T︠S︡arskoe Selo

The first chapter chronicles the palace as a residence of Russian emperors and empresses. The next four chapters deal with specific facets of the palace-ensemble: the design of the two main buildings of Tsarsko Selo and their landscape architecture: the Catherine Palace dating to the early eighteenth century, rebuilt by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli in the 1750s, and the neoclassical Alexander Palace designed by Giacomo Quarenghi in the 1790s, and their parks and gardens. Subsequent chapters study the fine and ecorative arts at Tsarskoe Selo cataloguing principal works and tracing how the collections were built; describe the way in which an imperial residence was turned into a museum after the 1917 revolution; recount the achievements of the artists, craftsmen, and curators, who restored and rebuilt the palaces and unique interiors that were all but razed during World War II. Summary written by John W. Emerich, Bronze Horseman Literary Agency.