B is one of the most famous buildings of the 18th century. The palace was built according to the calculations of the architect. A. Rinaldi at the behest of Catherine II for her favorite G.G. Orlova. It is known that the empress personally made a sketch of the future building, and the architect embodied her plan. Count Orlov was so delighted with the architect's work that as soon as he took possession, he ordered a marble relief with a portrait of Rinaldi to be installed.
The count was awarded such a royal gift for helping Catherine take the Russian throne. The favorite appreciated the gift and, for his part, presented Catherine II with a huge diamond, the cost of which was almost equal to the cost of the entire building. Today this diamond is called “Orlov”.
The construction of the palace began in 1769, the construction work was supervised by M. Mordvinov. The Empress often came to the construction site and awarded good craftsmen with special awards. In 1774, they began finishing the facades and interior halls with granite and 32 types of marble, and white marble was imported from Italy. The roof was covered with copper sheets, the connection and soldering of which were carried out with such diligence that the roof stood without repair until 1931.
The construction of the palace took so long that Orlov, without waiting for its completion, died in 1783, on April 13. Work on the construction of Marble was coming to an end when another misfortune happened: A. Rinaldi fell from the scaffolding. The architect, without waiting for the completion of construction, went to his home in Italy, leaving behind this great creation.
All halls, private chambers, boudoir, staircases, picture galleries of the palace are richly decorated with gilding, stucco and statues. On the third floor there was a Library, living quarters, living rooms for card games, a Chinese sofa room, and a ball room. The palace is notable for the fact that there was the Catherine Hall, glorifying Catherine, and the Orlov Hall, glorifying Orlov and his brothers.
On the ground floor there was a boiler room, a kitchen, a church and service rooms, which were equipped with mechanisms that supplied water to the Garden, bathhouse, kitchen and pool.
After the revolution, the building passed to different departments, until the architect N. Lansere, in 1937, rebuilt it as a museum, trying to preserve the interior decoration in its original form.
Today, the Marble Palace hosts exhibitions, meetings of political figures, scientific work is carried out, and the premises are being restored.
You can get to the Marble Palace from the station. metro station - Nevsky Prospekt.
The Marble Palace is located in the very center of St. Petersburg. Even by standards Northern capital, which has no shortage of beautiful buildings, this monumental structure stands out for its beauty and grandeur.
The Marble Palace is absolutely unique. This building became the only building in St. Petersburg, the facade of which is completely covered with natural marble. Marble was brought to the construction site from many countries around the world: a total of 32 varieties were used.
The palace was built at the behest of Empress Catherine II, who decided to make a generous gift to Count Grigory Orlov, who played a key role in enthroning the queen.
Previously, on the site of the palace there was a Postal Yard with a hotel where Peter I stayed several times. In 1769, the Italian architect A. Rinaldi demolished the Postal Yard building and began construction of the Marble Palace. The building project was developed with the participation of the empress.
300 people worked on the construction site every day. Ekaterina regularly appeared at construction sites, recognizing and encouraging the most skilled builders.
Architecturally, the Marble Palace is an example of early classicism, one of the most striking in Russia. Colored marble, in large quantities used when facing the palace, emphasizes its monumentality and luxury.
The years have no power over the building - it has been preserved exactly in the same form as it first appeared before the eyes of St. Petersburg residents after the scaffolding was removed. Rinaldi ordered the upper floors to be faced with grayish marble, the lower floors with pink.
The empress took an active part in the development of the interior interiors of the palace. Due to the fact that the palace was being built for Count Grigory Orlov, the queen ordered the architect to make interior decoration strict as a man. The chambers of the palace are distinguished by restraint and grandeur.
In the Oryol Hall there are busts, statues and bas-reliefs of representatives of the count dynasty. In the Assembly Hall, the walls are covered with velvet and gold stucco. There are huge chandeliers on the ceiling. In the center of the main wall of the hall is a huge portrait of Catherine II.
Today the Marble Palace houses a branch of the Russian Museum. There are few permanent exhibitions in the palace, since it itself is a kind of museum attraction. In addition to the collection of weapons, tourists will be interested in the extensive Art Gallery, which includes over 200 paintings famous artists from Western Europe. The Marble Palace regularly hosts exhibitions of classic paintings and contemporary artists, press conferences and master classes.
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Marble Palace
The first building on this site between Palace Embankment and Millionnaya Street appeared in 1706.The Postal Yard was built here on the banks of the Neva.: “The postmaster shared this house with an innkeeper from Danzig, with whom he could live and who often also hosted large parties.”
