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Service corps of the Marble Palace

Italy

Service corps of the Marble Palace

This is an architectural monument of the 1760s. There is the combination of sumptuous ornamentation with rigorously classicizing monumentality. The palace takes its name from its opulent decoration in a wide variety of polychrome marbles. A rough-grained Finnish granite on the ground floor is in sub

tle contrast to polished pink Karelian marble of the pilasters and white Urals marble of capitals and festoons. Panels of veined bluish gray Urals marble separate the floors, while Tallinn dolomite was employed for ornamental urns. In all, 32 disparate shades of marble were used to decorate the palace. - The plan of the edifice is trapezoidal: each of its four facades, though strictly symmetrical, has a different design. The palace court is dominated by a sturdy equestrian statue of Alexander III of Russia,- or Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov (10 Mar 1845–1 Nov 1894) who was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Prince of Finland,- the most famous work of sculptor Paolo Troubetzkoy; formerly it graced the obelisk's spot at Vosstanya Square, before the Moscow Railway Station. In 1843, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolayevich decided to redecorate the edifice, renaming it Constantine Palace. An adjacent church and other outbuildings were completely rebuilt, while the interior of the palace was refurbished in keeping with the eclectic tastes of its new owner. Only the main staircase and the Marble Hall survived that refacing and still retain the refined stucco work and elaborate marb

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