Entrance to the Great Peterhof Palace. Peterhof Grand Palace Petrodvorets inside
- the main architectural dominant of Peterhof, one of the most remarkable suburbs of St. Petersburg. Perched on a hilltop above the impressive Grand Cascade, the festive yellow-and-white building and the Church of Peter and Paul, shining with its five golden domes, look extremely impressive. And on a sunny day they literally dazzle with their luxury!
The ceremonial imperial residence on the shores of the Gulf of Finland was designed in the early Elizabethan Baroque style. It is distinguished by a precise, very elegant, but at the same time devoid of overload with details style.
Short description
The Grand Palace in Peterhof is the creation (1745-1755) of the Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The same thing that the Winter and Catherine Palaces in Tsarskoe Selo gave to St. Petersburg.
Luxurious, although laconic - everything is in its place and nothing superfluous - the building, which visitors can see today, arose on the site of the modest residence of Tsar Peter I. Built by Braunstein, Leblon and Michetti in 1714-1725. And during the time of Elizabeth Petrovna, it obviously did not correspond in any way to the status of the Russian Empire. Claiming a leading role in Europe and worthy of it!
The Palace of Versailles was chosen as a role model. But Rastrelli’s genius showed itself in full - there are no similarities even in the details. The only thing that can be compared is the grandeur of the concept and execution.
The main facade is northern. It faces the sea and is 268 meters long (including the Church and Armorial wings). The southern façade of the Grand Palace is noticeably more modest. It is also designed in the Elizabethan Baroque style, but it looks homely and cozy, in harmony with the Upper Park.
Visitors get inside through the gates of the Upper Park. The striking contrast between the calm appearance of the southern façade and the majestic one of the northern one... is truly stunning! Just now there was a green park, fountains were gently murmuring, (rather modest) statues stood motionless, the façade of the palace was gently yellowing, and the finely drawn windows were white. And suddenly!
Information
Lomonosovsky district, Nizino village,Central street, building 1
The main architectural structure of Peterhof is the Grand Palace. It is located on the edge of a natural terrace and is the connecting center of two parks - Lower and Upper. Its main façade faces the sea, from where the main entrance to the residence was located during the time of Peter I. The palace building is stretched along the hillside. The clear lines of the facade divide it into separate parts: the central one, consisting of three floors; glazed galleries and two wings - the western one, crowned with the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, and the eastern one, church.
The central building of the palace is completed with a silver-gray roof, which has a complex configuration and significantly increases the height, enhancing the impression of the building's splendor. Its deeply dissected silhouette emerges especially impressively against the sky if you look at the palace from below, from the sea. The roof is crowned with a gilded vase supported by figures of geniuses.
Bright galleries with large windows and open terraces with elegant balustrades emphasize the summer character of the building.
The shining gold heads of the domes with giant garlands on them echo the design of the Grand Cascade and the golden domes of the marble colonnades along the canal. All this gives the building extraordinary splendor.
White pilasters against the background of lingonberry-colored walls, figured platbands, triangular and semicircular pediments decorate the facade of the building. In the central pediment there is a shield depicted, on which, framed by military armor, appear the relief monograms of Peter I. Above the windows of the second floor there are various cartouches - stucco decorations in the form of a shield framed by curls. The façade of the church wing is decorated with heads of angels. In the center of the facade of the main building there is a small balcony with an openwork metal lattice, the pattern of which contains the monograms of Peter I and Empress Elizabeth. Finely glazed windows and rustication on the walls of the lower floor make the palace similar to other monuments of that era.
Great Peterhof Palace (German) der Palast von Peterhof , fr. le Grand Palais de Peterhof ) - the main building of the Peterhof palace and park ensemble in the city of Peterhof on the southern bank Gulf of Finland
, 29 km from St. Petersburg.
History of creation Initially a rather modest royal palace, built in the style"Peter's Baroque" in 1714-1725 according to the project, I. Braunstein J.-B. Leblona , and then N. Michetti , was rebuilt (1745-1755) by Elizabeth according to the model of Versailles (architect.), - in the so-called mature Baroque style. The length of the facade facing the sea is 268 m. It is part of the State Artistic and Architectural Palace and Park Museum-Reserve "Peterhof".
Halls of the palace
The view of the façade of the Grand Palace from the Upper or Lower Parks is impressive, but the palace itself is quite narrow and not as large as it looks. Counts approx. 30 halls, including richly decorated state rooms, plastered to resemble marble, with painted ceilings, inlaid parquet and gilded walls.
Main staircase
The main entrance is located in the western wing of the palace. This solution allowed B. F. Rastrelli unfold a suite of state halls strung on an axis along the facade (this principle was most fully realized by the architect in the next large palace in time of creation - Ekaterininsky).
