The Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi (1744 – 1817) was very popular in Russia where he moved in 1779. Many splendid buildings he erected in St. Petersburg became glaring examples of an austere and refined Classicism style. Quarenghi’s unique talent gained him several decades of continuous commissions from the Russian nobility. His works in Tsarskoe Selo represent a high point of Russian Classicism. Gems like the Concert Hall (“the Temple of Friendship”), and especially the Alexander Palace, show a remarkable combination of classical magnificence and graceful elegance. The grandiose colonnade of the Alexander Palace is considered a masterpiece of world architecture. The solemnity of Quarenghi’s style was also adopted in the so called “architecture of smaller forms” – furniture produced to his designs.