The Carpet Study

This is one of the most elegant rooms of the Northern Suite. The initial design by Charles Cameron suggested a rectangular room. Its final decoration was done in 1790–1793 by Vincenzo Brenna. For the decoration of the study, as well as the Library of Maria Feodorovna in the Southern Suite, Brenna used French tapestries presented to the owners of Pavlovsk by King Louis XVI during their stay in France in 1782. The tapestries were woven at the Royal Tapestry Manufactory in the 1760s by master Nelson from the cartons of the outstanding artist François Boucher on motifs from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In the holdings of drawings of the Research Museum of the Academy of Arts, two projects of Vincenzo Brenna for the Carpet Cabinet of the Pavlovsk Palace have been preserved: a longitudinal and a transverse section made in color. They give some idea of how this interior was conceived. Brenna changed the original Cameron's layout and rounded the central wall to place a large tapestry Venus in the Forge of Vulcan on it. On the opposite wall of the office, two smaller tapestries were placed on the side walls: Diana and Endymion, and Venus in a Chariot. The tapestries are enclosed in carved gilded frames. The central tapestry, impressively reflected in the mirror above the fireplace, creates the illusion of the fourth wall, also decorated with a tapestry. The project of Vincenzo Brenna had the ceiling as a coffered vault of a complex configuration. However, after the fire of 1803, Andrey Voronikhin made changes to the decoration and, instead of the caissons, a wide picturesque grisaille frieze appeared, depicting motifs from ancient mythology and the history of ancient Rome: The Sacrifice, Perseus Frightening Enemies with the Head of Medusa, The Gods of Olympus, Perseus freeing Andromeda, The Triumph, The Foundation of Rome by Romulus and Remus as Babies, Apollo among the Muses, Bacchus Procession, Hercules Fighting with Antaeus, Hercules with Deianira and the Centaur Nessus, Procession with the Altar, Apollo with the Lyre. The painting was done by Giovanni Battista Scotti. Above the doors, Voronikhin placed stucco panels with eagles.

In the 1930s, all three tapestries were seized from the palace for sale abroad at an auction. Currently, the former Pavlovsk tapestries are located in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California, USA. During the restoration work after World War II, the tapestry Ladies Serve Don Quixote was placed on the central wall, also presented to Pavel Petrovich by the King Louis XVI of France, and previously kept in the Gatchina Palace. The side walls have Brussels tapestries with scenes from Don Quixote: Don Quixote's Knighthood (on the left wall) and Don Quixote with Rams (on the right wall). These tapestries come from the collection of Baron Alexander von Stieglitz, which was transferred to the Hermitage in the 1920s. After the seizure of historical tapestries from Pavlovsk in 1932, these Brussels tapestries were obtained from the Hermitage instead.

A set of furniture commissioned by the owners of Pavlovsk in the Paris workshop of Henri Jacob stands at its historical place. There is French silk satin embroidery on the furniture (the 18th century). This large mahogany desk with a balustrade of chiseled ivory was designed by Vincenzo Brenna for the St. Michael's Castle, and later, after the death of Emperor Paul I, was transported to Pavlovsk. On the table, there are elegant objects made of ivory and amber set in gilded bronze: a table decoration with obelisks (Vincenzo Brenna, Carlo Rossi, Johannes (Nikolay) Fay, 1800), and an inkwell by Maria Feodorovna (1800). There are also small bronze busts of the enlightenment philosophers Voltaire and Diderot (France, the late 18th century). Clocks stand on both sides of the table decoration: on the left is a marble one, Artemisia Mourning the Mausoleum, better known as The Mourner (France, ca. 1801), on the right is a gilded bronze Lyre with painted enamels and a calendar dial mounted in a pendulum (France, the 1780–1790s). On the sides of the table, there are symmetrically placed marble statues of the late 18th century on pedestals: Hebe (left) and Maenad Carrying a Little Faun (right). On the consoles under the Brussels trellises, there is a pair of musical clocks with a rotating dial in the form of an elegant vase. The hand of the clock is an arrow held by a small Cupid. The case is made of tortoiseshell plates (England, London, Peter Torckler's workshop, the late 18th century). Japanese porcelain vases of Aritta Manufactory (the late 18th century) stand next to the clock. On the fireplace (between the windows), there is a set of porcelain vases (France, Sevres, the 1780s) with picturesque medallions on a pink background, a gift from Louis XVI. In front of the fireplace is an oval table of Russian work with a glass tabletop with the drawing Three Graces (a copy of a piece by Angelica Kauffman) on it, done in the eglomise technique. In front of the windows, there are mahogany tables (Russia, the 1780s). One of them has a bronze group Cupids Fighting for the Human Heart (France, the late 18th century).