Central Salon of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo
1792–96
Medium
Pen and black ink, brush with gray, green, pink, blue, brown, and yellow wash, over ruled construction lines in graphite. Fragments of framing lines in black ink
Dimensions
14-5/8 x 22-7/8 in. (37.1 x 58.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1997
Accession Number
1997.143.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of imperial Russia with Giacomo Quarenghi's *Central Salon of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo* (1792–96), a masterful architectural drawing that captures the neoclassical splendor of one of Russia's grandest residences. Quarenghi, an Italian architect invited to St. Petersburg by Catherine the Great, designed this palace for her grandson, the future Tsar Alexander I. Located at Tsarskoe Selo (now Pushkin), the palace embodied Enlightenment ideals of symmetry, light, and refined ornamentation, blending Roman-inspired classicism with Russian opulence. Rendered ...