The square hall with a two-story staircase is one of the most spectacular interiors of the palace, distinguished by ceremonial and luxurious decoration. In it, Rastrelli achieved the maximum synthesis of arts, using almost all possible means of decoration: oil painting of the ceiling, tempera painting of walls, stucco, wood carving, forged metal. The interior of the staircase contains a variety of sculptural forms: bas-reliefs, cartouches, statues, rocailles, vases. But the main decorative element, traditional for Rastrelli’s interiors, is gilded wood carving. The work dates back to 1751; led a team of Russian craftsmen Joseph Stahlmeer. The lower part of the staircase is decorated with carved caryatids, recreated in the post-war years based on models by sculptors G. Mikhailova and E. Maslennikov. The most noticeable sculptures of the upper part are allegorical images of the seasons that decorate the upper landing of the stairs. Spring Summer(on the railing) Autumn And Winter(placed in niches opposite the first ones) are presented in the form of young girls. Repetitions of the sculptures “Spring”, “Summer” and “Autumn” were also performed by G. Mikhailova and E. Maslennikov. The sculpture “Winter” was evacuated during the Great Patriotic War and preserved. Door portal leading to Dance hall(on the railing) , designed in the form of a triumphal arch. The monumental desudéporte is decorated with two carved figures"Loyalty" "Justice".
. The portal was recreated based on models S. Lebedeva.. The painted figures of Apollo, Diana and Flora are inscribed in illusory niches; the deceptive effect emphasizes the airiness and lightness of the interior (work completed Antonio Perezinotti with assistants). This is also served by eight large two-tier windows, which let in an abundance of light onto the staircase. In the upper tiers there are mirrored trompe l’oeil windows characteristic of the Baroque, designed to enhance the feeling of spaciousness due to lighting effects.
The staircase ceiling is decorated with a lampshade "Allegory of Spring" work Bartolomeo Tarsia(1751). From the time of its creation, the pictorial work was perceived as a glorification of Elizabeth Petrovna and her reign, marked by the flourishing of the arts, sciences and crafts. The general symbolism of the interior was interpreted in the same way: it is revealed as an allegory of the prosperity of the Russian state and its prosperity under the auspices of the arts. The ceiling was recreated by L. Lyubimov, V. Nikiforov, V. Korban. The majestic and solemn mood of the main staircase was continued in the Ballroom.
Winter
The Dance (or Merchant) Hall, with an area of about 270 square meters, occupies the entire western wing of the palace. In terms of decorative decoration, the interior of the palace is the most magnificent, designed in a special festive spirit. It was created in 1751-1752 and completely preserved Rastrelli’s original plan. A special feature of the Dance Hall is the false mirror windows occupying the main space of the blank western and northern walls. On the opposite walls there are real windows, large, in two tiers. The spaces between the windows, both real and fake, are occupied by huge mirrors. The abundance of mirrors creates the effect of multiplied space.The decoration is dominated by gilded wood carvings. In the spaces between the windows, above the mirrors, there are tondos on the themes of Virgil’s “Aeneid” and Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” (works Giuseppe Valeriani; there are currently four genuine ones; the remaining twelve are copies recreated to replace those lost during the Great Patriotic War). The arches, creating a smooth transition from the walls to the ceiling, are decorated with picturesque medallions and molded brackets. Ceiling lamp "Apollo on Parnassus"
(Bartolomeo Tarsia, 1751), created specifically for the hall, occupies the entire vault. The ornamental pattern of inlaid parquet made of maple, walnut, light and dark oak complements the interior.
Blue reception Small room connected to(on the railing) Dancing Chesme halls ; also has access through glass doors to a gallery connecting the main part of the palace withG . It got its name from the decoration of the walls: they are covered with blue silk damask. The auxiliary room served as a kind of office; secretaries were constantly stationed here, as well as chamber-fouriers, who wrote down the palace chronicle in special journals (they recorded the arrival or departure of important persons, couriers, as well as the delivery of furnishings, etc.). The interior was created by B.F. Rastrelli and was not subsequently modified. The current exhibition of the museum in the Blue Reception features furniture from the mid-19th century in the style "second baroque", bronzes and vases from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the Empire style. The walls are decorated with paintings; one of them is brushes I.K. Aivazovsky with Peterhof landscape ( "View of the Grand Palace and the Grand Cascade"). The reception room is distinguished by the multiplicity of perspectives, characteristic of the closing room of the baroque layout: from the windows you can see Upper Garden (on the railing) Lower Park , through the glass doors - the gallery in the “Building under the coat of arms”.
