As if continuing the previous album, I will tell you about
one more recently renovated building - the Stroganovsky Palace.
The palace is located on the corner of
Nevsky Avenue and the river Moika, near the Police (Folk) Bridge.
It
was built in 1754 for baron S.G. Stroganov. The baron had been residing
on this plot for almost 11 years when he decided to build himself a more
decent house.
The construction was delegated to F.B. Rastrelli; interestingly
enough, the palace was built very quickly - in approximately six weeks
(not counting the decorating).
Now, after a prolonged renovation, the
scaffolding has been removed and one can see the altered color
(previously it was green, and prior to that - blue) and a number of
renovated details. Some have said that the interior has also been
partially restored.
Apparently, the current color scheme is historically more accurate
(even though it was re-painted a total of 9 times :)
I would say the argument is subjective - before, because of the darker
color, the building stood out, but now it seems so ordinary.
Balcony railings on the Moika side.
Later, at the end of the XVIII century,
the palace belonged to A.S. Stroganov - the president of the Academy of
the Arts. He owned a serf named A.N. Voronikhin, whose talent Stroganov
widely promoted, which led to the serf becoming a renowned architect
(it's enough just to mention the Kazan Cathedral).
In 1793 Voronikhin also rebuilt the Stroganovsky palace (inside).
The front of the palace from the side of
Nevsky Avenue.
In 1918 the palace was nationalized, in
1919 it was turned into a museum (later it was closed down, and the
collections were divided up between other museums). Afterwards the
palace housed various organizations/institutions.
Currently, since
about 1991, Stroganovsky palace is a branch of the Russian Museum.
The first floor contains the museum of wax figures and the souvenir
shop.
The balcony from the Nevsky Avenue side.
The Stroganov coat of arms.
The meaning is described as follows:
In the center is a bear's head. It's copied from the coat of arms
of Perm territory as a mark of kind-heartedness of the emperor in his
position as the Prince of Perm.
On the sides are sables. They're borrowed from the Siberian coat of
arms, as a sign of service of the Stroganov family with respect to
cultivating the Siberian lands.
And this, as someone suggested to me, is
the architect of the palace - F.B. Rastrelli.
This way he immortalized himself :)
This is a reminder, that separate topical photographs from the life of
the city are periodically published in the right-hand column of the
Wandering Camera home page. Moreover, the photos are not just mine, but
also those of others (with the owners' permissions), which intrigued me.
I will note, that they can be added not only at the top of page devoted
to the appropriate month, but also in the middle or the beginning of the
page (if, for example, I acquire the photo later, than it was taken).
The preference is given to photos, which reflect any event, or news.
However it is not necessarily essential.
