anichkov on Nevsky Prospekt.
His eldest son, Nicholas II, mainly used the Winter Palace for luxurious balls. Although on the second floor of the western enfilade the personal apartments of the last emperor have also been preserved.
Foreign sovereigns who visited St. Petersburg usually lived here as if in a hotel. Entire suites of halls were dedicated to the needs of the next guest. The grand dukes also lived in the imperial residence - there was enough space for everyone.
Winter Palace: halls
The interiors were often rebuilt in accordance with the wishes of the new kings, but the main halls, the main purpose of which was to show off foreign sovereigns and envoys, as well as their own subjects, remained unchanged.
The Jordanian staircase, recreated on the site of Ambassador Rastrelli, received a luxurious design: a marble balustrade, giant double columns of Serdobol granite on the second floor, a picturesque “Olympus” lampshade with an area of 200 m2 on the ceiling by the Italian painter Gasparo Diziani...
Neva parade enfilade
It begins with the Nikolaevsky antechamber, followed by the stately and austere Great Nikolaevsky Hall. This is the largest room in the palace, its area is 1103 m2! Today the premises are used mainly for exhibitions.
Behind Nikolaevsky are the Concert Hall and (with windows on the Neva) the famous Malachite Living Room. The interior, decorated with 125 pounds of Ural malachite, was created by the architect Alexander Bryullov, who once opened the personal suite of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I.
Alexandra Feodorovna, the bride of Nicholas II, was also dressed here for her wedding. Festive family breakfasts were also held here before the family moved to the Alexander Palace.
The following rooms were subsequently used as living rooms by Nicholas II - the apartments of the last emperor were located on the second floor opposite the Admiralty building.
Eastern enfilade
The main premises (from the Jordan Stairs perpendicular to the Neva) are opened by the Field Marshal's Hall, created before the fire of 1837 according to the design of Auguste Montferrand (the author of St. Isaac's Cathedral). It is decorated with portraits of great Russian commanders: Suvorov, Rumyantsev, Kutuzov.
Next comes the Petrovsky or Small Throne Hall, and behind it the majestic Armorial Hall, created by Stasov in 1837. On the left are: the Military Gallery of 1812 and the luxurious St. George or Great Throne Hall, all lined with Carrara marble.
Practical information
Address: Russia, St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaya embankment 32
Opening hours: 10:30 - 18:00: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday; 10.30-21.00: Wednesday, Friday. Monday - day off
Ticket prices: 600 rubles - adults (400 - for citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus), children under 18 years old, students and pensioners of the Russian Federation are admitted for free!
Official website: www.hermitagemuseum.org
You can get to the Winter Palace on foot from the Admiralteyskaya or Nevsky Prospekt metro stations: 5-10 minutes: look.