Chesme Hall
Memorial Hall of the Great Peterhof Palace; the most famous of all the halls of the structure. Its name is in memory of Battle of Chesma June 25-26(July 6-7, new style) 1770 Aegean Sea, during which the Russian fleet won a decisive victory during Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. Catherine II, having received news of the destruction of the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Chesme, decided to immortalize the glorious event in a series of paintings. Also in 1770, a German artist Jacob Philipp Hackert, who had a reputation as a masterful landscape painter, received an order to create the cycle. The fleet was still on the “archipelago voyage” (ended in 1774) when work on the paintings began. Hackert lived and worked in Italy at that time; In order for the artist to be able to reliably depict the explosion and fire on the ship, on the roadstead of Livorno in 1771, the command of the Russian fleet, in the presence of a crowd of thousands of onlookers, blew up and sunk an old 60-gun frigate "St. Varvara". The episode was needed to work on some paintings, including the most famous painting in the series "The burning of the Turkish fleet on the night of June 26, 1770". 6 of the 12 paintings in the series are directly dedicated to the Battle of Chesma. Other canvases reflect subsequent battles with the remnants of the Turkish fleet and various stages of the many-year campaign of the Russian squadron under the command of G. A. Spiridov and A. G. Orlov. The paintings were created on the basis of documentary descriptions and diagrams of direct participants in the hostilities.
In 1773, the artist completed work on the canvases; the place for them was determined in advance; it became the Antechamber of the Peterhof Palace. Supervised the reconstruction of the hall Yu. M. Felten. From the original Rastrelli interior, only the parquet flooring, the mirror in the walls and the lampshade by L. Werner were left "Ceres presenting ears of grain to Triptolemus". Felten, creating the interior in a classicist vein, used minimal decorative design: only a combination of white and light yellow walls, stucco ornaments of a strict design on the ceiling arch and bas-reliefs placed in desudéportes. One of them, "Turkish trophies" directly related to the theme of the Battle of Chesme; others develop nautical and heroic themes. In 1779, large canvases (each measuring approximately 3.2 x 2.2 m) took their current place. The purpose of the hall, despite the radical alteration, has not changed; as before, courtiers, the highest dignitaries of the empire, and foreign envoys gathered here before the start of the palace ceremony.
During the Great Patriotic War, the interior was completely destroyed. The paintings were evacuated, but the lampshade could not be dismantled in a hurry, and it burned down. During the restoration, they found a replacement for it, the work of Augustin Tervesten "Sacrifice of Iphigenia" (1690). Thematically, it fits even more than before into the interior of the Chesme Hall, since it was created on a plot from the history of the Trojan War, which unfolded on the shores of the Aegean Sea.
The appearance of the memorial hall in Peterhof is not accidental: Peter I built the imperial naval residence as a monument to Russia’s victories in Northern War; The theme of glorifying Russian weapons was developed in the Chesme Hall. It did not become the only monument to the glorious victory: in the place where Catherine received the news of the burning of the Turkish fleet, the Chesma Church was erected, the Chesma Palace was built, the Chesma Column was built in the park of Tsarskoe Selo, and the Chesma Obelisk was built in Gatchina; The Chesme Gallery was also subsequently built in the Gatchina Palace. The topic of the memorable battle was later addressed by I.K. Aivazovsky; prototype of his painting"Chesme fight" served as work
J. F. Gackert.
Restored in 1969.
The largest (330 sq. m.) and most ceremonial hall of the palace. Initially, the hall was called the Great Hall and did not have a clearly defined purpose. The interior was created by Yu. M. Felten in 1777-1778. From the previous Baroque interior, designed by F.B. Rastrelli, only parquet remained. The interior, interpreted in the style of classicism, but in a baroque volume, is distinguished by restrained colors with a dominance of white and monumental stucco decoration: large stucco ornaments of acanthus leaves on the pads, oak and laurel leaves (symbols of perseverance and glory), accentuating the ceiling; wreaths and garlands are made in emphasized volume, protruding from the planes to significant distances, and sometimes even breaking away from them.
The main element of decorating the hall is painting; it is given the most significant places in the interior. The western end wall is almost entirely occupied by four canvases of work R. Petona, depicting episodes of the Battle of Chesma, thereby forming a plot connection with the previous hall. The English painter Richard Peton, having learned about the battle, himself proposed to the Russian envoy in London A. S. Musin-Pushkin write several paintings on this topic. His wish was received favorably, and in 1772 four paintings arrived in St. Petersburg. At first they were located in the Winter Palace; then, during the creation of the Throne Hall, they were transported to Peterhof. Richard Peton, unlike Jacob Hackert, did not have accurate information about the deployment of ships, so the paintings only approximately interpret the events of the battle. Nevertheless, they were performed at a high professional level and have undoubted artistic merit. Nearby, above the door portals, in a stucco frame, there are ceremonial portraits of Peter I and Catherine I; on the opposite wall, portraits are located symmetrically with them Anna Ioannovna
