52. Дворцово-парковый ансамбль Павловска/The Palace and Park Ensemble of Pavlovsk, 1777-1825

Authors: architects - Ch. Cameron (1782 - 1786), V. Brenna (1797 - 1799), д.Quarenghi (1800), A-K 'Voronilkin (1803 - 1807), С -Rossi (1817 - 1825)Address: Pavfovsk town, from the Vitebskiy Station

In 1777 when a future Emperor Alexander I was born in the family of Paul 1 and his wife Mariya Fyodorovna, Catherine II presented her son and daughler-in-law with ihc land to the south of Tsarskove Selo. on hilly banks of the Slavyanka River, deep in woods. In 1778 small palaces Pauliust (the Consolation of Pavel) and Maricnihal (the Valley of Mariya) were erected there. Maricnthal was a iwo-storey edifice that was to remind ancient castles surrounded by walls, turned out to be a very romantic mansion reminiscent of the Middle Ages. A two-storey Panllust was surrounded by veranda, decorated with pilasters and a wide cupola of an unusual form.

Before long however a modest si/e of the summer residence began to incommode the owners, and in 1779 architect Ch. Cameron first appeared at Pavlovsk. Ch. Cameron was commissioned to build a new palace and lay out a park in whal was then a tangled forest. The baste work was completed four years later in 1786, and Pauliust was completely demolished. On a sloping bank of the Slavyanka there now rose a palace in golden yellow and white, reminiscent of famous villas of Andrea Palladio. The architect also designed pavilions the Temple to Friendship (with the siatue of Catherine II as Ceres, the goddess of fertility, and the inscription With Love, Respect and Gratitude Devoted), the Apollo Colonnade (there are several statues of Apollo' in the Park whal make it a symbolic kingdom of beauty, poetry and art), the Memorial to the Parents (originally designed as the monument to Mariya Fyodorovna's sister Fredericka died in an early age: later on.

after ihe death of her parents ii became a united memorial, on a graniie pyramid of which the portraits of Mariya Fyodorovna's parents are engraved), the Aviary, the Cold Bath and ihe Centaur Bridge.

