Pictures of Imperial Petersburg

I. The Imperial City

01. Mosaic of Peter the Great, founder of St. Petersburg in 1703. Made at the Lomonosov mosaic factory. Lomonosov was one of the foremost Neo-classicist 18th-century poets, famous for his odes and also his treatises on versification and literary language. In addition he was a top scientist and the founder of the mosaic factory that provided the glass pieces for this mosaic. The portrait hangs in the Hermitage Museum. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg, 1986

02. The Wax figure of Peter the Great, a life size likeness, with a face cast from peter's death mask. Main hero of a novella by the Russian Formalist, Iurii Tynianov (Voskovaia figura). Displayed in the Hermitage Museum. Photo: hermitagemuseum.org

03. Winter Palace, now the Hermitage Museum, view from the Palace Embankment by the Neva, opposite of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first Winter Palace was a small 2-storeyed building completed on Peter the Great's instructions in 1711. The second was also a small palace and the site of Peter the Great's death in 1725. The third Winter palace was more imposing and designed by Dominico Trezzini on the site of the present Hermitage Theater-further down the embankment across the winter Canal. The palace you see here was started during Empress Elizabeth in 1754, and completed in 1762, the year Catherine the Great ascended to the throne. The architect is Francesco Rastrelli and the palace is considered one of the masterpieces of Russian Baroque; the external view has remained largely unchanged since its completion. Photo: wikimedia.org

04. Winter Palace (Francesco Rastrelli 1954-62) from the Palace Embankment. Photo: nationalgeographic.com

05. Winter Palace. Francesco Rastrelli 1754-1762. Russian Baroque. Brass band playing the old tsarist hymn (="Dear Old Macalester") in 1991. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1991.

06. Macalester students on Palace Square in January 1987. From the right: Kari Bronaugh, Gretchen Milloy, Ferrall McMahon, Andrea Matthews, Rosemary Buccina, Randi Barnes. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1987.

07. Winter Palace (Francesco Rastrelli 1954-62) from Palace Square. Photo: about.com

08. Winter Palace: Malachite hall. Designed by Alexander Briullov, decorated with 8 columns and 8 pilasters of malachite, plus spectacular malachite ornaments: candelabra, a large bowl, and vases. The room was used as a salon by the wife of Nikolas I. In 1917 this room and the nearby White Dining room were the site of the last meeting of the Kerensky government. Here the Bolsheviks took the government ministers prisoner after the storming of the Winter Palace. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1987.

09. Winter Palace: Interior. Work on the interior was done by Vallin de la Motthe, Rinaldi, Velten, and Quarenghi and was continued during the first quarter of the 19th century by Rossi, Montferrand, and Stasov. Photo: google.com

10. Winter Palace: Interior. Photo: http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk

11. The back side of the Winter Palace: New Hermitage (1839-52, Leo von Klenze) decorated with atlases (16 feet tall, Terebenev), small Hermitage (Neo-Classical style, 1764-75, Vallin de la Motthe and Velten), and the Winter Palace. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1991

12. The Winter Canal. The covered bridge joints the Hermitage Theatre to the Old Hermitage. Beyond the arch: Neva. Photo: http://www.leighwitchel.com

13.
View of the Alexander Column on Palace Square through the General Staff Arches. The Column is designed by Montferrand and was built between 1829-34 to commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleon. Tall Doric column surmounted by angel (whose features are said to be those of Alexander I) crushing a snake. The cross is 20 feet tall. Overall height of the column is 156 feet, supported by its own weight, cut from a single block of Finnish granite which rests on a bronze plinth. The weight of the column is 650 tons-sufficient to keep it standing even when the granite was damaged during WW II. Round the base, allegorical bas-reliefs of Napoleonic campaign motifs, and inscription: "Alexander I, Russia's gratitude." Photo: www.all-art.org

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01.	Mosaic of Peter the Great, founder of St. Petersburg in 1703. Made at the Lomonosov mosaic factory. Lomonosov was one of the foremost Neo-classicist 18th-century poets, famous for his odes and also his treatises on versification and literary language. In addition he was a top scientist and the founder of the mosaic factory that provided the glass pieces for this mosaic. The portrait hangs in the Hermitage Museum. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg, 1986
02.	The Wax figure of Peter the Great, a life size likeness, with a face cast from peter's death mask. Main hero of a novella by the Russian Formalist, Iurii Tynianov (Voskovaia figura). Displayed in the Hermitage Museum. Photo: hermitagemuseum.org
03.	Winter Palace, now the Hermitage Museum, view from the Palace Embankment by the Neva, opposite of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first Winter Palace was a small 2-storeyed building completed on Peter the Great's instructions in 1711. The second was also a small palace and the site of Peter the Great's death in 1725. The third Winter palace was more imposing and designed by Dominico Trezzini on the site of the present Hermitage Theater-further down the embankment across the winter Canal. The palace you see here was started during Empress Elizabeth in 1754, and completed in 1762, the year Catherine the Great ascended to the throne. The architect is Francesco Rastrelli and the palace is considered one of the masterpieces of Russian Baroque; the external view has remained largely unchanged since its completion. Photo: wikimedia.org
04.	Winter Palace (Francesco Rastrelli 1954-62) from the Palace Embankment. Photo: nationalgeographic.com
05.	Winter Palace. Francesco Rastrelli 1754-1762. Russian Baroque. Brass band playing the old tsarist hymn (="Dear Old Macalester") in 1991. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1991.
06.	Macalester students on Palace Square in January 1987. From the right: Kari Bronaugh, Gretchen Milloy, Ferrall McMahon, Andrea Matthews, Rosemary Buccina, Randi Barnes. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1987.
07.	Winter Palace (Francesco Rastrelli 1954-62) from Palace Square. Photo: about.com
08.	Winter Palace: Malachite hall. Designed by Alexander Briullov, decorated with 8 columns and 8 pilasters of malachite, plus spectacular malachite ornaments: candelabra, a large bowl, and vases. The room was used as a salon by the wife of Nikolas I. In 1917 this room and the nearby White Dining room were the site of the last meeting of the Kerensky government. Here the Bolsheviks took the government ministers prisoner after the storming of the Winter Palace. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1987.
09.	Winter Palace: Interior. Work on the interior was done by Vallin de la Motthe, Rinaldi, Velten, and Quarenghi and was continued during the first quarter of the 19th century by Rossi, Montferrand, and Stasov. Photo: google.com
10.	Winter Palace: Interior. Photo: http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk
11.	The back side of the Winter Palace: New Hermitage (1839-52, Leo von Klenze) decorated with atlases (16 feet tall, Terebenev), small Hermitage (Neo-Classical style, 1764-75, Vallin de la Motthe and Velten), and the Winter Palace. Photo: Gitta Hammarberg 1991
12.	The Winter Canal. The covered bridge joints the Hermitage Theatre to the Old Hermitage. Beyond the arch: Neva. Photo: http://www.leighwitchel.com
13.	View of the Alexander Column on Palace Square through the General Staff Arches. The Column is designed by Montferrand and was built between 1829-34 to commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleon. Tall Doric column surmounted by angel (whose features are said to be those of Alexander I) crushing a snake. The cross is 20 feet tall. Overall height of the column is 156 feet, supported by its own weight, cut from a single block of Finnish granite which rests on a bronze plinth. The weight of the column is 650 tons-sufficient to keep it standing even when the granite was damaged during WW II. Round the base, allegorical bas-reliefs of Napoleonic campaign motifs, and inscription: "Alexander I, Russia's gratitude." Photo: www.all-art.org