1833: Creation of the Fieldmarshals' Hall and Peter I's Room (Small Throne Room) by the architect Auguste Montferrand

In April 1833, Emperor Nicholas I commissioned Auguste Montferrand to restore the Great Suite of rooms in the Winter Palace. Montferrand, who had won the competition to design St Isaac's Cathedral, designed two rooms, the Fieldmarshals' Hall and the Memorial Room of Peter the Great. The Emperor required that work be carried out in the shortest possible time and Montferrand made extensive use of wooden constructions.

One of the principal features of the Fieldmarshals' Hall was a group of six full-length portraits of Russian generals who had been awarded the rank of fieldmarshal. This was an austere room with four-column porticoes by the two main doors which stood opposite one another. White imitation marble, polychrome parquet, an austere ceiling and plaster military attributes formed the decorationg of the Hall. Adjacent to this room was the Memorial Room of Peter the Great, its decoration sumptuous and solemn: raspberry velvet covered the walls, adorned with a thousand gilt bronze double-headed eagles, later replaced by those embroidered with silver thread. Surmounting the side walls are two paintings celebrating Peter the Great's victories over Charles XII of Sweden: The Battle at Lesnaya and The Battle at Poltava by Barnabo Medici and Pietro Scotti. The allegorical painting Peter I with Glory by Jacopo Amigoni glorified Peter the Great as the creator of a magnificent empire. The gilt silver throne, made in 1731 in London by Nicholas Clausen, and the silver candelabra and sconce were installed here after the fire of 1837.