Central Salon of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo 1792 - 1796

Editor: Here we have Giacomo Quarenghi's "Central Salon of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo," a drawing and print from the late 1790s currently residing at the Met. It's really amazing to me. There’s a fascinating, almost dreamlike quality to the precision of the architecture. What particularly strikes you about this piece? Curator: You know, dreamlike is spot on. It's a ghost of a space, isn't it? This echoes the neoclassical style that was all the rage, looking back to a romanticized version of ancient Greece and Rome. I see not just an architectural rendering but an exercise in aspirational history-making, with every detail, from the angels to the urns, chosen to whisper "grandeur" and "timelessness." Do you notice how the flatness of the rendering almost feels like a stage set? Editor: It really does, like a backdrop awaiting a play! So it’s less about function and more about projecting a specific image of power? Curator: Exactly! Quarenghi wasn’t just designing a room, he was crafting an image of imperial authority and cultivated taste. These palaces were power made visible, but sometimes it feels as if the people themselves are optional extras. Who needs people when you have marble columns and perfectly placed allegorical figures, right? Editor: That's a bit cynical. Curator: Perhaps, but who knows? The world is cynical. Now, I cannot stop from looking at the drawing. Is that intentional or simply a characteristic of age and material? Editor: Maybe it adds another layer. The Salon in reality, then idealized. Thank you! I would've thought twice as much. Curator: Anytime. Now go dream. And may your neoclassical fantasies always have room for a touch of playful chaos.