September 16-17, 2005, Photos of AP

[Arleen_Ristau]

Makes me feel like a good cry to see the beloved AP so up close and personal!  Now I realize how much work it is going to take to get it restored.  I admire you Bob, and all the others who are working so hard, towards that end.  God bless you!

Scott, your pictures are magnificent, as ALWAYS!

..Arleen

[Laura Mabee]

 
Thank you Scott!! Your pictures are fantastsic!!!
I always get get so excited whenever I see this thread updated!

[Nastya]

  it breaks my heart seeing it like that when the romanovs were alive it was filled with happiness and so full of life now its just dead to me, like them    

[Tsarfan]

Scott, your pictures just leave me speechless.

More than any others on this site, they bring home the unforgivable condition of what is, in my opinion, the gem of Russia's neoclassical movement -- supreme over even Pavlosk.

I am one of the small minority on this board who sees the Alexander Palace not primarily as the last domicile of Nicholas and Alexandra, but rather as a very special building that evokes the many other Romanovs -- all more suited to their mission than Nicholas -- who made it one of their favorite homes.

I can certainly understand the longing of many to have it restored to the state in which Nicholas and Alexandra left it, and that makes sense for the wing in which they had their private aparments.  (I would have been one of the St. Petersburg wags who ridiculed the London suburb decor in which Alexander swathed it.  It was, of course, her home and not mine . . . but I really wish she had unleashed her chintz, bric-a-brac, and store-bought furniture on one of the more already overwrought Russian palaces where it would not have looked so out of place.)

But I desperately hope the public rooms will be restored and furnished to the supreme neoclassicial harmony in which they were first conceived by Quarenghi.  I would much rather see the palace as it was planned by Catherine the Great and known to Alexander I.  This most perfect of Russian palaces should be a shrine to the glories of Russia's monarchy, not to its demise.

[Lucien]

Makes me feel like a good cry to see the beloved AP so up close and personal!  Now I realize how much work it is going to take to get it restored.  I admire you Bob, and all the others who are working so hard, towards that end.  God bless you!

Scott, your pictures are magnificent, as ALWAYS!

..Arleen

I fully second Arleens emotion,heartbreaking beautifull images Scott,heartbreaking indeed.

I assume the first pic of the first set you posted,shows the door of the Oval Room,it was through this door Nicky,
Sunny and the children left the Palace?For the last time.

Heartwarming the efforts of so many dedicated people to restore this Palace and its place in History.Lucien.

[ChristineM]

Thanks Tsarfan.   The Alexander Palace is outstanding in its simple, symmetrical, classic beauty.   To witness Scott's absolutely superb photographs (I have visited this place countless times and have observed much in Scott's photographs not previously observed with the 'naked eye') reinforces the degree of peril into which this unique building has collapsed.

Nicholas and Alexandra's chosen 'home', like all homes, included elements of previous occupants alongside fashions which frequently change during our own occupancy.  

Alexandra only 'inflicted' her 'English' tastes inside the family's private apartments.   The Alexander Palace was not just her first, it was her one and only 'home'.    She was entitled to make it feel the 'home' she craved.   A place of security and...  in a foreign land.   I think we can grant her that!    

The Maple Room was part of the 'private apartments'.   A kind of 'medulla oblongata', it straddled the private and the formal apartments.    I think this must have been one of the most original and exquisite rooms to be found anywhere.  

Like most of the private apartments, it is not 'restoration' which is required.   It is total reconstruction.   Are there the materials, the skills, the cash and, most importantly, the WILL, to embark on such an enormous project?   And I refer to the Maple Room alone - the creation of Alix and her brother Ernie.

tsaria  

[BobG]

I agree with all regarding the need for restoration of the AP and it seems like nothing will really happen until the current military occupants vacate. This would require some movement on the part of Putin's government to make this happen. Once the palace is free of its occupants, then the possibility of a restoration/reconstruction can begin to happen.

When you see the pictrues of the private rooms of Gatchina, you see how MF created "victorian" cluttered interiors which were just as personal as Alex's Maple room.  I think N&A interiors are probably more historically valuable than the Palace as originally designed.

[Belochka]

Alexandra only 'inflicted' her 'English' tastes inside the family's private apartments.   The Alexander Palace was not just her first, it was her one and only 'home'.    She was entitled to make it feel the 'home' she craved.   A place of security and...  in a foreign land.   I think we can grant her that!    

tsaria  

I agree with you tsaria, as the Tsaritsa it was her prerogative to remodel her palace as she saw fit. If objections to the style and quality of furnishings did not coincide with the more fashionable trends employed by the St. P social set, then it was "just too bad." She was entitled to her express her own tastes.

[Tsarfan]

I really do agree with you all that Alexandra -- obviously -- had the right to decorate her home as she chose.  The fact that I happen not to like her tastes (in most cases) is just a reflection of my own tastes and carries no more weight than that.  And I also agree that the private apartments should be brought back to the state in which she and Nicholas left them (although I regret that means the lost Music Hall stays lost).

By the way, I happen to be a fan of Art Nouveau, and I think the Maple Room was one of Alexandra's few interior design inspirations -- although the credit might lie more with her brother.

I do hope, though, that things that affect the design integrity of this masterpiece as a whole reflect Quarenghi.  For instance . . . no iron balconies on the exterior.

My views in this matter don't have anything to do with my views of Nicholas and Alexandra . . . and I have very conflicted views on the restoration of historical residences in general.  For instance, I think the U. S. White House should always be maintained as a federal-style mansion, inside and out (except for the private quarters), not as its greatest occupant, Abraham Lincoln, knew it.  But I think the Great Palace at Tsarskoye Selo should reflect Catherine the Great and Cameron more than its original design under Elizabeth.  The Winter Palace is such a hodge-podge (and so huge), anyway, that I think it can accommodate any number of historical references.  I think those portions of Versailles that were modified in the 19th-century should be returned to their original baroque decor wherever feasible, but I think the 18th-century modifications (except for the loss of the Ambassadors staircase) should be respected.