and Elizaveta Petrovna (all created by G. Buchholz); 12 portraits of relatives of Peter I are placed in the piers between the windows of the second tier. The central place of the eastern wall is occupied by an equestrian portrait of Catherine II, the largest painting in the hall. The picture called "Procession to Peterhof" , created in 1762 by V. Eriksen. Catherine is depicted in a colonel's uniform riding on his favorite horse Diamond. The canvas records the historical moment of the palace coup on June 28, 1762, when Catherine, who had just been proclaimed empress, leads the march of the guard from the capital to Peterhof to finally remove her husband Peter III from power. Contemporaries noted that this was the most similar portrait of the empress. This painting has an eventful history. After the death of Catherine, instead of the work of V. Eriksen, the hall was decorated with a tapestry “Peter I saves fishermen in Lake Ladoga” (the hall was named Petrovsky); the picture moved to the Peterhof English Palace. In 1917, along with other valuables English Palace she was evacuated to Moscow; was in for some time Armory Chamber , then - in Tretyakov Gallery
. Only in 1969, during the restoration of the hall, the portrait returned to its historical place. The plaster bas-reliefs that complement the interior echo the paintings. On either side of"Processions to Peterhof" allegorical mellallions are locatedI. P. Prokofieva(on the railing) "Truth and Virtue""Justice and Security" (both created in the 70s of the 18th century); right above them are bas-reliefs on historical subjects“The return of Prince Svyatoslav from the Danube after the victory over the Pechenegs” (1769; author A. M. Ivanov ) And“The baptism of Princess Olga in Constantinople under the name of Helena” (1773; works M. I. Kozlovsky , who later created the sculpture of the fountain "Samson tearing the lion's mouth"
). These bas-reliefs were recreated in the post-war years by G. Mikhailova and E. Maslennikov. Near the equestrian portrait of Catherine there is a throne chair made in Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century. According to legend, the throne was made to order A. D. Menshikova
for his palace in St. Petersburg to receive a frequent guest, Peter I. The oak throne is gilded, upholstered in red velvet, and on the back is an embroidered double-headed eagle. The footstool is an authentic item from the furnishings of the Peterhof Palace; made in the middle of the 18th century.
The entire picturesque decor of the hall, complemented by bas-reliefs, has a pronounced political motive. The throne room was created and decorated with the aim of clearly demonstrating the right of Catherine II to reign, her spiritual succession as the successor of the work of Peter I. The hall also expresses the theme of glorifying the deeds of Catherine the Empress, both directly (paintings by R. Peton) and allegorically. The theme of the recently completed Russian-Turkish war also occupies an important place in the design: in addition to the works of R. Peton, the bas-reliefs of A. M. Ivanov and M. I. Kozlovsky refer to it through historical parallels.
The hall was used for official ceremonies and events;
but also, on special occasions, balls and gala dinners were held here.
The hall was restored in 1969
Audience hall A relatively small hall among the ceremonial rooms of the palace, the interior of which was designed by B. F. Rastrelli. The original plan for the construction of the palace suggested the existence of two small rooms on the site of the hall, with a light courtyard between them, but this plan of the architect was rejected. He had to try to fit the Audience Hall into the same dimensions. The difficulty was that the space for the room was squeezed Great (Throne) Hall on the one hand, and - with another; and large two-light windows should have faced both sides of the palace. The result was a narrow and high space, stretched across the palace. The architect demonstrated extraordinary compositional skill, successfully coping with the decoration of a complex space. Rastrelli seemed to open the narrow hall upward, using a characteristic technique of installing false mirror windows in the second tier of longitudinal walls (five on each side). The ceiling pad, unlike other Rastrelli palace interiors, is created to be emphatically voluminous, attracting attention, with a clear gilded decor imitating a trellis mesh. Another means of highlighting the vertical volume of the hall were pilasters in the corners and on the longitudinal walls, ending with expressive carved capitals (the architect rarely used the order in the interiors of the palace).
Mirrors, a traditional baroque design element, are fully used in the lower tier of the hall. A huge mirror in the center above the fireplace and opposite it, slightly smaller mirrors to the right and left on the longitudinal walls, and two more in the window walls - such a multitude of illusory perspectives contributes to the visual expansion of space. The main decorative element is traditional for Rastrelli - gilded wood carvings. The ornaments of mirror frames are distinguished by a particularly complex and whimsical pattern. An interesting detail of the interior are the female busts crowning the ornament around the windows; The motif is repeated in the form of female heads above the fake windows of the second tier. It is interesting that since the time of Rastrelli the hall has never been altered until 1941 The vault is decorated with the only painting in the Audience Hall: a plafond depicting the final episode of the poem Torquato Tasso"Jerusalem Liberated" . The lampshade was painted in 1754 P. Ballarini
especially for the Audience Camera (the Italian artist did not work in Russia for long and did not create anything else here). The pictorial work differs from the rest of the palace lampshades in its unusual choice of theme: instead of conventional allegories, a heroic love poem was chosen. In 1941, the lampshade was destroyed in a palace fire; now in its place is a copy recreated by L. Lyubimov and V. Nikiforov with the participation of A. Soldatkov in 1979. The hall was used for small state receptions. In the middle of the 19th century, when it became the practice to set tables in all the state rooms of the palace for state dinners, a place was reserved for ladies of state; the hall received its second name - .
