Catherine Palace Restoration

[richard_1990]

http://www.geo.uw.edu.pl/HOBBY/AMBER/amberroom.jpeg
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/amberroom.jpg
http://www.imaging-and-art.com/russia/rus_images/amber-room.jpg
http://image63.webshots.com/63/8/89/55/470588955FDIKVQ_fs.jpg

There are plenty on google.

[Constantinople]

the feeling that I get when I look at those pictures, i think what would it look like if i covered a room's walls in toffee or peanut brittle.

[lilianna]

http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=387521&cid=460

[ArchitectCS]

Does anyone have recent pictures of the exterior of the Catherine Palace?  Last I heard, they were restoring the church domes and I believe it is done now.  I also think work was being done on one of the facades.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[Alexander1917]

Does anyone have recent pictures of the exterior of the Catherine Palace?  Last I heard, they were restoring the church domes and I believe it is done now.  I also think work was being done on one of the facades.  Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks.

A picture could be found here.
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thecureforeverything.org/images/uploads/CatherinesPalace.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thecureforeverything.org/&usg=__nDBrH-NpymF-3FvwBcKkUROXL1E=&h=478&w=640&sz=191&hl=de&start=15&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ZwjJpfgdj_3YTM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dst%2Bcatherine%2Bpalace%2B2010%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

this must be recently. During my visit in May 2009 the top of the domes very very shinning from new gold. but the the other parts of the church were scaffolded.

[ArchitectCS]

Does anyone know what work is being done at the Catherine Palace these days?  They finished the Arabesque Hall last year-has any progress been made on the Lyon Hall?  Any work on the Chapel or any of the pavilions? 

[Vladimir_V.]

Catherine Palace - no plans. New goal is the AP. In June we see 2nd floor.

[PAVLOV]

Are you saying that they are restoring the 2nd floor of the AP ?

[Vladimir_V.]

Restoration is a long process and I think we see the rooms before the restoration. TS director Olga Taratynova said that the museum opens an exhibition in June in the AP (the 2nd floor).

She also said that they start to restore the garden facade of the Catherine Palace and the Agate Rooms.

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

The Lower Bathhouse of Tsarskoïe Selo are restored and opened !!  Here a video : http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/news/356news.html

The history of this pavilion : http://eng.tzar.ru/museums/palaces/catherine_park/regular/lower_bath

[G.Michael]

To bring back an old discussion from earlier in this thread, I recently stumbled across another depiction of the Catherine Palace in yellow, this one apparently from the 1830s. I don't know about the original color, but it seems the palace was not always blue.

http://antiquariy.ru/engraving-4-151.html

[bongo]

The proportions of the Great Hall in the Catherine Palace have always looked odd to me, and not quite right.
Now thanks to the new found autochrome I see my suspicions were correct: the original ceiling was higher and coved. I've seen a photograph of the ruins with some of the beams still intact above the coved section, so why did they choose to lower it and ruin the historical proportions - esp with their usual commitment to historical exactitude? It's quite shocking!

[londo954]

I remember seeing a documentary years ago on the restoration of the main ballroom . It was done by National Geographic. You are correct about the proportions but there had to be a reason. From my own research on Russian Palace architecture I have found that each successive occupant of a given palace would alter it to suit their own tastes. the post war restorers had to decide as to WHEN to restore the rooms to... I suggest that they current look of the main ballroom reflects an earlier period before the pciture posted.

[bongo]

Here's the photograph of the damaged hall. You can see the remaining beams resting higher on the third tier which now no longer exists. I can't believe the hall ever looked as it does now with the mis-proportioned ceiling, so recreating it thus makes no sense. In terms of proportions its as disastrous as the modern dome on the Berlin Cathedral. Both look odd. Say what you like about the past: trained in classical studies at least architects then got their proportions right.

I can't find any mention of this lowered ceiling anywhere so it's intriguing.

[londo954]

I did a comparison with a modern day photograph and the older one posted here. I noticed that there could be a possible explanation. If you examine a current photo it appears that the ceiling g painting was extend to cover the third tier. I suggest that the ceiling being lower is an illusion created by the extension of the painting and removal of the third tier of decoration. The decorative element could have been a later addition.