15: Study with Paintings

In the 1990s this room was used for the recreation of the original (1710s) décor of Menshikov’s Walnut Study that had survived in fragments. The walls are lined with blue cloth above and shaped oak panels below. The ceiling bears a reconstruction of the first layer of painting in the Walnut Study featuring the warrior Mars in the centre and allegorical subjects in the corners. A rare piece of furniture is the North European cabinet with painted insets executed on marble. The base is decorated with Italian majolica vases from the turn of the 18th century. The paintings that in accordance with the early-17th-century fashion form a symmetrical decorative composition give some idea of the collection assembled by Menshikov that is now known only from documents. By 1727 the collection numbered more than 140 canvases, comprising mainly works by Dutch and Flemish artists, with some Italian and French works as well.