In the same year, Frederick I ordered goods from craftsman and Danish gottfried Wolfland. Instead of ordering a small ring, he ordered a set of amber partitions to decorate a hall in Berlin Palace. The project was huge, and soon Andres Schluet, an architect and sculptor, was invited from Danzig to participate in the project. He made a plan, but his original idea was later revised. The arrogant Prussian monarch had a whim to decorate his palace in Potsdam with amber Zhai, thus surpassing Versailles in luxury. At this time, amber wallboard was used to decorate the gallery of Charlotte Tenhof Castle.
The project was completed in 1709, but it was an unlucky year for the people who created the exquisite "Amber Room": the amber walls were not bonded and collapsed one after another, and the king was furious and ordered Schluet to be expelled. In this way, contrary to the intention of the Prussian king, the amber wallboard failed to enter Charlotte Tenhof Castle. Scholars believe that the superstition of Frederick I is one of the reasons.
Later, "Amber Studio" and Amber Gallery were not built. After the death of Frederick I, the new king Frederick William I has always opposed his father's extravagance and waste. At this time, he ordered to stop working. However, these amber wall panels can be called masterpieces of jewelry art even if they are not finished. These are mosaics, which are made up of pieces of sunstone, from light transparent to dark yellow, and become colorful patterns, such as cursive script, painting, heraldic and flowers.
The uniqueness of German craftsmen is also reflected in the fact that before them, this natural gem was mainly used to make jewelry, carved wine glasses, vases, jewelry boxes, snuff bottles, inlaid wood and wall stickers because of its high value, and it was the first time to make painting patterns.
The walls of "Amber Room" are made of polished amber plates. This kind of amber is gorgeous and precious. Some are bright and transparent, some are yellow, and some are yellowish brown-that's because the resin in the amber-producing forest accumulates towards the sun. They attracted everyone's attention. Sometimes you can see amber with cloud texture. There are all kinds of patterns, some like flaming flames and some like cumulus clouds. Occasionally, you can see smoking amber flakes, which seem to be covered with a thin layer of dust.
Everything is properly matched, and the color selection is harmonious, soft and bright, which makes people never tire of seeing it. The relief decoration incorporates the jasper pattern and mosaic composition made by the master skillfully. The white mirror table inlaid with gold and the semi-cylinder in the golden wall shine in the sunshine.
A few years later, Frederick William I presented this treasure to Russian Tsar Peter I who led a huge delegation to visit Poland, Germany and Holland. In Berlin, a grand celebration was held for the Russian czar: fireworks were set off, Jiuquan was opened, and the whole roast cow with poultry meat and game stuffing was delivered to the citizens. The next morning, Peter I visited Potsdam with great interest, a city with gardens, palaces and temples.
Some researchers believe that the King of Prussia, nicknamed "the steward of the throne", didn't know much about art and didn't know how to deal with "Amber Zhai" at all, so he was happy to find a grandiose excuse to get rid of it. Actually, it's not like this. Frederick William I, unlike his father, has always been famous for his meanness, and there are many stories about it in history. Therefore, he still knows how to cherish things.
Frederick William I didn't want to spend money to finish the project, so he wisely and thoughtfully put these amber wallboard to use. He made a diplomatic and political gift, called long-term fishing. Russia has just defeated the Swedes, and Prussia needs such a powerful ally as Russia. Later, the tsar reciprocated. For these amber wallboard, he returned 55 Russian soldiers more than two meters tall to the King of Prussia, who is recruiting such giants for his guards stationed all over Europe.
The wallboard of "Hupo Zhai" was dismantled, packed in a big wooden box of 18, and shipped to Memmel, that is, Clay Pether, by sea. Peter I spoke highly of the gift from the king of Prussia. He sent a special mission headed by the Chief Minister for Palace Affairs to Memmel. Then people tried to transport these wooden boxes back to the Russian capital by sleigh, but the continuous strong wind and heavy snow delayed the departure time. In spring, that is, in May of 17 16, each wooden box was loaded with a special carriage with six horses. Under strict precautions, the complete decoration of "Amber Zhai" was transported to St. Petersburg via Kurland. Here, this set of decoration is displayed in a living room of the palace for people to visit, and all the guests are fascinated by its splendor and dazzling. At this time, the style of "Amber Zhai" is exactly the same as that in Berlin.
However, Peter I himself was somewhat disappointed after carefully reading the treasures he received in Petersburg … and lost any interest in them.
The decoration of "Amber Studio" is composed of single components that are not completely made. If the processing is not completed, these parts cannot be used for decoration. Many components are missing, and the most important thing is that there are not enough semi-circular wall columns that should be installed at the joints of wallboard. There are still some missing lintels, a picture frame and some other parts.
