Anna Aleksandrovna Vyrubova (1884-1964), Part 2

[nena]

Thank you a lot for sharing these ones! I see, that there is caption 'Nun Maria'. I didn't know that she converted. She was born and died in summer, I dare to notice.

[Michael HR]

How nice to see that her resting place is well maintained.

[amartin71718]

Question: In Vyrubova's memiors, she states that she was sitting with another woman, a Mme. Shiff, during the train crash. But she doesn't say what became of Shiff afterwards. Does anyone here have an idea of what happened?

[nena]

The furthest information I can get, Shiff is the name referred to the famous American banker Jacob Schiff, who had something to do with the Russian Empire back then. However, I don't see Virubova mentioning anything else except that woman, ' a sister of a distinguished officer of Cuirassiers' who accompanied her during the train accident. Most likely Nicola would find more information on her and as well as on her 'possible' connection with that banker. I guess she was famous at the Court, one woman from those Nobel families.

[amartin71718]

What happened to her during the train crash? Did she survive?

[amy]

I'm sorry to be a bother, just correcting a misidentified photo, but the picture below is actually of the Empress Alexandra's corner sitting room in the Winter Place.

Here is a larger version of Anna's parlor at her home in Tsarskoeselo.

[PAVLOV]

Are you quite sure Amy ?
It is a pity we do not have a bigger picture, as the famous portrait of Nicholas hung on the right above the large painting next to the fireplace. Not that anyone could get past all the clutter to get a look at it !
If this is her corner drawing room, her taste is worse than I thought. What an appallingly ugly room. Very depressing actually. It looks like a thrift junk shop.  All that rubbish lying around. I wonder what the frilly baskets were for ? They seem to pop up in many photographs. These look as if she kept dinner plates or something in them. Perhaps they were for the Royal knitting. I know what the style of the times were, but the poor woman really had no taste.
God forbid the museum curators try and recreate this room. Best they just leave it as it is today !!!   

[Sarushka]

I don't know what book this was originally scanned from, but from what little I know of German the caption appears to back Amy up:



(The two images being placed on the same page probably led to the confusion over the room's location.)

[rosieposie]

Her grave is well maintained.  Thanks for the photo Romanov Martyr

[amartin71718]

Are you quite sure Amy ?
It is a pity we do not have a bigger picture, as the famous portrait of Nicholas hung on the right above the large painting next to the fireplace. Not that anyone could get past all the clutter to get a look at it !
If this is her corner drawing room, her taste is worse than I thought. What an appallingly ugly room. Very depressing actually. It looks like a thrift junk shop.  All that rubbish lying around. I wonder what the frilly baskets were for ? They seem to pop up in many photographs. These look as if she kept dinner plates or something in them. Perhaps they were for the Royal knitting. I know what the style of the times were, but the poor woman really had no taste.
God forbid the museum curators try and recreate this room. Best they just leave it as it is today !!!   

Judging by the rope surrounding the furniture, couldn't this picture have been taken after the palace was made into a museum? So in other words, maybe this picture doesn't show what the room originally looked like. Perhaps things were placed there just for the sake of being placed there? i'm sorry if this post doesn't make sense. There is severe weather heading my way, so I'm typing and watching the news at the same time. it's not working so well.

[matushka]

It is indeed written in german "the Empress's reception room". So Amy si correct.

[rudy3]

Those two pictures are from: Rene Fulop-Miller  „Der heilige Teufel“ – Rasputin und die Frauen,  Leipzig, 1927

[Aglaya]

[amy]

Are you quite sure Amy ?

I seem to have gotten lost for a bit, but yes, I'm absolutely positive that's AF's corner drawing room in the WP. Awhile back, I did extensive research into the WP rooms (see: Private rooms of the Winter Palace thread), well, as extensive as one can sitting in front of a computer in the US. ; ) I visited in 2004, but my camera died mid-trip. I would love to visit these rooms again with a working camera, but who know when that will be. My bet is on "never."

[PAVLOV]

It actually is her drawing room in the WP, and yes they probably moved everything into a corner, so thats why it looks like a junk shop.

I still find it difficult to understand why, when there were storerooms full of the most gorgeous furniture, she chose this awful stuff.

I know that everyone has different tastes, but if one compares the Paley Palace in TS, and what the Yussoupovs put into their rooms, Empress Alexandra's taste is a mystery to me. I think her taste in general was based on Victorian rooms she occupied in her childhood and the horrors of Windsor Castle in QV time. A place she visited very often as a girl. These set the precedent for what she did to the AP and everywhere else. The " Maples" cozy look. Her brother also had an obsession with the " Style moderne", as is evidenced by the Palace in Hesse today, so I think he also had an influence on her as far as the Maple Room was concerned.

If one looks at the photographs of the rooms of Anna Vyrubova, they were very similar actually, I think mainly because she was so influenced  by Alexandra, and tried to emulate everything she did. Perhaps thats why we were confused by this room, and that of A V.
Perhaps Alexandra helped Anna decorate her house in Tsarskoe. That would explain it.