White Hall of the Winter Palace
Classical hall commemorating a royal marriage, now in the Hermitage.
The White Hall was created by architect Alexander Briullov to mark the 1841 wedding of the Tsarevich and Maria of Hesse. Part of a larger palace rebuild after the 1837 fire, it belonged to the couple’s private suite, which they kept after becoming tsar and tsarina in 1855. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, its original decoration survives.
Quick Facts
- Architect
- Alexander Briullov
- Year of construction
- 1841
- Part of
- State Hermitage Museum
Facts from the source article.
Architectural features
The hall is divided into three unequal parts by projecting pylons that support underpinning arches, with the pylons trimmed by paired Corinthian pilasters. Between the pylons, the wall plane is divided into three sections by Corinthian columns topped with sculpture, while the extreme compartments have smaller pilasters decorated with stucco and a wide bas-relief band above. At the Emperor's notice, the apertures were not given porticoes with columns and a triangular pediment as Briullov had intended.
Sculptural decoration includes round female figures above the columns symbolising arts, and bas-relief figures of Olympian gods: Juno and Jupiter, Diana and Apollo, Ceres and Mercury, Vesta and Neptune. The frieze contains numerous putti, and the monochrome effect comes from polished marble and whitewashed stucco surfaces. Relief ornamentation in geometric frames also covers the lunettes and vaults.
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