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The Small Hermitage
When after coronation in Moscow Catherine II returned to the capital the
Winter Palace met her with solemn coldness of the official halls full
of draughts of court gossiping where both friends and enemies remind her
about her impetuous and illegal accesion to the throne. In the palace
she would always remain unapproachable in her majesty empress. She wrote
to a foreign correspondent m-me Joffrin, "When I come into the room everybody
is stunned and put on a haughty air, I often cry in indignation as an
eagle against this custom... and the more I get angry, the less natural
they are with me...". In an absolutely different way, gaily and unconstrainedly,
the guests of Catherine II felt in the "cosy solitary corner" created
by her where in an intimate circle she played the role of a charming nice
hostess. The stage for this performance was the Small Hermitage constructed
at the wish of the Empress next to the official residence. From 1765 till
autumn of 1766 Yury Veldten built a two-story living pavilion in the southern
part of the hanging garden laid out above the royal stables and the riding-house.
Refined decoration of the facade with figured platbands of the windows
and doubled columns, curved corners of the building enabled the author
to combine in a natural maner the features of the Late Baroque style with
the Early Classicism.
In this South wing called "Favourite's" Catherine II lodged Grigory Orlov.
His luxurious appartments were connected with the palace of the Empress
by a passage. She wrote about her favourite: "He is the most handsome
man of his time, nature was very generous regarding his appearance, intellect,
heart and soul". The love affair with this brilliant Guards officer brought
her a present - the son. He also brought her to power as a result of swift
political plot. After the coup d'etat Grigory Orlov practically did not
interfere into state affairs. Unlike Orlov another favourite of Catherine
II, Grigory Potemkin who also lived next to the Empress, in the wing of
the riding-house, went deeply into all details of politics and the Empress
willingly discussed them with him. She highly appreciated his opinion
and ability for action and wrote in the letter of 1783: "I feel helpless
without you." After death of Prince Grigory Potemkin she said: " He had
a wonderful intellect, hot temper, kind heart, looked at you like a wolf
and therefore was nor admired, but giving fillips he made a lot of good
even to his enemies. It is hard to replace him... Now all the burdens
of the rule lie on me alone".
Acoording to the idea of the Empress the northern part of the hanging
garden should have been closed by the pavilion for solitary rest with
a gala hall, some drawing rooms and a green-house. The architect Jean
Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe was commissioned in 1767 to built the
pavilion. The pavilion arranged along the Neva river in one line with
the official residence was designed in the Early Classicism style. It
is distingwished by strict proportions that are in tune with architectural
articulation of the Winter Palace. The rythm of the collonade of Corinthian
order in the first circle of the facade of the North pavilion expressively
points out artistic unity of the two buildings of different architectural
styles. In the North pavilion after the construction was completed in
1769 Catherine II organized "small hermitages" - entertainment parties
during which her guests participated in games and performances. Quite
often the scenarios for the hermitage plays from Russian history and life
composed the Empress herself. The parties were finished with a dinner
in the room with lifting tables as were the tables in the Hermitage in
the Tsar's Village. These secluded assemblies of the retinue became traditional
and therefore the original name the"Conservatory House" was changed and
since then all the buildings started to be called the Small Hermitage.
The first party in the newly built pavilion was held in February 1769.
The guests had to come to the "small hermitage assemblies" in Russian
style dresses and speak only in the Russian language. Special rules of
behaviour were invented by Catherine II and posted up in the gallery connecting
the Winter Palace with the Small Hermitage. They read that "titles should
have been left at the door like hats, the more so spades, seniority and
arrogance, guests should be merry but nevertheless would not spoil, crush
or gnaw anything, they should not speak very loudly so that the others
would not have a headache, or argue in a temper, but they were also not
allowed to sigh deeply or yawn, to prevent others from entertainments,
to drink excessively, though to eat sweetly, and not to foul the nest".
Those who violated the rules were fined. They should either drink a glass
of cold water "ladies including" , read some lines from a poem or learn
by heart very difficult for perception poems from "Telemakhida" by Vasily
Trediakovsky.
Collections of the works of art - pictures, sculptures, attires of the
Russian tsars, jewellery and cameos placed in the side galleries on two
sides of the garden were supposed to rejoice the sight of the selected
guests and to help create the image of the hostess as a connoisseur of
fine arts according to the spirit of the age. Though in the letter to
Melchior Grimm Catherine II wrote that her treasures charm only her and
mice still the fact of creation of the Hermitage collection should have
shown to the Enlighted Europe that Russia deserves to be called a European
country.
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Miniature of Count Grigorii Orlov
Andri Chernyi
Larger view
Portrait of Prince Grigorii Potemkin - Tavricheskii
Giovanni Baptist Lampi
Larger view
Hanging Garden, view from the opposite of the North
Pavilion
Nikolai Sablin
Larger
view
Western
Picture Gallery
Apollon Mokritsky
Larger
view
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