State ladies'
The original decor of the Dining Room, made in the traditional manner for B.F. Rastrelli, did not last long. In 1774-1775, Yu. M. Felten significantly remodeled the hall, and due to the nature of the remodeling it received its current name. The white dining room makes an expressive contrast to the previous interior: after the abundance of glitter of gilding and the play of mirrors - almost complete monochrome and matte texture. The interior is designed in the strict canons of classicism, and in the contrast of the two adjacent rooms, the differences between the two stylistic approaches can be easily seen. There is no arch in the hall; the ceiling is emphasized by a monumental cornice, which, however, does not touch the plane of the ceiling; carved gilded wood panels gave way to plaster stucco; desudéportes Lost lightness and strengthened with sandriks. Horizontal rods, cornices, sandriks create a compositionally closed interior. In contrast to the baroque desire to open up space with perspectives from windows or through mirror effects, the classicist approach is characterized by a desire for a balanced, self-sufficient, harmoniously organized and internally complete space, which was fully realized in Felten’s interior.
The white dining room also stands out from the rest of the palace halls due to the lack of painting. The function of the main decorative design is carried out by wall bas-reliefs, which in other interiors played only a supporting role. All stucco panels were made by Russian sculptors. The subjects of the bas-reliefs are allegories of abundance (cupids supporting baskets of fruits and flowers), compositions of hunting trophies, and in the upper tier - compositions of musical instruments. Medallions of work are also placed in the walls of the upper tier F. G. Gordeeva on a mythological story about Dionysus(on the railing) Ariadne. The bas-reliefs were recreated in the post-war years according to models by L. Shvetskaya, G. Mikhailova, E. Maslennikov.
The modern exposition of the hall displays "Wedgwood service" (or Husk service). Dishes made of earthenware of an unusual cream shade with a subtle floral pattern of lilac-lilac color are made at the factory "Etruria" V Staffordshire J. Wedgwood. This is one of the early works of the English ceramist, who later became world famous. Catherine II ordered the service in 1768; in 1779 it was received in full and included about 1,500 items. Not all of the items on display were made at Wedgwood's factory; over time, the dishes broke and were partially replenished due to copies created in Russian. Currently, a set of 30 couverts consisting of 196 items is on display in the hall. Court lunches or dinners in the 18th-19th centuries were of a ceremonial nature and lasted several hours; the menu included several changes; To prevent the dishes from getting cold during conversations, the plates were placed on “water tanks” filled with boiling water. Formal lunches and dinners were served by a staff of up to 500 people, including cooks, footmen, coffee men, etc.
The White Dining Room has elegant round stoves made of white glazed tiles made in Russia. Initially they were made according to the sketches of Yu. Felten. Broken during the war, the stoves were restored in the post-war years by V. Zhigunov, A. Povarov, V. Pavlushin
The white dining room closes the enfilade of the large state rooms of the palace. Its location in the layout draws the line between official halls and private palace chambers.
Two small rooms adjoin the White Dining Room - Pantry(the name stuck in the middle of the 19th century; before that, one of them was called Warmer ). Utility rooms were used for preparing dishes for serving and storing dishes; were furnished with oak tables and china cabinets. Nowadays, paintings from the museum’s collection are displayed in one of the Refreshments. A. Sanders
, completed in 1748.
Chinese cabinets The most exotic rooms in the palace are without a doubt (on the railing) West Eastern Chinese cabinets . They are located symmetrically relative to the central axis of the palace, framing Picture hall ..
The decorative decoration was based on Chinese lacquer screens and Chinese lacquer miniatures brought to Russia under Peter I. The thickness of the screen doors made it possible to saw them lengthwise in order to use both sides of the door for decoration. In each office, the architect placed five decorative panels (currently only two are original; the remaining eight are recreated to replace those lost during the war). The painting, done on a black background, is typical of Chinese fine art of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. Subjects include traditional rural scenes and island landscapes. Three panels stand out for their thematic originality: they depict the stages of silk production, the march of the military and the rice harvest. However, the area of the Chinese panels was not enough to create a harmonious interior, and then Vallin-Delamot decided to use frame extensions, which were drawn by Russian masters of lacquer miniatures based on his sketches. The subtle styling was executed flawlessly. The subjects were landscape motifs, images of animals, flowers, birds; The designs on the inserts are not repeated. The size of the largest composite panel is 4.5 x 2.3 m.
Silk damask was chosen as a background for the lacquer panels; golden tones - for the Western cabinet and raspberry-red - for the Eastern one. The doors were also decorated with lacquer painting in the Chinese style. The architect conceived the doorways to be of an unusual pentagonal shape; The desks of the Western Cabinet are decorated with a stylized solar disk at the top of the pentagon and dynamic gilded figures of dragons on the sides, which stretch their paws towards the sun.