There were a loi of pastoral constructions, the most intricate of which was ihe Dairy. Inside there was a cowshed, a warehouse and a premise for rest where courtiers could drink a cup of milk with a piece of brown bred thus experiencing so called natural life. The Dairy was lavishly decorated with while tiles, gilded furniture, silk draperies, marble tables, shelves and richly painted plafond. The architect also planned a picturesque Triple Alley of Limes that even nowadays opens a wonderful view of ihe Palace, the Private Little Garden with rare kinds of trees (some of them soon died because of a severe northern climate, others were burnt in the fire of 1803), intricate flowerbeds and the Pavilion of the Three Graces(sculptures by P. Triscorni).The architectural decor of the buildings was selected by Ch. Cameron to accord with their functions. A simple architecture of the service blocks sel off the beauty and a classical elegance of a dominating central building housing state rooms and private suites. A compositional pattern typical of the early Classical Style: a central block and iwo low wings linked to it by columned galleries, greatly influenced the architecture of Russian country estates during 18' - 19^lh cent. It inspired the designs of scores of country mansions which were built to look like palaces in style and decoration, if not in size.Having begun with ground-floor private suites. Ch. Cameron had managed to finish only ihe Egyptian Vestibule (1786) and five adjoining rooms, including the Dancing Room, the Billiard Room and the Dining Room - the largest premise in the enfilade of the llrsi floor often served as a sitting-room visited by N. Karamzin, V. Zhukovskiy, I. Krylov, N. Gnedich. etc.Since 1796 the decoraiion of ihe Palace interiors was entrusted to V. Brcnna. Cameron's assislani, while Cameron's own role in the Pavlovsk Ensemble was now limited to occasional consultations on special problems. On Paul's ascension to the throne Ch. Cameron was dismissed as no longer useful, was deprived of his house presented by Catherine 11 and also lost his pupils and assistants. V. Brenna completed ihe decoration of the Palace, drawing upon his knowledge of the architecture and the interior decoraiion of the imperial Rome and laie Italian Renaissance. On 13 November Pavlovsk settlement was renamed town by order of Paul I. A new Hmperor preferred to spend summer in Pavlovsk (rare in Peierhof), auiomn in Gaichina. winter in Saint-Petersburg, ignoring only Tsarskoye Selo. the former residence of his late mother Catherine II.V. Brenna designed a suite of new slate apartments the State Vestibule, the Italian Hall, the Grecian Hall, the Hall of the War, the Hall of the Peace, the Hall of Gentlemen in Waiting, the State Bedroom, the Throne Hall (the Grand Hall), the Picture Gallery, etc. V. Brenna also created some new regular areas in the Park: the Great Circles, ihe Old Sylvia'¹"- a round ground in Ihe centre of which stands Apollo, and 12 straight alleys each having al the end 9 muses. Mercury - the godSiKia Italian lor wuud.of trade. Venus - the goddess of beauty, and Flora - the goddess of spring and flowers; a marble stairway connecting the Palace with ihe Slavyanka River, some cascades, an open Amphitheatre, etc.When the work of decoration and furnishing was at last completed in 1794. the Pavlovsk Palace could hold its own in the beauty, richness and elegance of its archilecture and interior decor against many of celebrated palaces o\~ Kurupe. Brenna's interiors, though highly individual, completely harmonized with the architecture of the Palace.A remarkable collection of clocks, scattered throughout the Palace, is of particular interest. Clocks, or time-keepers, were objects of luxury in 18'¹' cent., rather than articles of necessity. Clock cases were given a great deal of attention: some were made in ormolu, others decorated with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell. porcelain, a coloured marble or rare kinds of wood. They were embellished with sculptured groups, allegories, clc. Some show the phases of ihe moon in addition lo the lime of the day; others, calendar clocks, show the month, the date and the day of the week. Many are equipped with musical mechanisms that play songs, a dance music, or melodies from popular operas of the day.In 1800- 1801 G. Quarcnghi redecorated some apartments of the Palace and introduced new ones: ihe Dressing Room and the Pilaster Study. The death of Paul 1 corning in 1801 ended for V. Brenna his years of endeavor at Pavlovsk. He was pensioned off and left Russia in 1 802. That was the time when A. V'oronikhin first came to work at Pavlovsk. One of the most intricate rooms designed b\ the architect is ihe Little Lantern located on the first floor with large windows-walls that open the view on the Private Little Garden thus demolishing any barrier between the room and the garden. A. Voronikhin created a marvelous Rose Pavilion in the Park - a square edifice crowned with a small cupola and decorated with columned porticos. A nearby territory was planted with roses of all forms and colours! In four semicircular windows there were Aeolian hurps - wooden frames with the strings that gave different sounds when the air was blowing. In 1810 -1830s the Rose Pavilion became a new centre of the Palace and Park Ensemble where guests used to gather preferring its simplicity lo an official coldness of the Palace. Since 1790s to 1820s P. Gonzago was working in Pavlovsk - a brilliant decorator and a landscape designer who gave the Park iis final shape.In January 1803 a chimney-flue trouble caused a fire in one of the Palace's rooms, which, having spread, destroyed ihe decor of ihe slate apartments and living rooms of the central building. For three days the soldiers of the Pavlovsk garrison. Ihe townspeople and peasants from neighbouring villages fought the fire. Thanks to their efforts all priceless furnishings of the Palace apartments and even some fragments of the architectural decor were saved. Reconstruction began practically on the morrow ofthe fire with A. Voronikhin in charge.At the beg. of 19¹'¹ cent. Th. de Thomon worked in Pavlovsk having designed one of the best monuments of ihe Park - the Mausoleum To my Consort and Protector together with sculptor I. Martos. The last great architect of Pavlovsk. who was destined to put the finishing touches to the complex, was C.I. Rossi, in 1815 - 1816 succeeding the laic A. Voronikhin The architect redecorated some of the Palace interiors and designed the Corner Drawing-Room (IK16|, the Library (1822) and the Nicholus Gate (1826).The history of Pavlovsk as an Imperial residence ended with the death of Paul I. Since that time the Palace was owned by the Grand Dukes of the Romanov-Dynasty, bin no important additions or changes were made.

