Anteroom to the Iron Staircase
This is a small room measuring approximately 11 square meters
with one window looking out on the palace square. In 1768, the
room was the dressing room of Empress Elizabeth and was broken
down into one room with one window, and another with two windows.
During the 1770s, the room with one window was reduced in size
during installation of the wooden staircase, and decorated in
the same style as that of the Formal Enfilade of the Catherine
Palace. In 1817, the wooden staircase was replaced with an iron
one. The small room resulting from this remodelling was called
the "room leading to the iron staircase." The room's
furnishings were lost during World War II, but the interior was
completely recreated according to plans by the architect Alexander
Kedrinsky. The walls were covered in white damask enclosed in
gilded, carved frames, and to the left of the window hangs a sconce
of gilded, carved wood holding 11 candles. A false window with
mirrored glass hangs across from the window. The interior decor
is completed with a landscape by an unknown 18th-century artist
and two chairs with an inlaid design of 18th-century Dutch design.
This is the last room in the Formal Enfilade of the Catherine
Palace designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli between 1752
and 1756.
