«Florentine mosaiс» (The State Museum «Pavlovsk» collection )

The exhibition is to be found on the second floor in the Central building of the palace. It occuppies the room of Russian residential interior XIX - early XX century

The works have done in Florentine mosaic technique from historical collection of the museum are presented for the first time in full volume .

There are15 museum objects there: mosaic paintings and tabletops. Ten small pictures of the Italian work of the second half of the XVIII century in a carved gilded framework are of special interest. It was purchased by owners of Pavlovsk Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and his wife Maria Feodorovna during their famous journey through Europe in 1781-82, under the names count and Countess of the North. Such mosaic images whose size is approximately 12 × 19 cm, has enjoyed great popularity among travelers. Images of architectural landscapes, still lifes, animals and birds were used as collectibles and interior decoration.

Mosaic technique of composing paintings from ornamental stones appeared in Florence in the XVI century. Mainly used marble, different varieties which differed in a variety of colors and natural pattern. In accordance with scenic sketch master mozaichist carefully selected pieces of jewels according to their color, spots and strokes and collected "picture", and this was achieved the artistic effect of the image.

At the exhibition you can see works by Russian artists of the XIX century that have most successfully mastered the technique of Florentine mosaic, using the richness of the Russian colored stone: Jasper, rhodonite, malachite and others.