The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia

Built by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli during the reign of Russia’s Empress Elizabeth, the Winter Palace would come to symbolize Russian Imperial power. Rastrelli’s magnificent palace, referred to by W. Bruce Lincoln [1] as. “one of the last great baroque buildings to take shape anywhere in the world,” was constructed, according to Rastrelli, “solely for the glory of all Russia.” It would be the home of the Imperial family until 1917.

 

The Fourth Winter Palace

 

Facing the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Rastrelli’s masterpiece was completed at enormous costs. Although commissioned by Empress Elizabeth, she never lived to see its completion, dying in 1761. With 1,054 rooms and a quarter of a million square feet, the palace “symbolized the power of empire itself,” according to Bruce Lincoln. According to Suzanne Massie, “It is Rastrelli’s triumph that, massive as it is, the palace turquoise blue…with its reflection shimmering in the waters of the Neva, seems almost to be floating.” [2]

 

After the death of Peter III in 1762, the Winter Palace found in Catherine II its greatest patron. Catherine, who once referred to herself as a “glutton” when it came to collecting works of art, began to fill the palace with some of Western Europe’s greatest masterpieces, buying entire collections at once. Whenever significant collections came on the market, Catherine’s agents snatched them up and shipped them to Russia.

 

The State Hermitage Museum, of which the Winter Palace is a part, today boasts the finest collection in the world with works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, El Greco, and Matisse. Although the Winter Palace was not open to the public until 1852, it was after the fall of the Romanov Dynasty in 1917 that the imperial residence became the vast public museum that it is today.

 

Catherine the Great’s Contributions

 

Enlarging the Winter Palace in 1765, Catherine added a “hermitage,” her “little retreat,” and filled it with paintings, sculpture, and rare antiquities. Subsequent hermitages would be built as the collection grew. A voracious collector, Catherine bought both Voltaire and Denis Diderot’s libraries and placed them in her palace. Walking the palace halls alone at night, she enjoyed her paintings and took inspiration from them.

 

Not a particularly religious women, her collection features many religious works including the “Litta” Madonna by Da Vinci. The Hermitage Theatre allowed Catherine to enjoy private plays and concerts with her inner circle of friends.

 

The Symbol of Imperial Power

 

The palace square is dominated by the Alexander Column, commemorating Russian victory during the struggles with Napoleon. It was from the great balcony facing the square that Tsar Alexander I blessed his troops as they prepared to march against France. The palace square reveals the immensity of the palace. According to Bruce Lincoln, “the palaces of Europe’s kings and queens never conjured up moods and meanings in the way the winter palace did.” [3]

 

It was in the Winter Palace that Russia’s Provisional Government was captured during the Bolshevik Revolution of October, 1917. The room is preserved as is the original clock, stopped at the moment the government fell. Rastrelli’s greatest work became the property of the state and is today one of the greatest repositories of art and historical antiquities.

 

Sources:

 

[1]W. Bruce Lincoln, Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia (New York: Basic Books, 2000) p. 40-41

[2] Suzanne Massie, Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980) p.126.

[3] Lincoln, p.81