The Common Study

The Study is located in the center of the Southern Suite on the ground floor of the palace. The axis of the Study passes through the central alley of the Private Garden, with which it is inextricably linked. Through a glazed door, you can exit to a wide porch, the steps of which lead to the parterre, offering the view to the Pavilion of the Three Graces. The Study got its name from “common” family meetings with conversations and walks. Family heirlooms were kept here as well. The original layout and decoration of the walls with paper wallpaper designed by Charles Cameron date back to the 1780s. In 1797–1798, during the reign of Emperor Paul I, architect Vincenzo Brenna changed the decorations, giving the Study the features of grandeur, distinctively affecting the grisaille painting of the plafond and the cove. He depicted stucco caissons on the cove and painted sculptures of Apollo and the nine Muses on the plafond, with a dominant greenish color to match the light green walls painted with glue paint. In 1803, architect Andrey Voronikhin improved the decoration of the Study, replacing a stove with a marble fireplace.

Various family heirlooms, gifts, and drawings of members of the imperial family were kept in the Study. The Study also served as a portrait gallery of sorts for the family of Paul I. According to the inventory of 1817, there were “paintings... painted in oil and dry paints, pencil drawings, and miniatures small and large, 163 pieces” on the walls. The focus among the numerous paintings is the Family Portrait, located in the center of the right (eastern) wall. In 1800, Paul I commissioned artist Franz Gerhard von Kügelgen to do this portrait. The family is depicted in the garden, and the Pavlovsk Palace can be seen on the hill in the background. In the left part of the painting, Empress Maria Feodorovna is depicted sitting in an armchair. She is holding the hand of the little Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich. To her left are her eldest sons, Tsarevich Alexander Pavlovich (in a blue uniform) and Konstantin Pavlovich (in a red uniform). Behind Maria Feodorovna is the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, a little to the right is the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, playing the harp. Behind her, among the trees, there is a marble bust of Olga Pavlovna (who died in infancy). Emperor Paul I is in the right part of the painting. He embraces Anna Pavlovna, the youngest daughter, with his right hand. To his right, are the two eldest daughters: Grand Duchesses Alexandra Pavlovna and Elena Pavlovna. The youngest porphyrogenitic son, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, is sitting at the foot of the Emperor's chair. To the left of this painting are a portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna (Unknown artist, early 19th century), above, and a portrait of the Empress Maria Feodorovna in widow's attire (Franz Gerhard von Kügelgen, 1801), below. To the right are a portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna (Dmitry Levitzky, the 1790s), above, and a portrait of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (Josef Grassi, the 1790s), below. Under the portraits, there is a decorative hanging of the family collection of miniatures: reduced copies of European masterpieces by Pavel Petrovich's daughters, as well as Maria Feodorovna's pencil drawings on milk glass. Particularly noteworthy is Maria Feodorovna's Judgement of Paris in a carved gilded frame.

On the opposite (western) wall, there is a ceremonial portrait of Emperor Paul I in the uniform of the Preobrazhensky regiment (Stepan Shchukin, 1799). On the left side of the portrait, in the upper row, are portraits of two elder daughters: Alexandra Pavlovna (Dmitry Levitzky, the 1790s) and Elena Pavlovna (Vladimir Borovikovsky, the 1790s). To the right of the portrait of Paul I, are Alexandra Pavlovna (Vladimir Borovikovsky, the 1790s) and Ekaterina Pavlovna (Dmitry Levitzky, the 1790s). In the second row on the left are portraits of the younger sons of Nicholas and Mikhail (pastel, Tischbein); on the right is a portrait of the Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna (Kügelgen, pastel, ca. 1803). Next to it is a portrait of Maria Feodorovna's younger sister, Elisabeth of Württemberg, Archduchess of Austria by marriage (Joseph Hickel, the 1790s). Under the portraits, there are several drawings of the mistress of Pavlovsk, Empress Maria Feodorovna, executed in pencil on milk glass. These small-scale pictures are enclosed in bronze gilded frames. Of particular interest are the copies the famous artist Angelica Kauffman, made by the Empress in watercolor and gouache: for example, a complex multi-figure composition Diligence, patronized by Patience and Perseverance, is crowned with Glory and rewarded with Abundance. All such works are enclosed in carved gilded frames specially made for them.

In the center of the wall, there is an elegant fireplace of colored marble. Before the fireplace stands a high screen by Heinrich Gambs, in which a picture in an oval frame is mounted: Cupid's Fun, a picturesque drawing on milk glass by Maria Feodorovna, copying the original by Angelica Kaufman.

The central (northern) wall with a shallow mirrored niche is also decorated with portraits of family members: in the upper row on the left, is a portrait of Archduchess Elizabeth of Austria (Johann Baptist von Lampi, the 1790s); on the right, is a portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna (Alexander Roslin, 1777). In the lower row on the left is a portrait of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich as a child (Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1798); on the right is a portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar (Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, 1804).

The interior of the Study contains excellent pieces of study furniture by Russian and Western European furniture makers of the 18th century. Next to the mirrored niche is Maria Feodorovna's unique mahogany writing table with bronze gilded details, an ivory balustrade, and a painted glass tabletop (Russia, Heinrich Gambs, 1793). The painting on the tabletop, Three Graces Serving Venus, was also made by Maria Feodorovna, copying the painting by Angelica Kauffman, her favorite artist. They met in person during the trip to Europe. After visiting the artist's studio in Venice, Maria Feodorovna and Pavel Petrovich bought several paintings from her. Imbued with sentimental moods, Kauffman's work served as a source of inspiration for Maria Feodorovna to create her own drawings.

In the center of the Study is a large mahogany bureau with bronze decor (Germany, David Roentgen, 1786). Near the western wall, there are two children's bureaus made in the workshop of Jonathan Ott and Heinrich Gambs for Pavel Petrovich's elder sons Alexander and Konstantin (Saint Petersburg, the late 1780s). Numerous ivory and amber products are placed on cabinets and bureaus: lamps, inkstands, colonettes, and obelisks. Engraver Johannes (Nikolay) Fay made them together with his august pupil, Empress Maria Feodorovna.

In 1858, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna ordered to cut an oval window into the Dark Pantry from the Common Study, and a copper bath was installed, lined with mahogany. After the war, the interior of the early 19th century was restored during the restoration of the Common Study.