6: The Second Drawing Room

The drawing-room in the state apartments of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Karl Nesselrode, was designed by Carlo Rossi in the 1820s. The elegance of the interior is produced by combination of the polychrome painting on the walls and the ceiling, the moulded cornice and in gilded frames. The display here features items that used to adorn drawing-rooms in Saint Petersburg in the early 19th century including decorative vases, the chandelier and candelabra, mantel clocks, decorative paintings by Hubert Robert, sofas, tables, couches, armchairs, chairs and firescreens. The furniture sets seen in the room were made from designs by Carlo Rossi and Andrei Mikhailov for Alexei Bobrinsky's palace, the Anichkov and Winter Palaces. They rank among the best examples of the Russian Empire style at its zenith. Two paired porcelain vases and a table finished with malachite were produced in Russia from designs by Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine in a striking illustration of collaboration between French and Russian masters.