There is no rhyme or reason to any of this.  I cannot even articulate to myself why in some cases I think it's the original building that should be inviolate and in others I think the building should represent its most significant occupant(s).

Well . . . now I'm wondering why I even turned the discussion onto this track.

Oh, well.  Have a good day, everyone.

[Belochka]

I do hope, though, that things that affect the design integrity of this masterpiece as a whole reflect Quarenghi.  For instance . . . no iron balconies on the exterior.

Yes absoultely correct point Tsarfan.

The stately residence must reflect the architectural brilliance of G. Quarenghi in its purest form.

[PssMarieAmelie]

Thankyou Scott for these photos.....they are wonderful!!

[ChristineM]

I assume you are referring to Alexander's balconies as well as the balcony commissioned by Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarfan!

I agree with you about retaining the purity of the creation, but the Alexander Palace was required to function as a home as well as a palace.   Emperors and kings had to live somewhere.   They had to make the building suit the way they lived as best they could.   The alternative was to  compromise their lifestyle to suit the building.  

There were many changes in the intervening century between Catherine II/Giacomo Quarenghi and Nicholas II/ Roman Meltzer.   Electricity and plumbing being examples.

Close to where we live there is a Victorian townhouse which is now a world famous hotel.   After visiting it a few times, I could not work out what was wrong, but I knew it just didn't work for me.   Then it dawned on me.   The interior designers had made an excellent job of reproducing a Victorian house down to the minutest detail.   But in 1871, people didn't life in houses where every single item was made in that year.   Like all our homes, it should have been a melange of different periods and different styles from old, maybe, shabby to chic and cutting edge.  

This is what I believe would make the Alexander Palace most fascinating - to see how it actually worked as a home as well as a palace.      

I see Tsarfan's point quite clearly.   Thank goodness we now have stringent planning laws.   So much has been lost due to vandalism masquerading as 'improvement'.

The vital thing is to discuss these issues, certainly insofar as the Alexander Palace is concerned.   This is how it will be kept alive, at least in spirit, until the time comes - hopefully in the not too distant future - when life can be breathed back into this most elegant of important historical structures.

tsaria

 

[Tsarfan]

I'm still trying to figure out my own views about restoration.

For many years I collected 18th- and early 19th-century American furniture and decorative arts.  I was one of those collectors who preferred pieces that were meticulously researched and restored to the state intended by their creators.  But in that, I ran against the grain of the collector community, among whom "untouched condition" was all the rage.

You are right, Tsaria, about old residences containing the layered relics of evolving use by many generations over the years.  Some of the finest American antiques migrated further and further upstairs over the years as the newest style was installed in formal rooms, and the older styles first went upstairs to the owners' private quarters, then on to the servants' quarters and, finally (if we were lucky), to the attics.  My favorite restorations have always been those that haul the things from the attic back onto the main floor.

Most palaces were, of course, working homes for their occupants, and they cannot be properly experienced without that element being captured in their restoration.

But I drift off in a different direction when it comes to those relatively few palaces that were true architectural gems.  And I count the Alexander Palace among those.

Tsaria, I envy you and others who have had the chance to visit the Alexander Palace, especially many times.  It's going to be one of the first trips I take in my retirement.  (Despite my having walked many a mile through the palaces of western Europe, I have not been in a hurry to get to St. Petersburg and its environs, in part because of a reluctance to see it before restoration efforts are further advanced.)  But I really don't know what I hope to see when I get there.

Part of me would be disappointed to find many of the post-Quarenghi changes preserved at the Alexander Palace, including Nicholas I's "improvements."  (I've seen watercolors of the interiors spanning the 19th century, and Alexandra was certainly not the first occupant to move away from Quarenghi's vision.)  And part of me would be disappointed if it didn't clearly carry the imprimatur of its last occupants.

Well . . . here I am again.  Right back to where I know not where.

Why does this particular palace always leave me with so many unresolved feelings?

[RichC]

I agree with all regarding the need for restoration of the AP and it seems like nothing will really happen until the current military occupants vacate. This would require some movement on the part of Putin's government to make this happen. Once the palace is free of its occupants, then the possibility of a restoration/reconstruction can begin to happen.

When you see the pictrues of the private rooms of Gatchina, you see how MF created "victorian" cluttered interiors which were just as personal as Alex's Maple room.  I think N&A interiors are probably more historically valuable than the Palace as originally designed.

IMO I do not think it will be much longer before the Palace begins to get some attention from the Russian government.  As the Moscow Times wrote today, Putin's governement is embracing Russia's imperial past -- I expect that a restored Alexander Palace will be a full part of that.  

But I would like to see it now, before it becomes overrun with tourists -- then see it later, again, after it is restored.

[ChristineM]

I'd love to know what Scott feels about this, Tsarfan.   His photographs let the world see the Alexander Palace - warts and all.   And, lets face it, the warts are only too plain to see.  

I too worry about restoration/reconstruction.   There is frequently a tendency to over-restore.   If this were to be the case with the Alexander Palace, I think I would have to, reluctantly, admit I would rather the place be left alone.  

It is the motivation behind its restoration which would be fundamental.  (This, of course, presupposes a desire to see the Alexander Palace restored.)   If the palace is perceived purely as a commodity - a tourist trap - the result will be horrendous.   If it is regarded as a building of outstanding architectural as well as historical interest, then any restoration or reconstruction should be more sympathetic.  

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had reached that stage of debate.   For now, the Alexander Palace remains a decaying Russian naval establishment which is rotting before our eyes.

tsaria