Marble Palace, St. Petersburg

The Marble Palace is an eighteenth-century residence commissioned by Empress Catherine II as a gift for Count Grigory Orlov, one of her closest political allies.

Designed by Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi, it was constructed between 1768 and 1785. Orlov died before its completion, after which Catherine purchased the palace from his heirs and later presented it to her grandson Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. It subsequently remained associated with several generations of the imperial family. The palace takes its name from the extensive use of marble and other natural stone throughout its exterior and interiors. Rinaldi’s design is an important example of early Russian Neoclassicism, combining granite facing, marble architectural details, and restrained classical forms. The Marble Hall is the best-known surviving ceremonial interior, decorated with different varieties of marble, columns, reliefs, and ornamental stonework. Later nineteenth-century renovations altered several rooms for successive Romanov residents. In 1991, the palace was transferred to the State Russian Museum and subsequently restored for museum use. Today, it presents permanent and temporary exhibitions devoted primarily to modern and contemporary art. A major permanent display is Peter and Irene Ludwig’s Gift, featuring international art from the second half of the twentieth century, including works by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Joseph Beuys, and Anselm Kiefer.

Visitors can explore historic ceremonial interiors while viewing Russian and international artworks displayed within the former imperial residence.