2: The Large Chamber

This room was used for official receptions. In the north-eastern corner a fragment of the unique ceiling from the 18th century can be seen. The walls here are adorned with a set of 17th-century Western European tapestries representing subjects from the life of King Perseus of Macedonia. On the table covered with a Persian carpet tablecloth is a silver wine-cooler made in Amsterdam. A contemporary account tells us that in Menshikov's household "everything accorded with the magnificence of this palace; there were a great many silver services of all possible kinds and shapes". On the top of the two wardrobes there are marble busts executed in Italy in the late 17th - 18th centuries. The room is lit by an elaborate chandelier of Dutch make. The display here also includes a rostral column made in Rome and the sculpture of the "Foot of a Colossus".