page_title: Battle of the Palaces
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Palaces / Background
caption_attribution_description: en:Catherine the Great's private wing of Catherine's summer palace. This wing is an early example of the en:Greek Revival (en:Ionic Order) style in its upper portions, while the lower stonework could be appropriately described as rustic en:Romanesque, which combine to form a composite Roman order . In comparison to the baroque opulence of the main palace at this location (which Catherine disliked, calling it "whipped cream style"), her choice of this type of building for her personal residence was considered to be quite modest by her contemporaries and courtiers. Image by en:User:Leonard G.
context_page_description: The "Battle of the Palaces" occurred in the Russian Empire in the last decade of the reign of Catherine II and the reign of Paul I, with ripple effects extending into the beginning of the reign of Alexander I. A bitter standoff between Catherine and Paul, her only legitimate son and heir, manifested itself in transient political and ideological conflicts, but also had a lasting, tangible impact on Russian architecture. Both parties materialized their political statements and their understanding of sovereign power in expensive construction projects involving the most illustrious architects of the period – Vasily Bazhenov, Vincenzo Brenna, Charles Cameron, Matvey Kazakov, Giacomo Quarenghi, and Ivan Starov. Catherine's palace projects followed the neoclassical canon of the Age of Enlightenment, while Paul deliberately leaned to emerging Romanticism. Buildings that stylistically fell apart from these programs were demolished or rebuilt without hesitation. The "battle" began in 1785 with the demolition of the main palace in Tsaritsyno, and culminated in 1796 with the demolition of Pella, the largest imperial palace in the Saint Petersburg area.
context_section_description: Until 1722, the order of succession in Russia was based on primogeniture. In 1722 Peter I parted with tradition and enacted the monarch's right (and, in fact, obligation) to name his or her successor at will. The change was followed with a series of palace coups; for most of the remaining 18th century, the throne was occupied by women: Catherine I, Anna, Elizabeth, and Catherine II. Catherine II ascended to the throne through the murder of her husband, Peter III, when their only legitimate son, Paul, was seven years old. Paul retained affection to his late father throughout his life; however, with age, this feeling mutated into hatred for his mother.
  At the beginning of Catherine's reign, Paul was vital for her survival, being the living symbol of dynastic continuity; however, by 1772, as Paul was coming of age, he began displaying desire to participate in government, thus potentially challenging his mother's absolute power. Catherine thus devised a plan to remove Paul from any involvement in politics: Paul had to marry, retire to quiet family life, and produce a son that might become a better candidate for succession. This son, future emperor Alexander I, was born in 1777, and Catherine eagerly prepared him for an illustrious future, although she never elevated her choice to a level of monarch's written will. Paul, in turn, grew more and more suspicious of anything done by his mother, and even almost boycotted Alexander's 1793 wedding ceremony. The political struggle between Catherine and Paul, which initially "had secret significance hidden from the uninitiated but known to the court", soon became public, being well known not only to Saint Petersburg but also to numerous foreign courts.
  Catherine began changing architecture of Russia upon her ascension to throne. She embraced two concepts, architecture as allegory of her political ideas, and architecture as policy of implementing these ideas. Her tastes developed in stages, from French Rococo to Gothic Revival, until finally settling on Palladianism in the 1780s. Catherinian neoclassicism was based on French models leaning to ancient Roman forms. The choice also reflected Catherine's lifelong Greek Project, the drive to take over Black Sea Straits from the Ottomans and re-establish the Byzantine Empire with her grandson Constantine as emperor.
  Paul, who detested Catherinian Enlightenment, considered classic architecture a dry, emotionally inadequate reproduction of antiques. Dmitry Shvidkovsky pointed to a 1782 meeting between Paul and French artist and antiquary Charles-Louis Clérisseau at Château de Chantilly as the event that could have shaped Paul's architectural tastes. Clerisseau, who knew he was admired by the empress, reprimanded the Russian heir-apparent for not paying him attention before and promised to report Paul's "disrespect" to Catherine; little else could hurt Paul's feelings more. The bitter exchange sealed Paul's tastes in favor of emerging Romanticism and, at the same time, French Baroque, and sowed the seed for the "Battle of the Palaces".
caption: Cameron's Gallery (1784–1787) in Tsarskoye Selo, an example of Catherine's taste in architecture in the last decade of her reign.
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