Pictures of the Interiors as they were

[blessOTMA]

It looks so cosy.

and colorful!! There is a pleasant sensation of really seeing these rooms when colour is added to our habitual study of the usually black and white photos. Thanks again!

[BobG]

Actually, I found them at Poemas del Rio Wang Tsarskoe Selo.  The pictures can be accessed at

riowang.blogspot.com/2011/05/tsarskoe-selo.html

A further search did turn up the same pictures at Royal Russia, which site identified the fourth picture as a dining room at the Lower Dacha at Peterhof. 

I let Paul Gilbert at Royal Russia know that the dining room and Tsars' study (both originally identified as AP rooms) were in fact from the Lower Dacha at Peterhof.  He was going to check his source to find out if more pictures from the Lower Dacha were available.
BobG

[Sarushka]

I let Paul Gilbert at Royal Russia know that the dining room and Tsars' study (both originally identified as AP rooms) were in fact from the Lower Dacha at Peterhof.  He was going to check his source to find out if more pictures from the Lower Dacha were available.
BobG

Thanks for pointing that out. I realized the dining room wasn't the one at the AP, but I missed NII's study.

[Joanna]

Original source of all Brandon DeCou's digital archive c1931:

i.e. exterior AP - zoom in/out
http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p265101coll30/id/3934/rec/42

Full collection:
http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/st.+petersburg+russia!russia/field/all!covera/mode/any!all/conn/and!and/page/3

Joanna

[EmmyLee]

Thank you Joanna! While using the zoom feature on the exterior shot, I realized that there are bars on the 2nd floor windows, probably put in place for the orphan children's safety.

[Sarushka]

EmmyLee -- we were posting about the same thing at the same time!


It wasn't just for the orphans' safety -- here's Olga in 1917:

[blessOTMA]

are you saying this photo of Olga was taken in captivity? Remarkable

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

So the bars must have been put there when the palace was originally built...interesting. Beautiful photo, Sarushka! Thank you for posting it. It reminds me of that c. 1913-14 shot of Olga Nikolaevna by a window with the same wistful expression on her face...

[Sarushka]

are you saying this photo of Olga was taken in captivity? Remarkable

Yep. Nena found it, I believe. I don't recall where.

[blessOTMA]

good lord there's an open book and flowers...sort of a strange riff on the 1914 formals

[EmmyLee]

Oh, thank you Sarushka. I had no idea that there were bars on the windows back then. Were they put up during captivity? If so, I wonder why they took up just half of the window.

[Sarushka]

Oh, thank you Sarushka. I had no idea that there were bars on the windows back then. Were they put up during captivity? If so, I wonder why they took up just half of the window.

Seeing the open windows from the outside, I suspect they were barred all along. Those windows look nearly as large as doorways and don't appear to have screens. Without bars I think they'd be a serious safety hazard to any children -- imperial or soviet.

[blessOTMA]

like  the Standart 's  railing....   

[EmmyLee]

Seeing the open windows from the outside, I suspect they were barred all along. Those windows look nearly as large as doorways and don't appear to have screens. Without bars I think they'd be a serious safety hazard to any children -- imperial or soviet.

Good point. Plus, if they had been put up during captivity some source probably would have mentioned it. I think I'm going to have to go back through my photos of the AP and see if the bars are visible in other photos.


*edit* Yes, they're faintly visible in other photos if you know to look for them.

[blessOTMA]

Plus, if they had been put up during captivity some source probably would have mentioned it. 

Exactly and look at them...they would not keep you from escaping... just from falling. The same concern that informed the Standart's railings is evident. Thanks for the photos!