Drawing Room of Alexander I
This room was designed by the architect Bartolomeo Francesco
Rastrelli in 1752 - 1756, and belonged to the Emperor's private
suite. The drawing room stood out among the other interiors of
the Formal Enfilade of the Catherine Palace due to the fact that
its walls were covered in Chinese silk. The remaining decor was
typical for the palace's formal interiors: a ceiling mural, supraportas
of carved gilded wood executed according to a model by the sculptor
Johann Franz Dunker in the mid-18th century, the silk on the walls
and the mirrors hung between the windows, all cased in carved
gilded frames; the Hamburg tile stoves and inlaid floors. After
the fire in 1820, the room was restored according to plans by
the architect Vasily Stasov, the walls were covered in new blue
silk with watercolour designs ordered in China, the wooden gilded
carvings were restored, and the ceiling mural "Flora and
Zephyr" painted by the artist F. Bryullov. During the 1850s,
the composition of stucco and painted ceiling mural was carried
out according to plans by the architect Andrei Stakenschneider.
During World War II, the Chinese silk was lost, and now white
damask takes its place. The ceiling is now occupied by a painting
by F. Bouche entitled "Venus in a Chariot" surrounded
by four inserts entitled "Games of the Cupids" in a
gilded stucco composition using winding plant shoots. The paintings
and objects of applied art preserved during the evacuation have
regained their former place. The walls display portraits painted
by the artist Leon Caravaque during the first half of the 18th
century: Emperor Peter I, Empress Catherine I, their daughters,
Anna Petrovna and Empress Elizabeth, Empress Anna Ivanovna, Emperor
Peter II, and also a portrait of Catherine II, which is a copy
made in the latter half of the 18th century from the original
by J-L. Lampy Père, and a portrait of Emperor Alexander
I by the artist D. Dawe. The card-tables and inlaid wood commode
display Japanese, Chinese and Berlin porcelain from the 18th century.
