Architectural Essay - The Winter Palace and The Palace of Versailles (Art, Technology and Society)

The Winter Palace: A Political Architectural Transformation

Nur Dini Binti Mahmud ARCT1011: Comparative Analysis May 16, 2020

1 Architecture plays a pivotal role in the political transformation of societies and countries. Architecture is not only a design and construction of building practice; it is also the element that adds character and life to buildings and physical structures. The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic and political ‘rebirth’ after the Middle Ages. It promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. During the Renaissance period, arts and politics were able to coalesce and work interchangeably to develop architectural marvels unique to each country. The Winter Palace, an opulent place of residence located near the Neva River, was developed between 1754 to 1762 and is a manifestation of how leaders legitimize their rule through architecture. This essay discusses how the architectural styles of the Winter Palace and The Palace of Versailles, had gone against absolute monarchy resulting in a revolution and the establishment of democracy in their respective countries.

Peter the Great wanted to modernize Russia and he had to have an established court to make this possible. With an established centralized court, Peter the Great would be able to not only oversee the administrative duties and household matters, but also his noblemen.

His admiration of how his European counterpart did things, the consideration of immeasurable power the Russian sovereigns had in their ability to do and achieve anything, and to better exercise and exert his power and authority, he decided to relocate the capital city from Moscow to St Petersburg.1 This would not be possible as there were many conservative priests and noblemen in Moscow. Seeing that Neva River is a shipping port, Peter saw the opportunity to boost Russia’s economy and influence through trade. He also 1 McCaffray Susan, The Winter Palace and the People: Staging and Consuming Russia’s Monarchy, 17541917. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2018), 23 doi https://ebookcentral-proquestcom.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/lib/uwa/reader.action?docID=5984622&ppg=1

2 had successfully convinced the noblemen in Moscow to move to St Petersburg. Although his move was seen as beneficial for Russia, it was also seen as his insecurity of the power and authority that he had.

Peter the Great established the Winter Palace in 17032 but was not able to see the progress of the palace as he passed away not long after the establishment in 1725 3. His daughter, Elizabeth Petrovna, became the Empress of Russia4. She wanted a multifunctional palace that could accommodate all her court members, foreign ambassadors and hold official (and unofficial) events. She enlisted her chief architect, Francesco Rastrelli to execute her vision. Rastrelli and Elizabeth were always in disagreement when it came to the ideation of the palace but they both compromised and works eventually started in 1754.

The palace was made out of wood and bricks. However, the quality of bricks changed to silicate due to their strength.

The Italian born architect is an expert in baroque-style design as this style had originated from there during the Renaissance period. Initially, the term ‘baroque’ meant oddly shaped but it became synonymous to luxury and extravagance in all of Europe.

Baroque architecture was very theatric as it played with the space element as well as bright colours, which gave a very spatial-like experience to the people. This was evident in the outcome of the Winter Palace. Baroque-styled buildings had pediments and columns, and 2 Lavrov, Leonid, and Fedor Perov. Evolution of the Imperial Residence and Urban Development of the St. Petersburg Center. Architecture and Engineering 4, no. 1 (March 28, 2019): 13 https://doaj.org/article/794e816c440f4bae8407bc1659522d46 .

3 Ibid.

4 Elizabeth Petrovna, In Chambers Biographical Dictionary, by Liam Rodger, and Joan Bakewell. 9th ed. Chambers Harrap, 2011. https://ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/login? url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/chambbd/elizabeth_petrovna/0? institutionId=1571

3 the most common ones were the Tuscan and Doric orders5. However, Elizabeth wanted a one-of-a-kind palace so Rastrelli designed a new order for her.

The Winter Place was not only a place of residence for the monarchs but also a seat of royal government. The palace was built intentionally on a monumental scale to symbolize Imperial Russia’s supremacy and opulence. People around the world feared Russia. The Russian monarchs were equated to God, so the people of Russia really respected them.

Alexander changed the system of the country. He introduced emancipation which gave peasants the right to buy land6. The monarchs got more popular. However, with popularity came danger. Things went downhill when Alexander lost his only heir. He delved into private pleasures. This was detrimental to the image of the monarchy as he did not show exemplary behavior. People started losing respect for the monarchy and this hate grew when university students went against him.

Due to the incident, the people felt that it was better for the country to achieve constitutional modernization. They no longer wanted the monarchs to rule the country. As the monarchs used the palace as a stage, the people were aware of their habits and used this to their advantage when planning attacks. These attacks and strikes became regular and the monarchy was threatened. Eventually, Alexander was assassinated.

As a result, none of his successors used the palace as their primary residence. This was seen as an opportunity for the people because St Petersburg was the center of power for the monarchy. Their shift represented weakness; hence it was easier for the people to 5 Vozniak, Ekaterina, Tatyana Slavina, and Anna Kopytova. “Transformation of the Column Order in the Baroque Architecture in St. Petersburg of the XVIII Century.” In MATEC Web of Conferences, 193:4020–. Les Ulis: EDP Sciences, 2018. https://search.proquest.com/docview/2302015530.

6McCaffray, Susan. The Winter Palace and the People: Staging and Consuming Russia’s Monarchy, 1754-1917. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2018.

