#alexander palace

[cleopatragirlie]

[livesunique]

Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, 1917,

A rare and unique set of Autochrome color photograph plates, taken by Alexander Zehest in 1917 of the interiors of the Alexander Palace, including both the Parade rooms and the personal rooms of the Imperial Family.

The Autochrome process was a rare and difficult one, invented by the Lumiere Brothers of France in 1903 and marketed in Europe and the US starting in 1907. The autochromes, 140 in total, were made in 1917 by the military photographer Andrei Zeest, who was invited by the art historian George Loukomski, Head of Tsarskoye Selo Inventory Commission. The Alexander Palace interiors were photographed in August-September, soon after the Tsar’s family left for exile.

[otmaaromanovas]

Two newly discovered photographs of Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana in 1913

Photo 1: Tatiana standing on the left, Olga on the right taking a mirror selfie in their mirrored wardrobe (a new photo to add to the collection of Romanov selfies!)

Photo 2: Tatiana sitting by the balcony window, Alexander Palace.

These photos were taken the same day as these already known photographs, completing the scene. Spring, 1913.

As always, these new findings are from Ilya, @ LastRomanovs on flickr. These discoveries are thanks to his amazing and tireless effort to digitise all of the Romanov's albums in high quality for viewers to view online.

Source: LastRomanovs, GARF f.611 op.1 d.98 pp. 3-8

[the-last-tsar]

Alexander palace.

[worldoftheromanovs]

Researching the girls bedrooms and came across these photos…… I’m wondering if they could be their dressing room/bathroom?

From Anastasia’s 1915-1916 Hand Tinted Album

[foreverinthepagesofhistoryy]

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia playing with her little brother Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich and a camera (also with Maria Pavlovna the younger looking on), 1905 🤍

[thestarik]

Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia in the Mauve Room, Alexander Palace 1908.

[thugnificent714]

I escape reality by living in my artistry

[empress-alexandra]

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia in her favorite Mauve Boudoir, late 1890s.

[sardotin]

Being the Russian Empress and living here (Catherine the Great lives rent free in my mind and heart)

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

~ OTMA Enhanced ~

Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Nikolaevna posing with their newly shaved heads, product of the Measles, Tsarskoe Selo 1917

Enhanced by me :)

[romanov-ramblings]