Unknown artist. First Postal Yard
On May 8, 1714, the Hanoverian envoy Weber reported: “His Royal Majesty has now admitted that it is necessary to establish an inn and a hotel, which have not existed until now and are very inconvenient for visitors.” From June 1714 to autumn 1716 here according to the project Domenico Trezzini a new Postal Yard ("Pocht-gaus") was built with a pier for two "postal frigates" making regular flights between St. Petersburg, Danzig and Lubeck.
Domenico Trezzini
The new building was a two-story mud-brick building with a large courtyard where horses and carts were parked. There was a restaurant on the ground floor, and a hall on the second floor where Peter I held assemblies and other ceremonial events. There was also a hotel there, the guests of which were moved out in any weather when the king arrived here. In addition to the guards and servants, a postmaster, a secretary, a translator and three postmen worked here.
Kirsanov N. Postal yard
To organize the postal service, postmaster Heinrich Krauss was invited to St. Petersburg. In 1716, he was fired due to bribery, and Friedrich Asch was appointed to replace Krauss. This man played the role of not only the postmaster, but also the censor and hotel administrator.
By decree of Peter I, 12 musicians came out to the gallery surrounding the Postal Court every day at 12 o'clock, who, with their loud playing of wind instruments, notified St. Petersburg residents about the onset of noon. The postal yard was one of the places where the famous Peter's assemblies were held. Peter I and Catherine I came here on foot from Summer Garden.
The embankment near the Postal Yard was called Pochtovaya, now it is Palace embankment.
The mud-built building quickly fell into disrepair. In September 1720, the cabinet secretary of Peter I, A.V. Makarov, wrote to U.A. Senyavin:“Her Majesty the Empress Tsarina ordered you to order that the upper mud huts in the Postal Yard be repaired, and at the bottom you were ordered to place stands so that the floor does not break off, and in the upper floors in the salo and in the other large one, where there are tables, to be upholstered with some kind of wallpaper. Also Please consult with the architect, if these mud huts are not durable, then in the spring it is necessary to make canopies for the Neva in the front wall, and for this purpose, prepare the materials in advance.”
In January 1726, an Academic School was opened at the Postal Court, which was organized according to the design of the French artist Louis Caravaque. For the first time in Russia, teaching drawing began here from a living model, as was usual for European schools. One of the rooms served as a full-scale classroom, where Foma Andreevich Bykov, a peasant from the estate of the synodal government of the Ostashkovskaya Sloboda, posed naked.
Louis Caravaque
On August 7, 1731, Trezzini received instructions from Field Marshal Minich to demolish the old Postal Yard and in its place to build a guardhouse and stables for the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Two weeks after this, the architect was already requesting bricks for construction. The postal yard was transferred to St. Isaac's Church. The Manege was built here by 1732. A fire in 1737 destroyed this building. The vacant space was cleared and called Upper Embankment Square. It adjoined Tsaritsyn Meadow.
Makhaev M.I. Prospect of the old winter palace with a canal connecting the Moika to the Neva. 1750
Beggrov K.P. Palace embankment. 1826 Copy from a drawing by K. Sabbat and S. Chifflard
Lamoni D. F. Neva embankment near the Summer Garden. Late 1780s.
The section of Palace Embankment from the Lebyazhye Canal towards the Marble Palace is shown. The house of Betsky (Dvortsovaya embankment, 2) is depicted with a building that has not survived to this day. hanging garden. The artist made perspective inaccuracies: the distance between the Marble Palace and the house of F. I. Groten (Dvortsovaya embankment, 4) was reduced.
Makhaev M.I. Millionnaya Street Avenue from the Main Pharmacy. 1751
Montferrand O. Millionnaya street. 1830s - early 1840s
In 1768-1785, the architect Antonio Rinaldi built a palace here, called Marble.
Antonio Rinaldi
The Marble Palace was erected on the orders of Catherine II as a gift to the Empress’s favorite Grigory Grigorievich Orlov.
Vigilius Eriksen. Catherine II Alekseevna (Great). 1716-1749
Grigory Orlov. Portrait by Fyodor Rokotov, 1762-1763
The gift was made for Orlov’s active participation in the events of 1762, as a result of which Catherine found herself on the Russian throne. At first she intended to put the inscription on the pediment: “Erected by grateful friendship,” but in the end she replaced it with “Gratitude Building.” The count's reciprocal gesture was the huge Persian diamond "Nadir Shah" weighing 189.62 carats and worth 460,000 rubles. Price gemstone was quite a bit short of the cost of the palace itself. Now this diamond is known as "Orlov".
