The Suite of State Rooms in the Winter Palace

The Suite of State Rooms in the Winter Palace

Starting near the Jordan Staircase, the Suite of state rooms in the Winter Palace leads into the St George Hall (the Large Throne Hall) and the Big Church. The halls, which have preserved their original decoration, offer a fascinating insight into nineteenth century palace interiors.

The Great Suite of rooms of the Winter Palace starts near the Jordan Staircase and leads into the St George Hall (the Large Throne Hall). The Suite starts from the Fieldmarshals’ Room. Adjacent to it is the Memorial Room of Peter the Great. Further on is the Armorial Hall, the second in size palace interior. From the Armorial Hall one may walk into the War Gallery created as a monument to the military glory of Russia, which won the war against the Napoleon army. The doors in the central part of the War Gallery open into the St George Hall, the former venue for the imperial accession ceremonies. Just beyond the War Gallery, as one approaches the Big Church of the Winter Palace, is a small Antechurch Hall. Next to it is the Picket Hall with the adjacent Alexander Hall named so in honour of Emperor Alexander I.

The principal or Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg is so called because on the Feast of the Epiphany the Tsar descended this imperial staircase in state for the ceremony of the "Blessing of the Waters" of the Neva River, a celebration of Christ's baptism in the Jordan River. The staircase is one of the few parts of the palace retaining the original 18th-century style. The massive grey granite columns, however, were added in the mid 19th century.

The staircase was badly damaged by a fire that swept the palace in 1837, but Nicholas I ordered the architect in charge of reconstruction, Vasily Stasov, to restore the staircase using Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli's original plans. Stasov made two small changes: he replaced the original gilt bronze handrails with white marble and the original pink columns with gray granite.

The stair hall, which has an 18th-century ceiling depicting the Gods at Olympus, is decorated with alabaster statues of Wisdom and Justice by Mikhail Terebenev (1795-1866); Grandeur and Opulence by Alexander Ustinov (1796-1868); Fidelity and Equity by Ivan Leppe; and Mercury and Mars by Apollon Manyulov. At the centre of the first landing is an anonymous 18th-century marble sculpture, Allegory of the State.^[3]

During state receptions and functions the Jordan Staircase was a focal point for arriving guests. After entering the palace through the Ambassadors' entrance, in the central courtyard, they would pass through the colonnaded ground floor Jordan Hall before ascending the staircase to the state apartments. Following a ball at the Winter Palace in 1902, The Duchess of Sutherland wrote: "The stairs of the palace were guarded by cossacks, with hundreds of footmen in scarlet liveries, I have never in my life seen so brilliant a sight—the light, the uniforms, the enormous rooms, the crowd, the music, making a spectacle that was almost Barbaric."

Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.

The Emblem (Armorial) Hall. (designed in 1837 by Stasov) Received its name from the plagues fixed on the numerous chandeliers and bearing the coat-of-arms of the provinces of Russia. The combination of the white columns and walls with gold is a typical feature of the Empire style. The hall is used for temporary exhibitions. The rooms of the palace are decorated with huge vases (urn) and bowls of semi-precious stones (jasper, porphyry, lapis, malachite) made in Russia in the 19-th century by 3 lapidary (stone-grinding)Factories.

The Gallery of 1812. (built by the architect Rossi in 1826) commemorates the victory of the Russian army over Napoleon. The gallery comprises 332 portraits of the Russian generals who participated in the campaign of 1812. They were painted by the English artist George Dawe and two Russian painters: Polyakov and Yolike. Most of the portraits were painted from life.

In case the general was killed at the war and there existed no representation of him (neither drawings of the general or miniatures which might serve as a model) then the portrait was upholsted with dark green silk, the name of the general being written underneath. This fact accounts for some hollow frames in the gallery.

Three huge mounted portraits, that of Alexander I and his allies – Franz I, of Austria and Friedrich- Wilhelm of Prussia were painted in the thirties of the 19-th century by Kruger and Craft.

After the October revolution the gallery was supplemented with four Portraits of Russian soldiers painted at the same time as the rest of the portraits in the gallery.

The most interesting portraits are those of the Field Marshal Kutuzov and his companions –in-arms Bagration, Barclay de Tolli, Ermolov, Zavydov, Kulnev and others.

The Saint George Hall or the Large throne room. (was designed by Stasov in 1842). It is the one of the most remarkable rooms of the Winter Palace covering an area of 800 square meters. It is decorated in two materials only, white carrara marble and gilded bronze. This was the palace were the official receptions of the tsar were held. The throne chair used to stand in this room (which is now on show in the small throne room). Above the throne chair is the bas-relief representing St. George (St. George was in the coat-of-arms of Russia empire), hence the name of the room.

The parquet floor, which is made from sixteen different kinds of valuable wood, mirrors exactly the bronze ceiling design.

The Picket Hall which is situated at the end of the Suite of State Rooms was designed on the place of the staircase and two small rooms. It was the only case when the architect did not have to follow the design of the Winter Palace before the fire of 1837. The Picket hall was designed by the architect Vladimir Stasov for the changing of the guard – a picket, which gave the name to the hall. The hall is devoted to the history of the Russian Army.

The Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, was created following the fire of 1837 by Alexander Briullov. The room commemorates the reign of Emperor Alexander I and the Napoleonic Wars.

Decorated in an unusual Gothicised version of classicism, the walls contain twenty-four medallions commemorating Russia's victory over the French, created by the sculptor Count Fyodor Tolstoy.

The Great Church was built in 1753-1762 simultaneously with the construction of the Winter Palace designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The Palace Cathedral was made in the style of pompous Elizabethan Baroque. The church was consecrated on 12 July1763, by Archbishop Gavriil of St. Petersburg in the name of the miraculous image of the Saviour.

In 1837, the church lost its original form due to a fire. In 1838-1839, it was restored according to the design of the architect V.P. Stasov who tried to return to the original form.
For many years this church was the home church of the Imperial family. Since the palace celebrations started with religious services, many important figures of the Russian culture attended this church. Since 1917, it has been used as museum premises.

The interiors of the Great Church of the Winter Palace are adorned with gilded decor and plafond paintings: four sails with the images of evangelists cover the dome space; a large plafond in the Refectory depicts the biblical “Resurrection of Christ”. Initially, all of them were painted by Francesco Fontebasso, an Italian painter, but his works were destroyed by fire in 1837, then the sails were restored by F.A. Bruni and the plafond – by P.V. Basin.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04