The Great Gatchina Palace (Russian: Большой Гатчинский дворец) is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in Gatchina, a suburb of the royal capital Saint Petersburg. The Gatchina Palace combines classical architecture and themes of a medieval castle with ornate interiors typical of Russian classicism, located on a hill in central Gatchina next to Lake Serebryany. The Gatchina Palace became one of the favourite residences of the Russian Imperial Family, and during the 19th century was an important site of Russian politics. Since the February Revolution in 1917, it has been a museum and public park, and received UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1990.
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👉 Gatchina Palace in the context of Gatchina Palace (Fabergé egg)
The Gatchina Palace egg is a jewelled, enameled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé in 1901, for Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas II presented it to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, at Easter in 1901. The egg opens to reveal a surprise miniature gold replica of the Gatchina Palace that was built for Count Grigory Orlov and was later acquired by Tsar Paul I. It is one of two Imperial Easter eggs in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
Gatchina Palace in the context of Objet d'art
In art history, the French term objet d'art (/ˌɒbʒeɪ ˈdɑːr/ ; French pronunciation: [ɔbʒɛ daʁ]) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish that emphasises the aesthetics of the artefact. Artists create and produce objets d’art in the fields of the decorative arts and metalwork, porcelain and vitreous enamel; figurines, plaquettes, and engraved gems; ivory carvings and semi-precious hardstone carvings; tapestries, antiques, and antiquities; and books with fine bookbinding.
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, describes their accumulated artworks as a: "collection of objets d’art [which] comprises over 800 objects. These are mostly small, decorative art items that fall outside the scope of the Museum’s ceramic, plate, textiles and glass collections." The artwork collection also includes metal curtain ties, a lacquered papier-maché tray, tobacco boxes, cigarette cases, découpage (cut-paper items), portrait miniatures, a gilt-brass clock finial, plaques, statuettes, plaquettes, a horse brass, a metal pipe tamper, a small glass painting, et cetera.
Gatchina Palace in the context of Grigory Orlov
Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (Russian: Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 17 October 1734 – 24 April 1783) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1772), state and military figure, collector, patron of arts, and General-in-Chief.
He patronised M. V. Lomonosov, D. I. Fonvisin, V. I. Bazhenov and gave them financial support. Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (since 1765). He collected paintings (including Rembrandt, P. P. Rubens, Titian), sculpture, Chinese, Japanese and Russian porcelain, hunting weapons, etc. (Orlov's collection has been preserved almost completely; it is now in the State Museum-Reserve "Gatchina" of the eponymous city). A large landowner, particularly of the Gatchina manor, where Orlov commissioned the construction of a palace and a landscape garden.
Gatchina Palace in the context of Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
Maria Feodorovna (Russian: Мария Фёдоровна; Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Luise; 25 October 1759 – 5 November 1828 [OS 24 October]) became Empress of Russia as the second wife of Emperor Paul I. She founded the Office of the Institutions of Empress Maria.
Daughter of Duke Frederick Eugene of Württemberg and Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Sophie Dorothea belonged to a junior branch of the House of Württemberg and grew up in Montbéliard, receiving an excellent education for her time. After Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia) became a widower in 1776, King Frederick II of Prussia (Sophie Dorothea's maternal great-uncle) and Empress Catherine II of Russia chose Sophie Dorothea as the ideal candidate to become Paul's second wife. In spite of her fiancé's difficult character, she developed a long, peaceful relationship with Paul and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1776, adopting the name Maria Feodorovna. During the long reign (1762–1796) of her mother-in-law, she sided with her husband and lost the initial affection the reigning Empress had for her. The couple were completely excluded from any political influence, as mother and son mistrusted each other. They were forced to live in isolation at Gatchina Palace, where they had many children together.