The Amber Room of the Catherine Palace

[Robert_Hall]

I was told that the flash can bleach the amber- not one or two, of course, but if thousands did it, real damage could be done. Also, the Amber Room is copyrighted.
I was in awe of the place and people taking flash pictures would have been most distracting anyway.

[helenazar]

Hi Helen and Belochka,

It seems that the "No Photography" rule is a constantly changing reality of Russian museums !
To my dismay though, photography was forbidden in the Alexander Palace ... Perhaps this has since changed, as I see that some people have managed to photograph the interiors since then  

Sorry to hear Helen you were unable to take the photos you wanted, I will hunt to see if I have any more
I think its just the Russian way if sometimes they seem slightly brusque  

Greg

Hi Greg,

Yes, they indeed "changed" the photography rules at the AP (what a surprise  ). When I was there in May, there were no restrictions as to taking photos and I was happily able to snap away at my leisure! Seems that these rules are basically "however the mood strikes them"   I have many photos of the interiors of the AP which I posted on this site, and many which I didn't!

Helen

P.S. I'd love to see more of your Amber room photos!

[helenazar]

What was the booklet you received?

It was a softcover book (actually pretty nice) which had color photos and descriptions of the Amber room, along with origins of the specific objects there. We even had a choice of languages: English, Russian, German or French! I am going to see if I can find it and post a picture of it, right now I have it hidden somewhere in a "safe place" (and as of this moment no idea where that might be!   )

[Belochka]

I was told that the flash can bleach the amber- not one or two, of course, but if thousands did it, real damage could be done. Also, the Amber Room is copyrighted.

I am more inclined to believe the copyright issue. It must have become more strict after the official opening.

I will try later to post a few of my own images.  

[helenazar]

I am more inclined to believe the copyright issue. It must have become more strict after the official opening.

I think you're right, this is probably why they gave out the books instead of allowing photos!

[Belochka]

We must give full credit to the modern craftsmen and architects, under the direction of Alexander Kedrinsky, who so skillfully recreated the magnificance of this room.

The parquetry has also been reproduced from valuable woods, while the gilded gold leaf decor all add a distinctive dimension to the rich golden glow.

It took 20 years  to accumulate this amber, supplied solely by the Kalingrad Amber Factory.

On May 31, 2003 on the occassion of St. Petersburg's Tercentenary, this room was inaugurated.

[lexi4]

There is a thread concerning the amber room on page 2 of this board "Tsarskoe Selo Palaces" .... Also the official tsarskoe selo website www.eng.tzar.ru has a fantastically detailed history of the original room , plus the modern reconstruction. Unfortunately, the site at present does not have photos of the completed amber room, which was finished in May 2003.

Greg D  

I was unable to fine the thread concerning the amber room. Is it still available? I would like to find it. Thanks.

[shelly]

It is really hard to see how they did it. It is like a tile work but tile works a kid could do. Who could do this?  Like re-building  a New England stone wall. I bet they would not let you run your hands over it and I would sure like to feel it. Hard to find people who have the time for this type art any more.

[Robert_Hall]

I have seen a lot of "drop yer jaw" art work over the years, but this room is abolutely enchanting.  The work itself deserves the highest praise, but the legends and history add to that even more ! The patina of age may never return, but it's present state is still amazing. I have every intention of seeing it again.  Winter sunlight & dusk were beautiful, hopefully late summer next time.

[ChristineM]

The amber master in charge of the reconstruction of the Amber Room was Igdalov.

Until they received the huge amount of funding from Ruhr Gas, each piece of amber was softened using an ordinary hand-held hairdryer.

The $3,500,000 grant received from Ruhr Gas made it possible to complete the room in time for the St Petersburg Tercentenary Celebrations.   As well as allowing Igdalov and his jewellers to buy large quantities of amber when it came on the market, they were also able to buy in the latest technology to use in the moulding of the amber.  

Without Ruhr Gas' generous donation, it was estimated it would have taken a further eight years to complete.   In other words, four years from now.

tsaria

[hikaru]

But before they received from German Company the grant,which was very necessary to finalize the work, they were receiving huge amounts of fund during Soviet Union from the state. The fixed huge State's  financing began from 1979 and it contunued till 1991.

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

Hello everybody,

Last time i saw the room, that was in 2003, the restoration was not finished. I mean that even if the amber panels are all done and put in place, i missed the sconces that used to be in the middle of each of the long narrow mirrors. I hope you understand what i mean.

Does anyone know if they have been restored since 2003?

Antonio.

[helenazar]

Does anyone know if they have been restored since 2003?

Antonio.

Antonio, the room is now complete. It was completed in 2003 I believe, so you must have just missed it! But in all actuality it was not really restored but reconstructed. Nothing from the room actually survived, except for one panel. I am not sure if this panel is now in the room. I had the opportunity to take a tour of the workshop where the reconstruction was done, and was shown exactly how it was done. It's very interesting! I took lots of photos, and I will post them when I get back home in a couple of weeks. A little later I will also post the website link where amber works made by the same masters can be seen.  

Also, according to one of the amber masters, amber does get damaged by light, hence it is true about the flash photography. Amber, being an organic matter doesn't last very long like real stones. The present restored room will only last about 250 years until all amber completely falls apart...  

[helenazar]

Here is a link to the Amber Room and Workshop website, where you can view pieces of amber art made  by the exact same six artists who created the Amber Room.
 

www.amberroom.ru

[Belochka]

Also, according to one of the amber masters, amber does get damaged by light, hence it is true about the flash photography. Amber, being an organic matter doesn't last very long like real stones. The present restored room will only last about 250 years until all amber completely falls apart...  

Greetings Helen_A,

I am curious about the appearance of the original Amber panels. Would they not have appeared degraded by the time the nazi's removed them in WWII?

Gem grade amber is soft and so fragile it can easily crumble when used in construction... could that fragility be the reason for the short life span of the new Amber room?

Thank you for the interesting link!