tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807469356676934317.post3543143329178294744..comments2024-03-25T10:50:11.187-07:00Comments on Gods and Foolish Grandeur: The Small Throne Room in the Winter Palace, two nineteenth-century viewsStephiliushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08562830870365561419noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807469356676934317.post-32237507040251803452014-02-05T08:46:37.444-08:002014-02-05T08:46:37.444-08:00Yeah, I wondered about the niche as well. I think...Yeah, I wondered about the niche as well. I think it's a distortion on the part of the painter, though; if you use the later painting to gauge the proportions of the altar-like structure - retablo? - on the platform within the niche - and it's the same painting of Peter the Great, so it couldn't be that different - then there's no way that that structure could really be centered in the niche in the first painting. Also, the decoration within the half-dome doesn't line up with the understood apex of said half-dome. Hau is absolutely trustworthy as a draftsman, so it looks like Zaryanko just fussed - very cleverly - with the proportions so as to make a better composition. And he totally pulled it off; he's such a good painter, that you don't notice his fudging unless you - really - look for it. : )Stephiliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08562830870365561419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807469356676934317.post-55914304754581018012014-02-05T07:59:36.978-08:002014-02-05T07:59:36.978-08:00it's odd that in the 2 perspectives -the 1/2 d...it's odd that in the 2 perspectives -the 1/2 domed niche also appears to have different proportions as well. Good catch on the twin pilasters and different chandeliers!ArchitectDesign™https://www.blogger.com/profile/01481754380363676771noreply@blogger.com