4 attack. The country experienced political transformation as absolute monarchy no longer ruled. The Provisional Government took over and used the palace as a seat of a new constitutional government.

Similarly, the Palace of Versailles of France experienced the same fate.The Palace of Versailles was an accumulation of sentiments and investments as it started off as a hunting lodge, then a chateau and eventually became the place of residence for the royal family. Just like Peter the Great, Louis XII moved the capital city from Paris to France where he centralized power and established his court. Not only did this move allowed him to consolidate power, it allowed him to protect his power and made it extremely inaccessible for people to steal. He also made it clear to people that if they wanted to be associated with him, they had to move to France too.

The palace was then developed by Louis XIV, also known as The Sun King. His reign was known by many as “The Theatre of Power”7, also known as repreé sentation, where he used wealth to legitimize his power via architecture. Ancien Reé gime was practiced during the reign of the sun king. It is a political and social system, where everyone was the king’s subject and a member of an estate and province. This system was also the base of political power and social order in the country. Hence it was a norm to display wealth as this system encouraged people to use commodities to show power, social distinction and hierarchy.

The king did not want a palace that had already been designed before so he made sure that the architects, he hired were not Italian., as he felt that it would go against his sense of absolutism. He wanted the palace to be a symbol of the wealth and power he possessed so 7 Shovlin, John. “The Cultural Politics of Luxury in Eighteenth-Century France.” French Historical Studies 23, no. 4 (2000): 577–606. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00161071-23-4-577.

5 he portrayed himself as Apollo, The Sun God. This also served as a reminder to the people that he is God and they should respect him. There were a large number of architects involved in the development of the palace, considering the number of expansions that it underwent. Some of them include – Louis Le Vau, Andre Le Notre and Charles Le Brun 8. It was all about repreé sentation and display during the sun king’s reign. The size of the palace had to be huge, because the bigger the size, the more the power. All of the members of the court had to be magnificent and of a certain standard as ordained by God, to create an impression especially for the lower class to respect. This did not end here. Louis XIV made sure that even the production of art and culture were carefully selected. Huge amounts of money were invested to develop the arts scene of the country and establish academies. He ensured that the teachers and scientists were of standard. He also ensured that the nobles’ physical appearance was flamboyant, all for the sake of repreé sentation. Boudier de Villemaire suggested that “repreé sentation was created in order to control the behavior of men and curb the unruliness of the people in the society” 9. To a certain extent, this display of power was similar to The Leviathan as they both showed how amount or size denotes the power that they possessed.

Even though Louis XIV puts a lot of emphasis on the display of power, he brought the French monarchy to its peak of absolute power and made France a dominant force. The Sun King passed on not long after and his successor, Louis XVI, became the next King of France.

During his reign, the French monarchy was not the favourite of the people. The country was 8 Francis Loring Payne. The Story of Versailles. GB: Andrews UK Ltd, 2012. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=4460726.

9 Shovlin, John. “The Cultural Politics of Luxury in Eighteenth-Century France.” French Historical Studies 23, no. 4 (2000): 577–606. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00161071-23-4-577.

6 financially exhausted. France was undergoing war at that period of time and on top of that, the country had to bear the costs of the development of the Palace of Versailles. Even with the country on the verge of bankruptcy, Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, still lived luxuriously. The people were unhappy as their actions had caused them to be in a state of starvation.

The radicals, people who did not support the monarchy, were unhappy with how things were going on in the country. They rejected the grandeur and splendor of it all. All they wanted was for someone to help them in such trying times. They felt that they were not heard by the National Assembly, so they created a class of their own to go against the elites.

In 1789-1799, the French Revolution happened. The aim of the revolution was to allow the third estate to have more rights and break absolutism of French monarchy. They also wanted to topple aristocracy. They absolute power of French monarchy started to collapse, and the third estate succeeded in obtaining power for the lower class. This showed that they succeeded in getting control of the government. However, this revolution succeeded moderately as when Napoleon took over, he tried bringing back the Ancien Reé gime.

Nonetheless, the country achieved democracy years later.

This essay has demonstrated how architecture played a role in political change and how it was used by both monarchs to legitimize their rule and power. This essay also emphasized the rise and decline of power in both countries, and how they achieved democracy at the end of the day. In terms of differences, the Palace of Versailles was more historical as it was older than the Winter Palace. Even the style of architecture of both palaces were different although it stemmed from Baroque.

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Bibliography Varriano, John L. Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture (Introduction), 1986.

Klossowski de Rola, Thadée. “Renaissance Venice and the North: Crosscurrents in the Time of Bellini, Durer, and Titian, and: The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe, 1600-1750.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 31, no. 2 (2000): 278–280. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/182641.

Sonnino, Paul. “The Fabrication of Louis XIV. Peter Burke.” The Journal of Modern History 66, no. 4 (December 1994): 795–797.

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Lemerle, Frédérique., and Yves. Pauwels. Baroque Architecture 16001750 English language ed. Paris: Flammarion, 2008.

“MODERN RUSSIAN ARCHITECTURE; THE NEW WINTER PALACE.” The Athenaeum, no. 797 (February 4, 1843): 111–112. https://search.proquest.com/docview/9392386.