The Butler's Room

This room was one of the service rooms in the Catherine Palace, hence the name. According to plans by Charles Cameron, it was divided by a cross-wise screen into two "foyers," one of which was dark and led to the staircase. The architectural style was of the classical period. The interior of the Butler's Room suffered greatly during the fire in 1820. The interior composition created by the architect Charles Cameron with its double pilasters on the walls and broad frieze with archivolts was reproduced with a few changes by the architect Vasily Stasov. Due to the absence of original drawings of the detail executed by Charles Cameron, the design was modelled after sketches by Vasily Stasov . Since there was nothing to put in the place of the mural, the ceiling was left white. During the 1840s, Vasily Stasov was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas I to remove the butler's screen, and the two "foyers" became one well-lit, spacious room. The basic principle by which the interior had been decorated, with its symmetrical division of the wall space by wooden pilasters with flutes painted to look like marble and united by plaster arches, was preserved. The inlaid floor with its fine geometrical pattern comprised of precious woods (rosewood, amaranth, mahogany and light-coloured wood, oak and maple) went well with the interior's strict classical décor. The inlaid floor from one of the "foyers" was used as the centrepiece. In 1855, in accordance with plans by architect Andrei Shtakenschneider, a painting by Pietro Liberi of the 17th-century Venetian school was mounted in the centre of the ceiling of the Butler's Room. It was framed by gilded arches and stucco ornaments complemented by decorative painted medallions. During World War II the interior of the Butler's Room was destroyed. The carver-restorer A.K. Kochuev and a team of carpenters recreated 18 pilasters based on the surviving pair. The inlaid floor was restored by the parquet restorers A. M. Kvadrin and D.M. Lebedev. The ceiling was once again left white since the sketches by Charles Cameron haven't yet been found. The room was re-opened following restoration in 1959. Today the architectural décor of the Waiters' Room is enhanced by elegant card-tables of inlaid wood from the late 18th century, as well as Russian-made 19th-century Chippendale chairs.