Photograph: view of the Maple Cartoon Room, as information technology looked in 1917

The Maple Drawing Room in the Alexander Palace is a bright example of the Russian Art Nouveau Way. This interior, besides as the New Written report of Nicholas II and the children'southward rooms on the second floor, was created on the site of the onetime Concert Hall, congenital according to the design of Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817), which had not been used for its intended purpose for many years.

The works were carried out by the Meltzer brothers' firm in 1902–1904. The walls were painted a warm pink colour and decorated with mouldings of rose stems, leaf and flowers unfolding along the upper walls and ceiling.

Roman Meltzer proposed an original solution for lighting the Maple Drawing Room: along the perimeter of the room, separating the walls from the ceiling plafond, there was a big cornice that masked about 2 hundred electrical lamps.

Photograph: quondam Concert Hall before its sabotage

A mezzanine was installed which connected the room to the Emperor'south New Study. Its ornamentation was a "Tiffany style" mantel mirror in a metal frame with multi-coloured glass inserts featuring stylized roses.

The interior had several cozy corners where the Empress could practice needlework, reading and painting. The children ofttimes played or did their homework in this room, the family ofttimes joined the Empress in this room at five o'clock for tea..

The Maple Cartoon Room was decorated with a showcase, the walls and a door made of mirrored glass.  Information technology contained Faberge's Imperial Easter Eggs from the drove of Alexandra Feodorovna, every bit well as Italian Venetian drinking glass vases.

The drawing room was always decorated with fresh flowers: tropical plants and palms were placed in tubs, cutting flowers of dissimilar varieties from the garden and plant nursery were placed in vases year-round.

PHOTO: post-war view of the Maple Drawing Room

The interior decoration was significantly damaged during the Neat Patriotic War (1941-45). In the mail service-war catamenia, during the adaptation of the palace as the Pushkin Museum, some of the surviving elements of the Maple Drawing Room – including parts of the mezzanine and wall mouldings – were destroyed as objects of "no value".

Researchers, architects, designers and restorers have carried out a large and complex work to recreate the stucco decoration of the room's historic interior, including the carved mezzanine and built-in maple furniture, returning the interior to its original appearance.

PHOTOS: the current look of the recreated Maple Drawing Room

PHOTOS: the current look of the recreated Maple Cartoon Room

The stucco ornamentation was recreated from surviving colour autochromes, vintage photographs and rare analogs, for example, the preserved ornamentation in the mansion of Heinrich Gilse van der Pals on Angliysky Prospekt in Petrograd, where the same decorative technique was used.

The mezzanine which originally connected the Maple Drawing Room to the Emperor's New Written report had been sealed off when the Alexander Palace reopened as a museum in the 1990s. During the current restoration procedure, when the walls were opened which connected the ii rooms, a small fragment of the original decoration of the Maple Drawing Room was discovered, which assisted experts with regard to the original shade of pink and the design of the rose-stucco reliefs used in the original interior.

The unique lighting organization used in the Maple Drawing Room will as well be restored.

PHOTO: Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on the Alexander Palace balcony

Information technology was from the Maple Cartoon Room that Empress Alexandra could stride out onto her iron balcony, through a door in one of the room'south large windows. The famous balustrade was created in 1896 by the Court architect Silvio Amvrosievich Danini (1867-1942). The balcony was a favourite place for the Empress and her family year-round, even during the cold Russian winters. They often took their meals and teas here Heavy curtains were hung betwixt the columns of the balcony to provide protection from sun or bad weather. Information technology was here that many iconic photos of the Imperial Family were taken.

Sadly, the balcony did non survive to the present twenty-four hour period, and despite the extensive restoration work carried out in the Alexander Palace, in that location are no plans to recreate the balcony at this time. Having said that, permit us promise that if funding should be made possible, that the palace administration will reconsider such a projection for the future.

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The Maple Drawing Room is i of 15 interiors situated in the eastern wing of the palace, scheduled to open in 2021. Among the other interiors are the New Study of Nicholas Two, Moorish Bathroom of Nicholas II, Working Study of Nicholas II, Reception Room of Nicholas Two, Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room, Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir, Alexandra's Corner Reception Room, the Imperial Bedroom, among others.

In the future, the Alexander Palace volition become a memorial museum of the Romanov family – from Catherine the Swell to Nicholas II, showcasing the individual, domestic life of the Russian monarchs who used the palace equally an official residence. The eastern fly of the palace volition exist known as the Museum of the Russian Regal Family. The multi-museum circuitous, which includes the Western wing is scheduled for completion no earlier than 2024.

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© Paul Gilbert. 25 November 2020