Alekseev F. Ya. View of the Palace embankment from Peter and Paul Fortress. 1790s
Jacotte L. Marble Palace. Ser. XIX century
Sadovnikov V.S. Neva embankment near the Marble Palace. 1847
Bianchi I. K. Marble Palace. View from the Palace Embankment. Before 1872
Bachelier S. Panorama of the city of St. Petersburg. 1853 View taken from the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral
Malton T. Bolshaya Millionnaya Street and the Marble Palace. 1790 Copy from a drawing by J. Hearn
According to one legend, the empress herself made a sketch of the future building and showed it to the architect. Knowing that Catherine drew up the project, Rinaldi highly appreciated this work and immediately received a building permit. The building was founded on October 10, 1769; a marble box with coins was walled into its foundation. The construction work was led by artillery colonel M.I. Mordvinov. Architectural supervision was carried out by Antonio Rinaldi and Pyotr Egorov. About 100 masons and from 100 to 300 artillery fusiliers from Mordvinov’s unit worked daily on the construction of the Marble Palace. Catherine II periodically visited the construction site and personally awarded particularly distinguished workers.
Huge slabs of marble and granite were delivered along the Neva. They began to be brought here already in 1768. Brick vaults and walls were built in 1769, after which the primary processing of natural stone began. This work was carried out in 1770-1774. In 1774, work began on decorating the facades of the Marble Palace with marble and granite and finishing the interior.
Shortly before the completion of the work, Antonio Rinaldi fell from the scaffolding and was seriously injured. Without waiting for the completion of the construction of the Marble Palace, he left Russia for Italy.
The lower part of the façade of the Marble Palace was faced with granite, and instead of plaster, at the architect’s suggestion, it was decided to use 32 types of marble for cladding the walls. Hence its name - "Marble Palace". By the way, at first the building was called " Stone house at the Postal Pier."
White marble was brought from Italy; it turned out to be cheaper than bringing it from Altai or the Urals. The rest of the facing material was mined in quarries near Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Marble was also used in the decoration of ten interior halls of the building. The Marble Palace became the first St. Petersburg building lined with natural stone.
Marble Hall in the Marble Palace
Rinaldi stone flower
In 1780-1788, the service building of the Marble Palace was built in the eastern part of the site.
Service building of the Marble Palace
In 1780, the Red Canal, connecting the Neva and Moika, was filled in, which passed on the site of the courtyard between the main and service buildings. Between the houses, a lattice by P. E. Egorov was installed, reminiscent of the fence of the Summer Garden.
Since 1780, the finishing of the two upper floors has been carried out. All work was completed by 1785. A clock turret was installed on the attic. On the sides of the tower were placed two figures by the sculptor F.I. Shubin - Loyalty (right) and Generosity (left). In total, the palace housed about 40 works by this master.
Copper sheets were produced for the roof in Sestroretsk. Their fitting and soldering were carried out so carefully that the roof did not leak until the renovation in 1931.
The main staircase of the Marble Palace is decorated with statues of Morning, Day, Evening and Night. On the site from the second to the third floor there are sculptures representing the autumn and spring equinox.
Main staircase
The staircase is decorated with sculptures of nymphs
On the ground floor there were kitchens, boiler rooms and a church, consecrated in the name of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The service rooms were equipped with various mechanisms and devices. In the building on Millionnaya Street there was a machine for supplying water, a well with two pumps for supplying water to the ceremonial baths on the second floor. In the building on Mramorny Lane there is a well with a pump for supplying water to the kindergarten. In the Nevsky building there is a swimming pool for cleaning mechanisms.
In the northern part of the second floor of the Marble Palace there was the Great Nevsky Enfilade. You got here from the Grand Staircase through the Front and Oval entrances. From the Oval entrance you could get to the Lacquer Hall, or bypassing the Buffet and the Great Dining Room to get to the Marble Hall - the main room of the palace. In the Marble Hall there are bas-reliefs "Sacrifice", made for St. Isaac's Cathedral by A. Rinaldi. Behind this hall was the Orlovsky Hall, glorifying the activities of the Orlov brothers. Behind him is Catherine's, glorifying Catherine II. From the south, the personal chambers of Grigory Orlov adjoined the Catherine Hall: the State Bedroom, the Garden with five apple trees, five cherries and a fountain. In the south-eastern part of the palace there was an Art Gallery with 206 masterpieces of painting by Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, Correggio, Poussin, Groot, van Dyck and others. In the southwestern part of the palace there are Greek and Turkish baths. In the northwestern part there are spare rooms of the Malaya Nevskaya Enfilade: Study, Bedroom, Boudoir and Living Room.