Ornamental lampshades, painted using the varnish technique on polished plaster, are reminiscent of underglaze painting on porcelain (the unusually large tiles on the stoves in the offices were made using the underglaze painting technique). The ceiling is decorated with Chinese-style lanterns made of painted glass. They appeared here in the 1840s, the last addition made to the interiors. The parquet flooring of the offices - with the most intricate and complex pattern among the palace halls, it is made using the technique marquetry
In the rooms, in accordance with the exquisite stylization, furniture and artistic decoration were selected. Some of the furniture are authentic Chinese objects, lacquer miniatures donated to Catherine II (a table painted with red varnish and rosewood chairs with mother-of-pearl inlay in the Western Cabinet); others are works by European masters in the Chinese spirit. The East Cabinet displays works by English furniture makers of the 18th century decorated with lacquer painting: a desk and chairs, a grandfather clock; in the West - a unique bureau-cylinder made in France in the 1770s. At that time in Europe, especially in France, the production of furniture in the style was well established « chinoiserie", stimulated by the high interest of the aristocracy in Far Eastern exotics and the rarity of original products. While remaining structurally European, this furniture successfully imitated Chinese furniture due to paintings and decorative details.
Many prominent artists worked on richly colored interiors under the supervision of Wallen-Delamot: Antonio Perezinotti, brothers Alexey and Ivan Belsky, A. Trofimov, I. Skorodumov, “master of varnish” Fedor Vlasov.
The modern exhibition of the museum also includes a collection of porcelain products of the 17th-19th centuries, made by Chinese and Japanese masters: dishes, vases, candlesticks, figurines; Cantonese enamel, lacquer painted boxes and cabinets.
The passion for Chinese art, characteristic of the 18th century, in addition to painted silks in sofa has another reflection in Peterhof: in the palace Monplaisir saved "Lacquery chamber" Peter I.
Partridge Living Room
Partridge living room, or Boudoir , opens a suite of rooms in the women's half of the palace. Located in close proximity to the bedroom and Dressing , it was used for the morning pastime of the empresses in their immediate circle. The room is located in the old, Peter the Great part of the palace. Before the redevelopment undertaken by B.F. Rastrelli, in place of the living room there were two small rooms, one of them without windows. Subsequently, Rastrelli's interior was redesigned Yu. M. Felten, which, however, did not change its general character: some gilded ornaments on the walls and doors were left, and an alcove remained, separating the sofa located in the living room from the rest of the room. Felten created a new niche for the sofa, smoothly bending the plane of the walls towards the alcove.
The room owes its name to the exquisite decoration of the walls. Silk pale blue fabric with a silver tint with woven images of partridges inscribed in an ornament of flowers and ears of wheat, created according to sketches Philippe de Lassalle(de la Salle). The Lyon artist enjoyed great fame in the second half of the 18th century: he worked on sketches of upholstery silks for the residences of all European monarchs. The drawing with partridges was specially developed for the Peterhof Palace; was the customer of expensive silk Catherine II. In the 19th century, dilapidated fabric was renewed twice (in 1818 and 1897) in Russian factories in exact accordance with the original. The surviving piece of fabric, woven at the end of the 19th century, was used in the reconstruction of the interior after the war to cover the west wall of the living room and as a sample for making upholstery for other walls. Some of the old fabric is placed on the western wall.
The ceiling of the living room is decorated with an oval lampshade, allegorically depicting Morning driving away Night (by an unknown French artist of the 18th century). Previously, the ceiling was painted with tempera by artists brothers Alexey(on the railing) Ivan Belskiy, but the painting was irretrievably lost during the war.
Four works are on display in the Partridge Lounge J. B. Greuza, including "A Girl Seated at a Table" (1760s). Another notable exhibit in the room is a harp made in London at the end of the 18th century, a branch of the company of a French musical instrument maker Sebastian Erard.
Restored in 1964.
Interesting Facts
Initially the color of the palace was different. The building was dark brown and the roof was dark green
Date of publication or update 08/21/2017
Using materials from the book “The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the Great Peterhof Palace”, State Museum-Reserve “Peterhof”, Bulanaya N.B., IP Verkhov S.I., photography Kulgun A.A., Korolev V.S. , 2011
The court church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul played a special role in the history of the Russian imperial court. In the summer months, when Peterhof turned into a kind of “country capital” of the Russian Empire, this temple became the center of the country’s religious life.
For a century and a half, services were held here on official public holidays - such as namesake days, accessions and coronations of Russian monarchs.
Rituals of baptisms and weddings of younger representatives of the imperial family were performed here, memorial services were served for the deceased Romanovs and, of course, all the traditional Russian Orthodox holidays that fell in the summer months were celebrated. In honor of major events in foreign policy favorable for the Fatherland, as well as anniversaries of military victories, solemn services were held in the Peter and Paul Church. Often young couples were married here and newborns from families of courtiers and high aristocracy were baptized. The august couple often acted as “seated parents” or “recipients from the font.”
The history of this temple began in the spring of 1747, when Empress Elizabeth Petrovna gave the order to rebuild and expand the Peterhof Palace. She entrusts the implementation of the project to Francesco Rastrelli, who was appointed court architect back in 1730 and supervised construction in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities.
