Background
The Gatchina palace collection was begun by Count Gregory Orlov, the palace’s first owner and a collector of hunting weapons, paintings and objects of decorative arts from Western Europe and the East. After his death, the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich came to own the Palace, which later served as an imperial residence from 1796 through 1917. Throughout this time, the collection continued to expand.
Following the October Revolution, the Palace was opened to the public as a museum and until the WWII remained the largest museum among the suburban palaces outside of St Petersburg both in terms of its spaces and the scope of the collection. The Museum holdings included 54,030 artworks on view or in storage.
The Museum rooms featured fine furniture by D. Roentgenen, A. Jacobe, Gambs, L. Tour, examples of Russian inlaid furniture, rare textiles produced by the Royal manufactory of France and the Tapestry factory of St Petersburg. The Museum’s holdings included impressive collections of 18-19th century costumes, French bronzes by P. Goutiere, L.-J. Felour, F.Vion, P.-Ph.Thomire, marble sculptures including copies of antique originals by É. M. Falconet, V.-A. Collot, B. Cavaceppi, F. Duquesnoy. The Palace was renowned for its porcelain collection representing the leading workshops from Europe and Russia, as well as for its oriental art collection comprising porcelain, furniture, lacquerware, enamels, bronzes, bone, wood and stone carvings. Of particular interest was the 16-19th century collection of antique firearms.
The paintings collection represented work by the 16-19-century Western European masters (L. Giordano, M. Campidoglio, G. Romanelli, G. Dawe, J. Courtois, J. P. Hackert, works of the lesser Dutchmen, etc.) and by Russian painters (S. Shchedrin, B. Polenov, G. Myasoedov, I. Aivazovsky, K. Makovsky, etc). Portrait painting formed a collection of its own and consisted of works by renowned Russian portrait painters such as V.L.Borovikovsky, A.P.Antropov, V.A.Tropinin, I.N.Kramskoy, O.A. Kiprensky, F.S. Rokotov, D.G.Levitsky and A.P.Losenko, as well as Western European painters - L. Caravaque, C. Christineck, J. Groot, G-B. Lampi, S. Tonci, J. G. Tannauer, etc.
Following the World War II, all the surviving objects from the suburban palaces were brought together at the Central museum storage. There were 16,036 objects that survived from the Gatchina holdings. The renovation of the palace did not start until 1976. With the opening of the museum in 1985, 8015 items were returned to public view in the palace. The Museum continues its effort to bring the surviving artworks back to the Palace (some of those are still in other museums) and supplement the artworks that have been lost.
The Gatchina palace collection was begun by Count Gregory Orlov, the palace’s first owner and a collector of hunting weapons, paintings and objects of decorative arts from Western Europe and the East. After his death, the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich came to own the Palace, which later served as an imperial residence from 1796 through 1917. Throughout this time, the collection continued to expand.
Following the October Revolution, the Palace was opened to the public as a museum and until the WWII remained the largest museum among the suburban palaces outside of St Petersburg both in terms of its spaces and the scope of the collection. The Museum holdings included 54,030 artworks on view or in storage.
The Museum rooms featured fine furniture by D. Roentgenen, A. Jacobe, Gambs, L. Tour, examples of Russian inlaid furniture, rare textiles produced by the Royal manufactory of France and the Tapestry factory of St Petersburg. The Museum’s holdings included impressive collections of 18-19th century costumes, French bronzes by P. Goutiere, L.-J. Felour, F.Vion, P.-Ph.Thomire, marble sculptures including copies of antique originals by É. M. Falconet, V.-A. Collot, B. Cavaceppi, F. Duquesnoy. The Palace was renowned for its porcelain collection representing the leading workshops from Europe and Russia, as well as for its oriental art collection comprising porcelain, furniture, lacquerware, enamels, bronzes, bone, wood and stone carvings. Of particular interest was the 16-19th century collection of antique firearms.
The paintings collection represented work by the 16-19-century Western European masters (L. Giordano, M. Campidoglio, G. Romanelli, G. Dawe, J. Courtois, J. P. Hackert, works of the lesser Dutchmen, etc.) and by Russian painters (S. Shchedrin, B. Polenov, G. Myasoedov, I. Aivazovsky, K. Makovsky, etc). Portrait painting formed a collection of its own and consisted of works by renowned Russian portrait painters such as V.L.Borovikovsky, A.P.Antropov, V.A.Tropinin, I.N.Kramskoy, O.A. Kiprensky, F.S. Rokotov, D.G.Levitsky and A.P.Losenko, as well as Western European painters - L. Caravaque, C. Christineck, J. Groot, G-B. Lampi, S. Tonci, J. G. Tannauer, etc.
Following the World War II, all the surviving objects from the suburban palaces were brought together at the Central museum storage. There were 16,036 objects that survived from the Gatchina holdings. The renovation of the palace did not start until 1976. With the opening of the museum in 1985, 8015 items were returned to public view in the palace. The Museum continues its effort to bring the surviving artworks back to the Palace (some of those are still in other museums) and supplement the artworks that have been lost.