On the third floor of the Marble Palace there were living quarters, a Library, two living rooms for playing cards, and a Chinese sofa. In the building on Marble Lane there was a ball game hall.
Chistyakov I.F. Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple. Fragment of the iconostasis
The Marble Palace took so long to build that Count Orlov died before the work was completed, on April 13, 1783. By the time of the death of Grigory Grigorievich, Catherine II had another favorite and the palace aroused unpleasant emotions in the count. Together with his wife, he lived in one of the modest St. Petersburg houses, which was also given to him by the Empress.
One of the St. Petersburg legends says that there was a secret door on the side of Mramorny Lane, which Catherine II allegedly used when visiting Orlov. This legend is refuted by the fact that the count never lived in the palace.
After the death of Orlov, Catherine II bought the Marble Palace from the descendants of the count and gave it to her six-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The building has been empty for more than 10 years. The Grand Duke settled in the palace only after his marriage to Princess Saxe-Saafeld-Coburg (in Orthodoxy Anna Fedorovna) in February 1796. Later, the empress evicted her grandson from the palace for bad behavior. Konstantin Pavlovich, who was 16 years old at the time of the wedding (his wife was 14), shot live rats from a cannon in the premises and mocked his wife.
Konstantin Pavlovich. Portrait of the young Grand Duke by Borovikovsky
In 1795-1796, the captive leader of the Polish Confederates, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, lived in the Marble Palace.
Portrait of Tadeusz Kosciuszko by Kazimierz Wojniakowski
After the death of Catherine II, it was vacated by Paul I. In 1797-1798, the Marble Palace was occupied by the former Polish king Stanislav August Poniatowski.
Lumpy-st. Johann Baptist. Portrait of Stanisław August Poniatowski
He lived here with his court of 167 people and 83 members of his retinue. To receive the king and his entourage, part of the Marble Palace was rebuilt V. Brenna.
Vincenzo Brenna
However, even after this Poniatowski complained about the cramped conditions. After his death on February 12, 1798, Konstantin Pavlovich returned to his residence. Despite this, it was in the Marble Palace that Paul I posthumously crowned Poniatowski.
Emperor Paul I. Artist V. L. Borovikovsky
Under Konstantin Pavlovich, the Marble Palace housed a large art gallery, library, and porcelain collection. In the Ball Game Hall, the Grand Duke placed an Arsenal of Russian and foreign weapons and uniforms. In 1806-1807 A. Voronikhin remodeled a small suite of rooms along the Neva and a number of rooms along Millionnaya Street.
Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin
Konstantin Pavlovich had not actually lived in the Marble Palace since January 1813, when he joined the active army and made a foreign campaign with it. In April 1814, he became the governor of the Kingdom of Poland and left St. Petersburg.
After the departure of Konstantin Pavlovich, the Marble Palace was transferred to the Court Chancellery. Here apartments were rented to court officials. In 1830, the building was examined by architects V. Ochakov and H. Meyer. They declared it unsafe and began major repairs.
On March 6, 1832, Nicholas I handed over the Marble Palace to his second son, Konstantin Nikolaevich.
Nicholas I Konstantin Nikolaevich
After the fire in the Winter Palace in 1837, silverware and a foreign library were stored here. On August 20, 1845, the project for the reconstruction of the Marble Palace was approved, which was carried out A. P. Bryullov.
Karl Bryullov. Portrait of Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov
The ceiling of the Marble Hall was raised by one floor. Next to it is the State Dining Room. One could get into the Front Office of Konstantin Nikolaevich through the first hall of the Reception Room. Next to it, Bryullov created a Library, from which there was a passage to the Winter Garden, created on the site of the Sadik.
Winter garden in the Marble Palace
Next is the Great Hall, where concerts were held with the participation of M. Balakirev, A. Rubinstein, N. Rimsky-Korsakov. Nearby, Bryullov created a Bathroom in the antique style and restored the Turkish and Greek baths liquidated by Voronikhin. The Arsenal was rebuilt in the Gothic style and was named the White Hall. Dance and music evenings were held here. In 1857, an organ by G. Metzel was installed in the White Hall.
