Private rooms of the Winter Palace

[rgt9w]

Searching the official Hermitage website, I found a watercolor of the "Green Dining Room". Unfortunately, I could not locate one for a "Yellow Dining Room"

[Angwen]

I love malachite! All the green & swirls are so cool.

Yeah, I'm back!

[David_Pritchard]

FYI:

The malachite souvenirs offered for sale in Saint Petersburg and Moscow are not Russian in origin, that is not from the old malachite mines in the Urals, but rather from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Years ago I ran into a Congolese man who supplied the flea market traders at Izmailovsky Park with their malachite wares. He told me that it was now cheaper to import the Congolese malachite than mine it in the Urals. It seems as if nothing is safe from globalisation.

David

[Gavin.O]

It seems that no matter how many times I visit the official Hermitage website, I can always find something new and interesting. Most recently, I came across a beautiful picture of what was described as the Hermitage Library.

My questions are: Where within the Winter Palace/Hermitage complex was the library located? And does the library still exist today, and not only as a room but as a library?

Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure out how to upload the image. But perhaps someone will know the room I'm referring to.

--Gavin.

[Mike]

Probably you're referring to this room:

It's the Nicholas II's Library, located in the Winter Palace at the side facing the Admiralty.

Prior to 1917, there were two other libraries in what is now the Hermitage Museum: the Imperial Hermitage Foreign Library and the Imperial Hermitage Russian Library. The latter was intended for the palace staff's recreational and educational use.

Various book collections within the Hermitage (including that shown on the photo) are parts of the museum's large (over 700,000 items) research library that is closed to the general public but may be visited with a special permission.

[Gavin.O]

Mike, thank you for the reply, but no that is not the room. I wish I could figure out how you inserted that image.

Perhaps, instead, this link will work. Either way, do you know where within the complex the other libraries were located? Were they within the palace itself or in the New Hermitage?

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-bin/db2www/fullSize.mac/fullSize?selLang=English&dlViewId=V%2B40%2B40%2B23ECBAND8LBQVC&size=small&selCateg=picture&dlCategId=YM7M0UKAH%2B23%2B23NDIXD&comeFrom=quick

[Mike]

To insert an image, use the [img] tag, as explained in the Help section.

The library view that you posted is dated 1826, therefore the room cannot be in the New Hermitage built in the 1840s-1850s. Moreover, I've a strong feeling that it doesn't exist anymore. The Winter Palace/Hermitage complex was rebuilt several times, including after the 1837 great fire, during which a library was known to have perished. Probably it was that same library pictured by Alexei Tyranov.

[BobG]

Mike,
I'm pretty sure the room still exists and in the guide to the museum is Room 128, The Kolyvan Vase Room.
You can see a picture of it on the Hermitage web site and compare the details to the 1826 drawing.
Here's the link:
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/05/hm5_2_4_10.html

But you're right, it is not in the New Hermitage, but in the Large Hermitage along the Neva.

BobG

[Mike]

the room still exists and in the guide to the museum is Room 128, The Kolyvan Vase Room.

No, the Ancient Rome Hall that contains the Kolyvan Vase was built in 1851... Look also at the columns, their bases are quite different from those on the 1826 library picture.

[BobG]

Mike,
I stand corrected, but those rooms certainly look like one another.  I have to believe the new room was based on the old one and may have even used parts of it.  
I'll have to do a little more research on this one!
BobG

[Mike]

I am curious if these rooms today have been restored as library exhibits or are used for art displays.

The former library rooms at the New Hermitage are parts of the ancient Greek and Roman section, mainly sculpture.

[brnbg aka: liljones1968]

Searching the official Hermitage website, I found a watercolor of the "Green Dining Room". Unfortunately, I could not locate one for a "Yellow Dining Room"

are you sure you don't mean the Yellow Drawing Room, which was part of the duke of Leuchtenburg's apartments?     cuz, i don't recall a yellow dining room......

[Romanov_Fan19]

Does   anyone have a pic  of  OTMAAs bedrooms

[Gavin.O]

i believe this was the location of the former dining room (the one blown up by the bomb).    was it really known as the "Yellow Dining Room"?

I have seen this particular room identified before as "the study room" in the third reserve apartment. Of course, it could have also been a dining room during another period of history.

--Gavin.

[Gavin.O]

I was wondering if anyone might know a little about the history of the room that became the library of Nicholas II, off of the rotunda? What was this room before it was converted to the library?

Is there, perhaps, a painting of that room by Hau or Premazzi? I know that Ukhtomsky painted the small winter garden that later became Nicholas' study.

Thanks.

--Gavin.