22. Обширная коллекция картин итальянских художников охватывает значительный период развития искусства с XIII до начала XIX столетия. Самый ранний памятник итальянской живописи - небольшой крест с изображением распятия, единственная достоверная работа Уголино ди Тедиче, пизанского живописца второй половины XIII столетия. Одной из жемчужин коллекции является - створка диптиха c изображением мадонны из сцены " Благовещение" крупнейшего мастера сиенской школы первой половины XIV столетия Симоне Мартини. Гордость собрания - произведения великих мастеров эпохи Возрождения: Леонардо да Винчи, Рафаэля, Джорджоне, Тициана. В России, только Эрмитаж обладает картинами Леонардо да Винчи, двумя из дошедших до наших дней 12-14 его живописных произведений. Это "Мадонна с цветком" ("Мадонна Бенуа", 1478) и "Мадонна Литта" (между 1480-1491).Рафаэль Санти представлен также двумя работами - "Мадонной Конестабиле" (между 1502-1503) и "Святым семейством" (ок. 1506). С творчеством Рафаэля знакомят и копии прославленных фресок ватиканскойгалереи - знаменитых " Лоджий Рафаэля" , выполненные в конце XVIII века по заказу императрицы Екатерины II. К числу лучших произведений венецианской школы относится "Юдифь" Джорджоне. Восемь картин дают представление об искусстве главы венецианской школы XVI века Тициана Вечеллио. Все его работы, хранящиеся в Эрмитаже, за исключением "Бегства в Египет" (нач. 1500-х) и "Портрета молодой женщины" (ок. 1530-х), принадлежат зрелому и позднему периодам творчества мастера. К числу бесспорных шедевров Тициана относятся "Кающаяся Мария Магдалина" (1560-е) и "Святой Себастьян" (1570-е) -одно из самых поздних полотен художника. Чрезвычайно богато собрание живописи XVII- XVIII веков. Картины М.Караваджо и А.Карраччи, Г.Рени и Л.Джордано, С.Розы и Дж.М.Креспи, Дж.Б.Тьеполо и Ф.Гварди дают полное и разностороннее представление о путях развития итальянского искусства этого периода.

Особенного внимания заслуживает коллекция из 10 произведений выдающегося венецианского живописца 18 столетия Дж. Б. Тьеполо. Среди работ эрмитажного собрания выделяются пять больших декоративных полотен на сюжеты из истории Древнего Рима, составляющие половину картин серии, написанной мастером ок. 1725 года для дворца Дольфино в Венеции. Лучшая часть коллекции экспонируется в 30-ти залах Старого и Нового Эрмитажа, в том числе в открытых после длительной реставрации, самых значительных по размерам помещениях картинной галереи музея -Итальянских просветах.

The extensive collection of Italian painting occupies 30 rooms in the Old and New Hermitage, encompassing its development from the 13th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The pride of the collection are works by the great masters of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian and Michelangelo.Of just ten or twelve original works by Leonardo known in the world today, Russia possesses two, both in the Hermitage: Madonna with a Flower (The Benois Madonna, 1478) and Madonna Litta (1490-1491).Raffaello Sanzio - Raphael - is also represented by two works: Madonna Conestabile (1502-1503) and The Holy Family (1506). In addition, there are copies of Raphael's famous frescoes in the Vatican Gallery, the Raphael Loggias. The originals were painted by the artist's pupils after his design in 1518-1519.Giorgione's Judith is widely recognized as among the artist's most perfect creations. Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian, who dominated the Venetian school of art during the first half of the 16th century, is represented mainly by works from his mature period (1559-1570). Just two, The Flight into Egypt (beginning of the 1500s) and Portrait of a Young Woman (about 1530), show the artist's earlier style. Next comes an excellent group of paintings, Danae (1550s), Christ Carrying the Cross, Madonna and Child with Mary Magdalene (all three 1560s). The Penitent Magdalene (1560s) and St Sebastian (1570s), one of the artist's last works, are rightly regarded as masterpieces.Paintings by Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Luca Giordano, Salvatore Rosa, Gianmaria Crespi, Tiepolo, and Francesco Guardi provide a broad view of the development of Italian art from the 17th to 18th c.Italian masters of the 19th and 20th c are included in the general exhibition of European art of that period.

23. Собрание нидерландской живописи ХV-ХVI веков Эрмитажа насчитывает около 100 картин. Среди них несколько шедевров мирового значения, таких как диптих Робера Кампена, созданный в 30-е гг. XV века и относящийся к числу лучших работ мастера; картина выдающегося живописца Рогира ван дер Вейдена "Св. Лука, рисующий мадонну"; одно из самых поздних и значительных произведений Лукаса ван Лейдена "Исцеление иерихонского слепца"(1531). Следует отметить два групповых портрета кисти Дирка Якобса, которые являются большой редкостью в собраниях за пределами Нидерландов. Несколько десятков рисунков и печатных гравюр дополняют живописную коллекцию.

The collection of 15th and 16th-century Netherlandish painting contains about 100 items, among them several magnificent masterpieces: a diptych by Robert Campin, created in the 1430s and considered one of the master's best works; Rogier van der Weyden's St Luke Drawing the Virgin; and one of the last and most important works by Lucas van Leyden, The Healing of the Blind Man of Jericho (1531). The two group portraits by Dirk Jacobs, of a kind extremely rarely found outside the Netherlands, should also be mentioned. Several dozen drawings and prints complement this remarkable painting collection.