One of the most impressive rooms of the Winter Palace, residence of Russian tsars (now the main building of the Hermitage) is the gorgeous Malachite Room, designed by architect Alejandro Briullov. The intense malachite green tint that covers the columns, pillars, fireplaces, tables, combined with white artificial marble walls, rich luster of gold and red of the upholstery of the furniture at once attract the attention of visitors and produce an unforgettable impression.
The history of this very special room is following: the Italian architect Rastrelli who built the Winter Palace for the Russian Empress Elizabeth destined for this part of the building to a grand and solemn Throne Hall. However, his project was not done. Isabel died in 1761 before seeing the works were finished, and the first true owner of the Winter Palace Catherine II (Catherine the Great) ordered to make the space reserved for the throne room in private quarters.
From the late eighteenth century Russian empresses lived here. The first was Alexander's wife Elizabeth (Princess of Baden), after the wife of Czar Nicholas I Alejandra (the daughter of King of Prussia). In 1830 the French architect Auguste Montferrand created here for the Empress Alexandra Hall Jasper luxurious decorated with jasper columns of gray (porphyry) from Altai. This room served as a "border area" between the halls and private rooms of the Empress. It is curious that even then were here some decorative objects made of malachite, for example the giant vase of malachite under the golden canopy that was preserved until today.
the elegant ballroom of Jasper de Montferrand died during the catastrophic fire that suffered the Winter Palace in 1837, escaped the fire only individual items. Reconstruction of the private apartments after the fire was entrusted to architect Alejandro Briullov (1798-1877), brother of the famous painter Carlos Briullov (author of the painting "The Last Day of Pompeii" is now in the Russian Museum). Briullov plazma in life was to new concepts of beauty and comfort and respect the will of Nicholas I see the room from his wife decorated with malachite. For the coating of pilasters, columns, fireplaces 2200 kilos were used malachite "best quality" given away to the emperor by the wealthy Demidov Russian businessman, owner of the quarries of malachite discovered in the 1830 in the Urals.
surfaces of columns, pilasters and other objects This room is decorated with malachite using a special technique called "Russian Mosaic" malachite finite plates stuck to the limestone base covered with special mastic, the space between the pieces filled with powdered malachite and work was polished. Joining the small piece of malachite artisans trying to get a picture similar to the natural grain of the stone. The bases and capitals of the columns were made of gilded bronze.
Allegory of Poetry (Antonio Vigi)
artificial marble wall painting again that existed here before the fire. Although author (Italian painter Antonio Vigi) already had at that time 74 years, he could repeat three female fugure decorated this room before. The plant is the allegory of Poetry (a copy of Raphael's Vatican medallion), two side symbolize Day and Night. Returned to their place objects Jasper Hall saved during the fire, furniture made in the workshop Gambs, large vase of malachite.
Malachite Room. Watercolor K. Ujtomsky, 1865
Contemporaries were amazed by the rebirth of this room in his new capacity. "The rich Siberia by replacing its jasper malachite and gold" - Witnesses said the opening of the Malachite Hall that also sometimes called the Golden Hall for the great amount of gold used. If the old Board of Jasper still had features of classical architecture, the new Board of Malachite proclaims and interest to the eclectic new trend in Russian architecture.
floor í a small frame of the Malachite Room
Malachite Room in the often passed the music concerts to the narrow circle of people close to the imperial family . Here sang opera singers (the famous tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, the master of bel canto Antonio Tamburini, Polina unsurpassed Viardot Garcia et al.) In 1842 he gave a concert here the famous Hungarian composer Ferenz List. In this room also took place the official presentation of the ladies of the Empress. In 1894 in the Malachite Room of the Princess Alix of Hesse (last emperartiz Russian Alejandra) is dressed for her wedding to Tsar Nicholas II. The first years of their married life the imperial couple had breakfast here on holidays.
During the First World War gathered in this hall charity committees headed by the Tsar's daughters who helped the families of soldiers killed and wounded in the war.
After the February Revolution of 1917 and the abdication of Nicholas II in the Malachite Hall met members of the Provisional Government. On October 25, 1917 in the next room (the last tsar White Dining) ministers of this government were arrested by revolutionaries inspired by Lenin who stormed the Winter Palace.
After this revolution (the Great October Socialist Revolution), the palace became a museum. Now in the Malachite Room presents a part of the collection of objects of malachite from the Hermitage, the richest in the world, which consists of about 200 pieces.
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