White Hall of the Winter Palace

The White Hall of the Winter Palace was designed by the architect Alexander Briullov to commemorate the marriage of the Tsarevich to Maria of Hesse in 1841.

The hall is in a classical style, its vaulted ceiling supported by Corinthian columns crowned by statues representing the arts.

The space of the hall is divided into three unequal parts by the pylons projecting from the walls, on which the underpinning arches rest.

At the Emperor's notice in the end wall, it was decided not to decorate the apertures with porticoes with columns and a triangular pediment, as Brullov had intended.

The effect of the monochrome hall is also based on the combination of the differently shaped surfaces of the polished marble and the whitewashed stucco decorations.