The decoration of "Amber Zhai" was transported to the annex of the Summer Palace, and the matching rooms scattered there for a long time were called "Xiafang". It was kept here until 1743, when Queen Elizabeth Petrovna came up with the idea of decorating the rooms in the new Winter Palace with the decoration of the Amber Room.
However, in 1755, the queen ordered the decoration of Amber Zhai to be transported to Huangcun, this time to rebuild the summer palace of the Russian monarch. In order to carry out the Queen's decree, 76 selected guards, capable people and experts set out from St. Petersburg and went to Huangcun on foot. They carried boxes of decorations on stretchers in pairs. The soldiers marched unhurriedly, and it took them six days to walk 25 miles, and finally the decorations were delivered to their destination intact.
As mentioned above, the initial state given by the King of Prussia is a single wallboard with a total area of about 55 square meters, which is covered with natural amber mosaics of different colors. The hall in Huangcun is five times larger than that in Prussia. How to decorate the wallboard here, the appointed Italian-born Valfreme Rastrelli encountered a big problem. But this talented architect solved it brilliantly. He used gold-plated woodcuts, mirrors, agates and jasper mosaics in the decoration. A magnificent hall was thus built. Because amber has therapeutic effect, people in that era thought it was a great enjoyment to be in this hall, and they could feel the harmony between body and soul.
In order to modify and repair the decoration of amber studio, Russia invited the Italian Alexander Martell, who regarded this work as his great honor. He signed an agreement to "modify" the decoration, and promised to reset all the missing parts one by one, make up the missing parts with new parts, and assemble the decoration parts of "Amber Studio" within the time specified by Queen Elizabeth. The remuneration of Italian craftsmen was set at 600 rubles, which was not a small income according to the standards at that time.
Rastrelli and Martell have made a renovation plan for Amber Studio. Many parts, such as semi-circular columns with mirrors, need to be remade. At that time, the Russian factory could not accept such a job, so it had to go to France to order glass, a total of 52 pieces, each of which was 48 rubles. The decoration of "Amber Studio" has also adopted new components, such as the fourth amber frame. It was made in Konigsberg and presented to Queen Elizabeth by the next Prussian king Frederick II.
In Huangcun, the "Amber Room" became a famous "Amber Room" under the guidance of Rastrelli. The configuration of amber wallboard here should be different from that of the Winter Palace, so we should add some mirrors and gold wall lamps to the platinum inlaid stage. These items were made by Russian craftsmen Ivan Kopylov, Vasily Kirikov and Ivan Garbo Jov. In addition, Rastrelli added some semi-cylinders in the wall to make them appear alternately with paintings, and designed gold-plated carved ornaments outside the semi-cylinders. In addition, some new wallboard was made and painted amber. Later, these wallboard were replaced by natural amber.
In order to preserve this masterpiece for a long time and keep it in good condition, Logan Booker, an amber technician, was hired from Prussia. 1758 took the post of "Amber Hall Custody". In fact, he, his son and his apprentice are the authors of all the works completed by "Amber Room" since then. Until 1770, the "Amber Room" finally had a complete appearance and became one of the main decorations of Catherine Palace.
Gauthie, a French romantic poet, described it this way when he first saw the Amber Room in the mid-Kloc-0/9th century: "We will talk about the Amber Room. This is very different from Arabian Nights or Magic Tales. The palace there was built by magicians, gods and demons. What we see in those palaces are palaces decorated with diamonds, rubies or other precious stones that are usually regarded as treasures. The word' Amber Room' here is not an exaggeration of the poet, but a real thing.
"This is not a narrow living room or a small study, but a big room with three walls, decorated with amber mosaics from the ground to the top of the column. I am not used to seeing such a large amount of amber, and I will be dazzled by the rich and soft colors here-the color changes from hot yellow-brown to light lemon. The gold plating of carved ornaments is also eclipsed and falsely distorted under the amber background, especially when the sun illuminates the wall and the light penetrates the transparent texture of amber. "
At night, the sunlight that once lit up the whole room through the wide windows was replaced by the candlelight of hundreds of candles. These hundreds of candles turned into thousands under the reflection of the mirror. It is the combination of candlelight and amber light that gives Catherine Palace a special charm. The mosaic wall began to change color with the light, and the light constantly changed on the amber relief, showing its liveliness, vitality and spiritual beauty.
For about 200 years, the "Amber Room" remained almost unchanged. 194 1 In September, the last soldiers guarding Huangcun retreated to Pulkovo Highland, and the decoration of "Amber Room" has not been removed. People don't have time to move it.
Fascist bandits ransacked Catherine Palace. They stripped the silk wall covering off the wall, knocked off the parquet floor, removed the door and carried it away. Several professional teams carefully selected the priceless treasures in the museum and shipped them back to the empire. The decoration of "Amber Hall" was not spared, and 194 1 was transported to Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia. Since then, it has disappeared. ...