9: The Walnut Study of Alexander Menshikov

This state study has preserved its unique décor created in walnut brought from Persia between 1716 and 1719. The general idea for this interior is believed to have come from Jean-Baptiste LeBlond. The wall covering takes the form of elements of architectural décor - panels assembled from pieces of wood are framed in the pilasters that support the entablature and complemented by gilded ornament. The ceiling canvas (Philippe Pillement(?), 1717-18) was restored in 1991. It conceals two layers of earlier painting directly on the ceiling, a fragment of which has been left visible. Above a Flemish cabinet decorated with ebony, tortoiseshell and gilded bronze fittings (second half of the 17th century) we can see a portrait of Peter the Great (1697) by Jan Weenix . The visitor's attention is inevitably caught by the mirror in an amber frame, a gift from Fredrich I of Prussia to Peter the Great, and the walnut long-case clock (the Fromanteel and Clark company, England, 1690s-1710s) that is said to have belonged to Peter's cabinet secretary Alexei Makarov.