White Column Hall in the Marble Palace
An entrance appeared from Marble Lane. Later, a legend appeared that it was through him that Catherine II went on dates with Orlov. The “Judgment of Paris” ceiling lamp was moved from the former Lacquer Hall to the Main Staircase. All work was completed by 1849. On December 29 of this year, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and his wife Alexandra Iosifovna moved into their new residence. By decree of December 20, 1849, the Marble Palace was ordered to be called “Konstantinovsky”, but this name was rarely used in everyday life.
In the middle of the 19th century, a marble fountain group “Putto with a branch” by an unknown sculptor was installed in the garden between the Marble Palace and the service building.
The Marble Palace was rebuilt again in the 1860s. New offices, dining rooms, and children's rooms were built here. A power station appeared that provided electricity not only to the premises of the palace, but also to the lanterns on the Champ de Mars. We equipped lifting machines - elevators. In 1883, a telephone appeared here. The inhabitants of the palace amused themselves by listening to opera performances through it.
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich was a supporter of the reforms of 1860-1870. In public life, the expression “Party of the Marble Palace” even arose.
After the death of Konstantin Nikolaevich, the palace was owned by his son, Konstantin Konstantinovich, known under the pseudonym "K.R."
Konstantin Konstantinovich
During his time, chamber concerts, literary readings, and amateur performances were staged here. In 1884-1886, the architect A.K. Dzhiorguli remodeled the ground floor premises on Millionnaya Street: Reception, Bedchamber, Gulevaya, Gorenka. They were decorated in the old Russian style, painted by the artist F. Sedov. The Bedroom, Living Room, Music Room, and Study have also changed. In 1898, on the initiative of Konstantin Konstantinovich, a meeting of the Imperial Geographical Society was held in the Marble Palace, at which a decision was made to build the icebreaker "Ermak" according to the design of Admiral S. O. Makarov. D. I. Mendeleev and S. Yu. Witte were present at the meeting.
Bulla K.K. Marble Palace. Corner living room in the personal chambers of Grand Duke K.K. Romanov
Bulla K.K. Marble Palace. Musical (Gothic) room in the personal chambers of Grand Duke K.K. Romanov
Musical
Library K.R. in the Marble Palace
K.R.'s room in the Marble Palace
K.R.'s room in the Marble Palace
K.R.'s room in the Marble Palace
In addition to Konstantin Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich also had apartments in the Marble Palace.
Dmitry Konstantinovich
During the First World War, the palace housed a hospital for wounded officers. At the beginning of the revolution, the widow of Konstantin Konstantinovich (he died in 1915) still lived here. In 1917, she and her children had to move to Zherebtsov’s house on Palace Embankment.
After the February Revolution, the Ministry of Labor of the Provisional Government was located in the ground floor of the Marble Palace. An agreement was even prepared for the government to purchase the entire palace for ten million rubles. However, after October 1917 the building was nationalized. Most of the art collections were transferred to the State Hermitage. At first, the People's Commissariat of Labor worked here. After the government moved to Moscow in 1918, the palace housed the office of the authorized People's Commissariat of Education, the Administration of Palace Museums, the Academy of the History of Material Culture (in 1919-1936), the Society of Sociology and Theory of Art, and the Central Bureau of Local History.
After the liquidation of the Academy, the Marble Palace was transferred to the Leningrad branch of the Central Museum of V. I. Lenin. The building was rebuilt for museum purposes according to the design of N. E. Lansere and D. A. Vasiliev. The Main Staircase and the Marble Hall were preserved. In some rooms the artistic decoration was preserved. The museum opened on November 8, 1937. On January 22, 1940, an armored car was installed at the entrance, from which Lenin spoke on the day of his arrival in Petrograd, April 3, 1917. In 1983, it was restored and placed again in front of the Marble Palace on April 15 of the same year.
In 1992, the Marble Palace was transferred to the Russian Museum. V.I. Lenin's armored car was sent to the Artillery Museum.
In 1994, the famous German conceptual artist Schult (H. A. Schult - pictured on the left) installed the composition “The Age of the Motor”, which was a marble Ford Mondeo, in the space vacated by Lenin’s armored car in front of the Marble Palace.