By that time, the old Peter's palace had already become a kind of memorial, reminiscent of the creator of the seaside residence - Emperor Peter I, and, at the request of his daughter, had to be kept intact. The architect planned to build a third floor above Peter’s “chambers”, adding two spacious wings on the sides with adjoining one-story galleries, completed with elegant three-story pavilion buildings. It was planned to build a court church in the eastern building.
Iconostasis of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the Great Peterhof Palace.
It was from the temple that it was decided to begin the reconstruction of the palace. In 1747, on April 7, Rastrelli reported: “Her Imperial Majesty... ordered the foundation to be prepared, firstly, for the wing where the church is to be located, but... the foundation should not be laid, since the empress will deign to be there herself during the laying.”
Indeed, the first stone for the foundation of the building was laid in the presence of the Empress on May 30, 1747.
In accordance with the architect's original plan, the palace temple was supposed to have a single-domed completion, but at the insistence of Elizabeth Petrovna, who closely monitored the progress of work, the church dome was crowned with five domes, traditional for Old Russian architecture.
Peterhof. Bird's eye view.
On the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, the Grand Palace dominates the watery triumph of the fountains of the magnificent palace and park ensemble of Peterhof, the architecture of which testifies to the powerful flourishing of the genius of Rastrelli in the mid-18th century.
The current appearance of the complex did not take shape all at once, and several periods can be noted in its formation. The first began in the spring of 1714, when Peter I decided to build the Upper Chambers on the top of a 15-meter coastal ledge in the form of a two-story building with two risalits and a central part highlighted by a pediment. In two years, under the leadership of the architect I.F. Braunstein, the foundations of the layout of the Lower Park and the Upper Garden were laid, the Grand Canal was dug, and the Grand Grotto and the middle part of Monplaisir were erected.
The second stage (from 1716 to 1719) is associated with the name of the French architect J. B. Leblond, who found the already established composition of the ensemble. He strengthened the foundation of the Upper Chambers and built an underground aqueduct to drain groundwater, and remodeled the modest facades and interiors, giving the chambers the appearance of a small ceremonial palace. The architect changed the central part of the building: a vast through lobby with columns and a marble floor appeared in the center of the first floor; in the Italian Salon, the largest room of the palace, the size of doors and windows has increased; There were three main entrances on each façade; the balcony on consoles was enlarged. In 1717, Leblon developed the “Water Plan,” which included a water supply project for the Grand Cascade and an extensive program for decorating the Lower Park and Upper Garden with fountains. After the fire in January 1721, the restoration of the interiors coincided with the beginning of the reconstruction of the chambers according to the drawings of the architect N. Michetti, who supervised all work on the creation of the largest fountain structures of the complex in 1719-1723. Using the basis of the compositional design of the Monplaisir Palace in the project, he added two symmetrical wings to the Upper Chambers, connecting them with the central part of the building with galleries with arcades.
View of the Grand Canal.
In memory of the Battle of Chesme in the Aegean Sea, in which the Russian fleet was victorious and thereby turned the tide of the Russian-Turkish War, Catherine II commissioned the German artist J. F. Hackert to create a series of paintings “The Burning of the Turkish Fleet on the Night of June 26, 1770.” In order for the master to reliably depict the explosion and fire on the ship, the old 60-gun frigate “St. Barbara” was blown up and sunk on the roadstead in Livorno in the presence of a crowd of thousands of onlookers.
These paintings decorated the Chesme Hall of the Grand Palace in Peterhof
Palace from the Gulf of Finland
Window casing
For the first time, Elizaveta Petrovna held a reception in the new Grand Palace of Peterhof on June 15, 1752. The courtiers and guests who attended were delighted with the splendor of the architecture and luxurious interior decoration of the palace
View of the palace church from the Grand Cascade
After the death of Peter I and the move of the imperial court to Moscow in 1726, there was a construction lull in Peterhof that lasted for five years. The return of government institutions to St. Petersburg in 1730 returned Peterhof to the significance of the main country residence, which marked the beginning of new work. In the Upper Garden, five fountains were built according to Rastrelli’s designs with gilded lead sculptures and ornaments made according to the models of the architect’s father. The master installed several trellises of different types, richly decorated with sculpture, in different places of the park. New fountains and various trellis decorations gave the Upper Garden the same ceremonial appearance that the Lower Park already had.
By the 1740s, there was a need to expand the Upper Chambers - the palace of Peter the Great, neither in size nor in architecture, satisfied the requirements and tastes of the Elizabethan court. In December 1745, Elizaveta Petrovna ordered Rastrelli “to make wooden apartments with decent chambers on both sides of the Great Chambers in the galleries.” The project for gallery superstructures he developed was not implemented due to doubts about the author’s drawings. In April 1747, another project was approved and preparations for work began. The Empress wanted to have a country residence for lavish receptions and ceremonies, not inferior in beauty and engineering solutions to the famous Versailles. A typical feature of this ensemble, in which the artistic features that emerged in the architecture of Peter the Great’s time were further developed, was the strictly regular construction of the plan. The entire composition was subordinated to the primacy of the central axis; it was determined by the position of the main palace building.
