Private rooms of the Winter Palace

[Joanna]

Nicholas II's Gothic Library -

Nicholas' irritation is loud and clear in his letter!

http://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/gothic-library-alexander-iis-diaries.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Disorientating when seeing a reverse image!

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/winter-palace-getty-images.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Alexander III’s Window Etching in the Winter Palace
A window pane - historic museum piece.
Etch on my window, recyclable!

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/alexander-iiis-window-etching-in-winter.html

Joanna

[Janet Ashton]

Alexander III’s Window Etching in the Winter Palace
A window pane - historic museum piece.
Etch on my window, recyclable!

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/alexander-iiis-window-etching-in-winter.html

Joanna

I'm enjoying your blog very much, Joanna, and look forward to your book and its illustrations very much! Do you have details and a publication date?

[Joanna]

Thank you very much. It's thrilling for me that I am finally at the point to share snippets from my 20 years of research on the Winter Palace.

For example, here is a little tidbit of information that I will write. The standard emphasis has been on endless Imperial Balls. From January 1st to April 27th, 1902 there were 17 balls and dinners; 3 to 5 hours of the day if that. What of the majority of their days? I am taking us behind the closed doors, through the decades of the Imperial family's daily lives.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage, in an interview mentioned how impressed he was with the unconventional display of ordinary life in a palace in Munich. An idea he considered he would have liked for the Hermitage, but there were few tourists.

English readers will experience the past vibrant life of the Winter Palace.

My research and book is a work-in-progress, to be published in the fall of 2017.

Joanna

[DNAgenie]

Here is a little tidbit of information that I will write. The standard emphasis has been on endless Imperial Balls. From January 1st to April 27th, 1902 there were 17 balls and dinners; 3 to 5 hours of the day if that.

Whose idea would it have been to have so many Imperial Balls and dinners? Alexandra hated the balls, was not physically strong enough to dance all night, and frequently retired early, nor was she comfortable making small talk at the dinners.  Was it a hangover from the previous reign, when Empress Maria Feodorovna adored entertaining and would have insisted on having many such festivities? Or was it another of the 'usual customs' that Nicholas did not want to abandon?  Would love to know the background to all this activity.

[Joanna]

Two Staircases, Two Rooms, Two Nicholas’

Confused?

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/two-staircases-two-rooms-two-nicholas.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Whose idea would it have been to have so many Imperial Balls and dinners?

The Imperial Family resided in the Winter Palace for the winter season. The balls and dinners were followed according to precedence i.e. for diplomatic corps, etc. Sometimes the balls were cancelled due to illness such as wife of Nicholas I or Empress Marie F. or the family were living in their other palaces; Moscow, Livadia. Other balls/dinners were added depending on the reign. Nicholas II had a dinner in the Malachite every year with the German Ambassador and Embassy on Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday.

Nicholas II in his diary wrote how he loved when Carnival had ended and the great fast began, he was tired of late nights upsetting his routine.

Joanna

[Joanna]

Alexander Hall in the Winter Palace

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/07/alexander-hall-in-winter-palace.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

‘Chamber Pots’ in the Winter Palace

We are amused!

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/chamber-pots-in-winter-palace.html

Joanna

[Sanochka]

I was surprised to read of "silver chamber pots of Nicholas II's daughters."  I've always been under the impression that they relied exclusively on "modern" indoor plumbing.  Under what circumstances would they have used chamber pots?

[Joanna]

Under what circumstances would they have used chamber pots?

For the daughters, they were most likely used when they were sick in bed. By the late 1800s, toilets were predominate. Up until Alexander III, they still maintained chamber pots, usually in washstands or covered as chairs.

Joanna

[Joanna]

Daguerreotype of the Grand Dukes c1855

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/daguerreotype-of-grand-dukes-c1855.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

3rd Spare Drawing Room on the 2nd Floor in the Winter Palace

http://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/3rd-spare-drawing-room-on-2nd-floor-in.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Furniture in the Winter Palace – Bedrooms (1)

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/furniture-in-winter-palace-bedrooms-1.html

Joanna