Ford did not stand for long; it was soon replaced by the long-suffering, heavy monument to Alexander III, using the same pedestal on which Lenin’s armored car stood. Currently, the Marble Palace hosts temporary exhibitions of contemporary art and exhibitions of foreign artists. The premises are being restored.
Monument to Alexander III in front of the eastern facade of the palace
On January 24, 2002, the White Hall was shown to journalists after renovation. On June 7 of the same year, a meeting of the leaders of Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took place here. They signed the charter of the Shanghai Regional Cooperation Organization.
Nikolai Konstantinovich with his mother, Alexandra Iosifovna and sister Vera
In April 1874, Nikolai Konstantinovich’s mother, Alexandra Iosifovna, discovered in the Marble Palace that three expensive diamonds were missing from the setting of one of the icons, with which Emperor Nicholas I had once blessed the marriage of his son Konstantin with the German princess, who in her marriage became Alexandra Iosifovna. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich called the police, and soon the diamonds were found in one of the pawn shops in St. Petersburg.
First, they found the person who took the diamonds to the pawnshop - the adjutant of Grand Duke E.P. Varnakhovsky, the opinion of whose guilt has been preserved to this day. During interrogation on April 15, he categorically denied involvement in the theft and said that he only took the stones given to him by Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich to the pawnshop.
Nicholas, who was present at the interrogation, swore on the Bible that he was not guilty, which, as they said, aggravated his sin. He told his father that, in rescuing Varnakhovsky, not just an adjutant, but his comrade, he was ready to take the blame upon himself. Emperor Alexander II, who took the case under personal control, involved the chief of the gendarme corps, Count Shuvalov, in the investigation.
Shuvalov interrogated the arrested Nikolai Konstantinovich for three hours in the Marble Palace in the presence of his father, who later wrote in his diary: “No repentance, no consciousness, except when denial is no longer possible, and then I had to pull out vein after vein. Bitterness and not a single tear. They conjured everything that was holy to him to ease the fate ahead of him with sincere repentance and consciousness! Nothing helped!".
Ultimately, they came to the conclusion that the diamonds were stolen by Nikolai Konstantinovich, and the proceeds were to be used as gifts for the prince’s mistress, the American dancer Fanny Lear. At the “family council” - a general meeting of members of the royal family, after long debates (options were offered - to be sent to the army, put on public trial and sent to hard labor), a decision was made that caused minimal harm to the prestige of the royal family. It was decided to recognize Grand Duke Nicholas as mentally ill, and then, by decree of the emperor, he was forever expelled from the capital of the empire. Fanny Lear was expelled from Russia and was forbidden to ever return here. She never met the Grand Duke again.
In fact, two sentences were announced to Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich. The first - for the public - was to declare him insane. From which it followed that from now on and forever he would be in custody, subject to compulsory treatment, in complete isolation. The essence of the second verdict - the family one - was that it was forbidden to mention his name in papers relating to the imperial house, and the inheritance that belonged to him was passed on to his younger brothers. He was also stripped of all ranks and awards and deleted from the lists of the regiment. He was expelled from St. Petersburg forever and was obliged to live under arrest in the place where he would be indicated...
In the memoirs of Fanny Lear there is an entry that very eloquently characterizes this woman herself, who was born and raised in the family of a Protestant priest: “If such a loss were to occur in a family of ordinary people,” wrote Miss Lear , - they would have hidden her there; here, on the contrary, the police were raised to their feet...”
There is one more oddity in this matter. Despite the fact that Nikolai Konstantinovich’s parents and his august relatives were still convinced that Nikolai Konstantinovich was ruined by his love for a courtesan and the lack of funds to satisfy her whims, it remains inapplicable that during a search a sum of money was found in Nikolai Konstantinovich’s desk , much big one, which was received for stolen diamonds pawned in a pawnshop.
He was taken from St. Petersburg in the fall of 1874. Before his last “stop”, in Tashkent in the summer of 1881, that is, in less than 7 years, he changed at least 10 places of residence...
The prisoner’s younger brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, did not approve of the hard line of the imperial house: “Will the painful situation from which poor Nikola is given no way out soon end? The meekest person could be driven out of patience in this way; Nikola still has enough strength to endure her imprisonment and moral prison.”
Having finally heeded the arguments of common sense, the cousin of the disgraced Grand Duke, Emperor Alexander III, allowed Nikolai Konstantinovich to go to the Turkestan region, to Tashkent...
