Private Space of Catherine II | Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site

16.10.2019

Announcing the Private Space of Catherine II projectAnnouncing the Private Space of Catherine II project Zubov Wing of Catherine Palace

Zubov Wing of Catherine PalaceZubov Wing of Catherine Palace Chinese Hall in a 1854 watercolour by Luigi Premazzi

Chinese Hall in a 1854 watercolour by Luigi PremazziChinese Hall in a 1854 watercolour by Luigi Premazzi Chinese Hall in a 1917 Autochrome

Chinese Hall in a 1917 AutochromeChinese Hall in a 1917 Autochrome Domed Hall in a 1930s photograph

Domed Hall in a 1930s photographDomed Hall in a 1930s photograph Domed Hall in 1944

Domed Hall in 1944Domed Hall in 1944 Silver Study in a 1930s photograph

Silver Study in a 1930s photographSilver Study in a 1930s photograph Silver Study in 1944

Silver Study in 1944Silver Study in 1944

Silver Study in 1944Silver Study in 1944 Bedroom of Catherine II in a 1917 Autochrome

Bedroom of Catherine II in a 1917 AutochromeBedroom of Catherine II in a 1917 Autochrome Bedroom in 1949

Bedroom in 1949Bedroom in 1949 Blue Study or Snuffbox in a 1860s watercolour by Eduard Haw

Blue Study or Snuffbox in a 1860s watercolour by Eduard HawBlue Study or Snuffbox in a 1860s watercolour by Eduard Haw Mirror Study in a 1917 Autochrom

Mirror Study in a 1917 AutochromMirror Study in a 1917 Autochrom Mirror Study in 1944

Mirror Study in 1944Mirror Study in 1944 Raphael Room in a 1930s photograph

Raphael Room in a 1930s photographRaphael Room in a 1930s photograph Dressing Room in a 1930s photograph

Dressing Room in a 1930s photographDressing Room in a 1930s photograph

On 15 October 2019 Tsarskoe Selo and PAO Gazprom announced a large-scale reconstruction project titled The Private Space of Catherine II. The project aims to revive in 2019-23 eight interiors in the Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace destroyed during World War Two.

The eight masterpieces of classicism planned for reconstruction include the Blue Study or Snuffbox, the Mirror and Silver Studies, the Bedroom, the Domed and Chinese Halls, the Dressing Room and the Raphael Room. Created in the eighteenth century by Charles Cameron and Giacomo Quarenghi, those were the private rooms of Catherine the Great exquisitely decorated with coloured glass, gilt bronze, silver, faience plaques, paintings and Chinese lacquers.

Work on the Blue Mirror and Silver Studies, the Bedroom and the Domed Hall will start later this year. The reconstruction designs of the remaining three interiors, including the Chinese Hall, are still in process.

The watercolours, pre-war photographs and 1917 Autochromes of the interiors in the Museum’s collection serve as priceless iconographic sources for this project.

The previous successful collaborations between Tsarskoe Selo and Gazprom include restoration of the Catherine Palace Chapel finished in April 2019 and reconstruction of the palace’s Lyons Hall finished later in June.