The Small White Dining Room
The Small White Dining Room connects with the Picture Hall.
This was the first room in the private suite of Empress Elizabeth,
then later, Empress Catherine II, who redecorated these rooms
for her favourite grandson, Alexander Pavlovich, the future Emperor
Alexander. The dining room was made according to designs by Bartolomeo
Francesco Rastrelli between 1752 and 1756, in the same style as
the Formal Enfilade of the Catherine Palace.
The walls were covered in white damask and gilded carved frames,
while the doors were decorated with carved gilded supraportas
in the form of a composition including a cartouche, hunting horns,
a quiver, and an eagle with outstretched wings, ornament of stylised
acanthus leaves, shells and garlands with flowers executed according
to models by the sculptor Johann Franz Dunker. The ceiling mural,
"The Rape of Tarsius" by the artist F. Bryullov, the
stove of "Hamburg tiles," mirrors in carved gilded frames
and the inlaid floors completed the interior's decor. After the
fire in 1820, the interior was restored according to plans by
the architect Vasily Stasov, and in the 1850s, according to plans
by the architect Andrei Shtakenschneider, the composition of stucco
and painted ceilings was refurbished. In 1935, the walls of the
Dining Room and the furniture were upholstered in golden-coloured
silk with embossed swans and pheasants, peacocks and ducks. This
silk was produced in the 19th century at the manufactory of the
Sapozhnikov brothers, suppliers to the imperial court, and was
based on examples of 18th-century French silk produced by the
Philippe de la Salle factory.
During World War II, the decor of this room was destroyed.
Today the Small White Dining Room has almost completely been restored
according to plans by the architect Alexander Kedrinsky, and the
interior is being restored to its original appearance, including
recreation of all elements of the decorative architecture. A copy
made from the painting "Venus Bathing" by the artist
Van Loo has been used as a ceiling mural. The mural is surrounded
by a gilded stucco composition. The restored carved gilded frames
adorn the mirrors and white damask on the walls, while the supraportas
of carved wood have been returned to their historical place and
are now being gilded. On the walls near the windows hang sconces
of carved gilded wood, each holding 11 candles. The interior decor
is completed by authentic objects preserved during the war years
in evacuation, carved gilded armchairs and chairs upholstered
in white damask, all by Russian masters of the mid-18th century,
a desk of inlaid wood by the master N. Vasiliev from the 1770s,
paintings showing views of the Catherine Palace and Park by the
artists F. G. Barizen, J. Delabarth and F.Ya. Alexeev.