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The Marble Palace is one of the most beautiful buildings St. Petersburg. It completes the composition of Palace Embankment, which begins at Winter Palace. From a distance it seems that the palace seems to grow out of the granite of the Neva. Gray-pink granite and marble walls echo the colors of the St. Petersburg sky.
Marble Palace, 19th century painting
In the era of Peter the Great there was a drinking house here. In 1714, a wooden Post Office building with a pier appeared on this site. In 1716 it was built on; Peter I held assemblies on the second floor. The embankment in those days was called Pochtovaya. After a while, a Manege was built on the site of the Postal Yard, which later burned down.
On October 10, 1769, by order of Catherine the Great, construction of a huge palace began. The architect was the famous Antonio Rinaldi. However, according to one of the St. Petersburg legends, the empress personally sketched out a sketch of the future structure. The sculptures were made by Fedot Ivanovich Shubin. The Italian master Antonio Valli, the Austrian I. Duncker and many others also took part in the work famous sculptors and painters. More than 100 stonemasons worked daily at the construction site.
Catherine the Great gave her favorite another palace - also built according to the design of Antonio Rinaldi.
The palace was intended for the count Grigory Orlov(1734-1783) as gratitude for his active participation in the events of 1762. In 1773, in response, he gave his empress a huge cut diamond of 189.62 carats, which is now kept in the Diamond Fund in Moscow and bears the name “Orlov”.
Construction took 16 long years. In 1783, Count Orlov died without waiting for the completion of the work. In 1785, when the Marble Palace was ready, Catherine bought it from her heirs for 1.5 million rubles.
Monument to Alexander III in the courtyard of the Marble Palace
In 1780-1788, in the eastern part of the site, according to the design of the architect P.E. Egorov, the Service Building was built, where stables, an arena, a carriage house, hay sheds, etc. were located. On the second floor there were apartments for servants. The new building obscured the facade of the palace, facing the current Suvorov Square. A lattice was installed between the buildings, its style reminiscent of a fence.
In 1796, the Empress gave the Marble Palace to her 16-year-old grandson, the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Juliana-Henrietta-Ulrika of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg, baptized Anna Fedorovna. However, soon Catherine was forced to take away the gift “for misbehavior” - the young prince was shooting live rats from a cannon in the corridor, and his 14-year-old wife was forced to hide in a vase.
In 1797-1798, the Marble Palace became the residence of the last Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski(1732-1798). For him and his retinue, some of the halls were decorated by V. Brenna. Then A. Voronikhin continued the work on decorating the palace.
After the death of Poniatowski, the palace again returned to the possession of Konstantin Pavlovich and belonged to him until his departure to Poland as governor of the Kingdom of Poland. Subsequently, the palace was owned by the Court Chancellery, renting out apartments to court officials, who remodeled the interiors to their liking.
In 1832, Emperor Nicholas I gave the Marble Palace to his second son, the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. The palace had become dilapidated by that time, and in 1843-49 its reconstruction began according to the design of the architect A.P. Bryullov. Bryullov preserved the appearance of the building and, mainly, its layout. He designed a number of rooms in the Gothic, late Renaissance, Rococo and Classical styles. The Service Building was built on, its façade is decorated with pilasters. Technical improvements appeared in the palace: air heating, “pneumatic ovens,” a prototype of an elevator, and machines for supplying water upstairs.
After perestroika, the Marble Palace began to be called Konstantinovsky after its owner, although there was a palace with the same name in Strelna.
In 1888, the son of Konstantin Nikolaevich, the Grand Duke, became the owner of the palace. Konstantin Konstantinovich, a highly educated person, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences and poet of the Silver Age. His chambers on the first floor were furnished with an English study, Gothic and Musical living rooms, and a Lower library. The palace became one of the centers cultural life St. Petersburg.
Marble Palace, pre-revolutionary photo
During the First World War, the palace premises were converted into a hospital for wounded officers. After the February Revolution, various services were located in the palace for a short time. In 1919-1936, the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture was located within the walls of the Marble Palace. Since 1937 - Leningrad branch of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin. Almost all the halls on the second floor were rebuilt, the interiors were lost. Only the Main Staircase and the Marble Hall have retained their original decoration.
Marble Hall, photo from the Internet
In front of the main entrance, an armored car “Enemy of Capital” was installed on a pedestal, from which on the night of April 3-4, 1917, next to the building Finlyandsky station V.I. Lenin spoke. In 1990, the armored car was dismantled, and in its place a marble Ford Mondeo was installed - a monument to the “Motor Age”.