Yesterday, GMZ Tsarskoe Selo (the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum Preserve) published a generous photographic spread on the now beautifully-restored Mountain Hall which visitors can now walk through as part of the permanent exhibition of recreated and restored interiors in the Alexander Palace! This part of the project to rehabilitate the Alexander Palace into part museum, and part multi-resource centre has been much discussed. This room, with its wooden slide or "mountain" as slides are known in Russia has been meticulously and painstakingly restored and partially recreated using old photographs, drawings, inventories from the museum period, and other archival materials. Objects which once stood in this room on the fireplace mantle, and on console tables are now back in their rightful place. The fire-screen is the original, just reupholstered. The furniture also comes from GMZ Tsarskoe Selo's own collection. The lunettes of faux sky have also been brought back to life. Below, I've translated (using Yandex Translate, which is better than Google by far) the article which GMZ Tsarskoe Selo published yesterday on the opening of the Mountain Hall. I translate from the original Russian as I know not everyone in the group speaks the language or can read/write it so this is for ease of reading and also for those members who are not as tech-savvy as well. So please enjoy the article, and the wonderful photographs which also include some that I added for a comparison of how the room was once, and how it comes to us today. Also, let's not forget the monumental work that has been done thus far. There is still work being done and it is just wonderful, and a miracle that it is being done at all. It's important to remember these workers and the many companies/firms which have had a hand in this project. ________________________________________________________________ RESTORATION OF THE HALL WITH A SLIDE COMPLETED. "The restoration of another interior of the Alexander Palace has been completed in the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve. The hall with a slide is part of the front suite; its decoration was made at the end of the 18th century according to the project of the architect Giacomo Quarenghi. For the first time in 80 years, visitors will see the hall as it was before the start of World War II. This is the fourteenth interior opened to the public during the large-scale restoration of the Alexander Palace. From February 2, the Hall with a slide will be included in the excursion route. The personal apartments of Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna in the Alexander Palace became available to visitors in August 2021. The restoration of the palace began in 2012 and is carried out mainly at the expense of funds allocated by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, as well as at the expense of the museum's own funds. The decoration of the Hall with a slide was recreated with the support of the Transsoyuz Charitable Foundation. – For us, the opening of the Hall with a slide is a continuation of the grandiose restoration epic of the Alexander Palace. I am glad that patrons took part in recreating the decoration of this unusual interior. Let me remind you that the Agate Rooms were restored at the expense of the Transsoyuz Foundation, the lapis lazuli portals of the Lyon Hall of the Catherine Palace were recreated,” says Olga Taratynova, director of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve. The hall with a slide got its name due to its main compositional element: in 1833, at the behest of Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a roller coaster brought from the Anichkov Palace was installed here, which was presented to the imperial children by their grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. The children of the imperial couple rolled down the hill on rugs. The hill, having undergone repairs in 1843, was in the hall for almost a hundred years, until 1941. The interior restoration project was developed by the specialists of the Architectural Bureau "Studio 44"; the restoration of the interior and the reconstruction of the slide according to their own project was carried out in 2019-2021 by the specialists of PSB ZhilStroy. The interior, like other halls of the front suite, has retained some elements of the original decoration. In the process of work, the artificial marble of the walls of light gray and lilac shades, typeset parquet and a fireplace were restored; Based on historical photographs, a picturesque frieze was recreated imitating artificial marble, as well as oak door and window fillings. While working in the lunettes (architectural spaces in the shape of a crescent), a genuine oil painting on canvas imitating windows was discovered under late painting, it was cleared and the losses made up. During the restoration of the ceiling, it became clear that the rosette in its center, which was considered to be stucco, is a metal, genuine one, which appeared in the hall, most likely during the renovation of the interior in the 1840s; it was dismantled, put in order and installed in its place. The project of manufacturing a chandelier according to a historical model was developed by specialists from the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop; complex and painstaking work on creating a copy of a chandelier for 40 candles was performed in the Yuzhakova Studio workshop. The exposition includes: furniture (from the museum's collection); decorations made of bronze and porcelain, including paired porcelain vases on the mantelpiece and a mantel screen, which historically come from this interior; bronze clock and candelabra with figures of Orpheus and Eurydice. Initially, in archival documents of 1796–1809, this interior was called the First Front Room. According to the project of Giacomo Quarenghi, the walls were finished with multi-colored "false" marble and decorated with pilasters with capitals. The room was heated by a "piece tiled" stove with copper and iron doors. The floor was oak parquet. The ceiling was painted "in stucco work" by the painters Giacomo and Ferrari. In 1809, the New (Alexander) Palace was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Palace Administration. In the inventory for this interior, the replacement of structural elements and the correction of painting and "false" marble are indicated. The furniture set of the First Front Room consisted of four gilded console tables with marble boards, eight gilded armchairs and 12 chairs. On the wall hung a large mirror in a gilded and painted frame. Two crystal girandoles were used for illumination. In 1833, at the behest of Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a roller coaster was installed in this interior. The ceremonial hall “where the Rolling Hill”, located between the Portrait Hall and the Library, eventually began to be called the “Gorkovy”, and then the Hall with a slide. In 1836, a bronze chandelier with 40 pipes was sent to light the Hall with a slide. In the 1840s, repairs were made in the Hall with a slide, connected with the installation of "warm floors" - heating according to the so-called Amosov system. During this period, the ceilings in the Hall with a slide were whitewashed, a marble fireplace was made, the parquet was replaced, and the rolling hill was remade by the carpenter Bolgagen. In the report of the painter Vdovichev, submitted to the Tsarskoye Selo Palace Administration in April 1843, it is indicated that he was “... in the New Palace in the Front Rooms, painting in friezes under fake marble painting.” Vsevolod Yakovlev, director of the Association of Palaces and Parks of Detskoye Selo, wrote about the use of the roller coaster: his children rolled off her on the rugs. In the last reign, during ceremonial breakfasts and dinners, an orchestra was located near the hill; under it, bicycles of Nicholas II and his children were usually kept. Today, toy cars are placed here ... and two carriages with bicycles, presented by someone to the son of Nicholas II." ________________________________________________________________ Photograph Credit: Tsarskoe Selo State Museum Preserve (GMZ Tsarskoe Selo). ________________________________________________________________ Please enjoy the article and information, as well as, the photographs! Also, if you'd like to share and/or re-post these photographs elsewhere PLEASE credit GMZ Tsarskoe Selo, accordingly. Thank-you!

[adini-nikolaevna]

Alexandra Memorial Chapel at the Alexander Palace

[otmaaromanovas]

A very rare photograph of Olga Nikolaevna trying the new automobile, Winter 1916

Also seen are Nicholas and Alexandra, and possibly Alexei Nikolaevich obscured by Nicholas. They are testing out the new Packard Twin Six Model 1-35 Touring Sedan automobile, especially equipped with skis! Poor Olga looks freezing!

[krasivaa]

1910 drawing by Irina Alexandrovna, found in the girl's classroom at the Alexander Palace. I'm not sure, but I think this is her and her mom Xenia.

[worldoftheromanovs]

One of the grand duchesses (possibly Anastasia or Maria?) being a gymnast presumably inside the Alexander Palace. March 1914

From Maria’s 1913-1914 Album