Trellis - a wooden or metal structure (lattice). It plays the role of a support for climbing plants, provides end-to-end division of space in the garden and park ensemble, the direction of transitions, and also serves as a frame for organizing a whist - a narrow perspective directed towards an outstanding landscape object.
Palace Church
Audience hall.
The palace began to be rebuilt in 1749-1751 in the mature Baroque style with an unprecedented scope and luxury. Architects N. Girard, Y. Dmitriev, I. Kazakov and numerous master builders worked under the leadership of Rastrelli. The renovation of the building began with the dismantling of the stone outbuildings and galleries erected by N. Michetti. The length and height of the structure were increased, making it more monumental and ceremonial. The length of the facade facing the sea was 268 meters (the opposite one is formed from the main volume of the building and two wings perpendicular to it, and therefore is never measured), while the width was not very large. The building had about 30 rooms. The old Peter's chambers were included in the central three-story building of the newly erected Grand Palace. Side wings appeared: the eastern one - “Church” and the western one - “Under the coat of arms”. Each of them, belonging to a single whole, was a cubic volume traditional in Russian architecture with a complexly designed crowning part.
A special feature of the Dance Hall is the mirrored fake windows that occupy the main space of the blank western and northern walls. Many mirrors create the effect of a multiply enlarged space
Blue office.
Rough - designation of the construction stage at which the basic structures of the building are ready and further finishing and decorative design of facades and interiors is possible.
This reflected Rastrelli’s careful study and creative development of artistic traditions and compositional techniques of Russian pre-Petrine architecture. The wings were connected to the central building by one-story galleries, which formed open terraces on the second floor.
From the Upper Garden side, the palace building resembled the configuration of an elongated letter “P”. The composition of the structure clearly distinguished individual interconnected volumes, rhythmically growing towards the center. This gave the building a special plastic expressiveness and majesty. The high figured roof, the completion of the roof in the form of a gilded vase of complex configuration, and especially the gilded domes with various relief decorations played a significant role in the appearance of the palace. The decoration of the facades was distinguished by restraint, although it used all kinds of decorative elements characteristic of Baroque architecture.
By the beginning of 1750, the external decoration of the eastern wing and the palace temple was completely finished, and the western wing and the central building were roughly built. Rastrelli made a grand entrance in the western wing. This solution allowed the architect to unfold a suite of state halls strung on an axis along the facade. At the end of the summer of 1750, the dome of the wing “Under the Coat of Arms” and the central part of the building were covered with iron.
Main staircase.
For the construction of the palace in Peterhof, with which Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was very pleased, Rastrelli did not receive any remuneration.
Rastrelli also completed decorative projects for the premises. It took another five years to implement them. For interior spaces, inlaid parquet flooring, panels, carved decorative details, forged gratings, etc. were prepared according to the master’s drawings.
At the beginning of 1751, Rastrelli implemented a project for the decoration of the palace church, and in January of the following year - a project for “the best decoration of the antechamber with carpentry and goldsmith work” (later called “Chesmesky”). In 1753, he presented sketches for decorating the second antechamber with ornamental carvings and sculpture, in further - the Audience Hall. The decoration of the Audience Hall and the temple was marked by a synthesis of painting and decorative carving. The walls were covered with gilded wooden carvings that covered mirrors, doors and window openings. The picturesque lampshades and paintings, the decoration of the walls and ceilings were in harmony with the colored patterns of the inlaid parquet floors.
Sculptural decoration of the Grand Staircase
In 1755, Rastrelli completed a design for the installation of a lifting table and chair in the Great Palace of the Hermitage.
The master decorated the main (Merchant) staircase with gilded wooden vases and four carved statues - allegories of the seasons; There was a picturesque ceiling above the stairs, and there were ornamental paintings on the walls.
The decoration of the Dance (Merchant) Hall, with an area of about 270 m2, which occupied the entire western wing of the palace, was made in the same manner. This is the most magnificent room of the palace; its interior is designed in a special festive spirit. The hall was created in 1751-1752 and completely preserved Rastrelli’s original plan.
Work on the reconstruction and expansion of the Great Palace was completed in 1755 with the creation of lampshades, installation and gilding of wooden carvings in the Audience Hall. Subsequently, many rooms were remodeled by J. B. Wallen-Delamot, Yu. M. Felten, A. I. Stakenschneider. Nevertheless, a number of interiors until 1941 retained the baroque decoration of the mid-18th century, made according to Rastrelli’s designs. But during the Great Patriotic War they were destroyed.
In 1951, restoration and restoration work began in the palace, which has not been completed to this day.
The Great Palace of Peterhof became the embodiment of the transition period of the master’s work to the high baroque and preparation for a much more significant and integral work of the architect - the Great Catherine Palace of Tsarskoe Selo.