In 1992, the dilapidated building of the Marble Palace was transferred to the Russian Museum, and work began to restore the original layout and interiors. The Service Building houses the Northwestern Correspondence Technical University.
In 1994, in place of the pedestal for the armored car, a equestrian statue of Emperor Alexander III. It was made in 1909 by sculptor Paolo Trubetskoy and stood on Znamenskaya Square (now Vosstaniya Square). After 1937, it was preserved in one of the closed courtyards of the Russian Museum.
Transportation of the monument to Alexander III in November 1994, photo by Belenky
Exhibitions at the Marble Palace
Currently, the Marble Palace houses permanent exhibitions of the Russian Museum dedicated to Russian art of the 20th century:
♦ “Foreign artists in Russia XVIII-XIX centuries»,
♦ “Ludwig Museum in the Russian Museum” - a gift from collectors Peter and Irena Ludwig: works of contemporary European, American and Russian artists,
♦ “Collection of St. Petersburg collectors of the Rzhevsky brothers”,
♦ “Konstantin Romanov – poet of the Silver Age.”
In addition, exhibitions of works by contemporary Russian and foreign artists are held.
Facade of the Marble Palace from the Neva, photo from the Internet
External and internal decoration of the Marble Palace
The Marble Palace was built in the style of early classicism and is distinguished by the richness of its interior decoration, which was supposed to emphasize the strength and masculinity of its owner.
The combination of finishing stones of different colors and textures gives the palace a special expressiveness. 32 types of marble, granite, and agates were used for the exterior and interior decoration of the palace. White marble was brought from Italy - it was cheaper than transporting it from Siberia. Other types of marble are obtained from quarries in Karelia and Estonia, white marble for sculptures is from the islands of the Greek archipelago, and agates are from the Urals. The copper roof was made in Sestroretsk and was of such high quality that it lasted for about 150 years without repair.
The ground floor is finished with pink granite, which perfectly matches the granite embankment of the Neva. The upper floors are tiled in gray. The portico is made of pink Tivdi marble.
Marble Palace from the Neva
The thickness of the palace walls is 1.5-2 meters. The total height of the building is 22 meters, the height of the Corinthian order of the upper floors is 12.5 meters.
The main façade of the palace faces the garden, where the Red Canal (later closed) used to run, connecting the Neva with the Moika. Above the entrance to the palace is written: “Building of Gratitude.” At the top there is a turret with a clock, on the sides of which there are figures of Loyalty and Generosity by F.I. Shubin.
According to Rinaldi's plan, she continued the stone finishing of the palace facades. It is distinguished by restraint of design. The statues Morning, Day, Evening and Night symbolize childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Between the 2nd and 3rd floors there are sculptures of the Spring and Autumn Equinox. On the ceiling there is a panel by the German painter I. Christ “The Judgment of Paris”.
On the ground floor of the palace there were kitchens, a boiler room, and other office premises, and Church of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The main staircase leads to the second floor, where there are enfilades of ceremonial halls: the Lacquer Hall, the Tsar’s Living Room (“Assembled Hall”), the Gallery (Orlovsky Hall), the Chinese Hall and the Marble Hall. Behind them are the personal chambers of Grigory Orlov.
Lacquer Hall decorated with wood. Its walls were decorated with wooden carved panels depicting the exploits of Alexander the Great (now kept in the State Hermitage). Initially, the ceiling was decorated with a picturesque ceiling by I. Chris “The Judgment of Paris”, which was later moved to the Main Staircase.
"The Gathered Hall" dedicated to Catherine the Great. The velvet walls are decorated with the empress's monograms. Under a carved canopy with a crown there is a ceremonial portrait of the empress, in front of which there is a pedestal with a vase decorated with war trophies.
Art Gallery located in the southeastern part of the palace. 206 works are presented here, including paintings by Rembrandt, Titian, and Raphael. The portrait room contained 91 portraits of all representatives of the House of Romanov and the ruling European monarchs of that time. In addition, there were equestrian portraits of the Orlov brothers.
Chinese hall It was decorated in a fashionable style at that time and served as a formal dining room.
- the most luxurious room of the Marble Palace. According to the project of A. Rinaldi, it was one-light, but was rebuilt into two-light by A. Bryullov. Its walls are decorated with various types of marble and decorated with bas-reliefs, originally made for St. Isaac's Cathedral. The ceiling is decorated with a picturesque ceiling “The Wedding of Cupid and Psyche” by S. Torelli.
