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The "Battle of the Palaces" occurred in the Russian Empire in the last decade of the reign of Catherine II (1784–1796) and the reign of Paul I (1796–1801), 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〔Paul's Saint Michael's Castle cost 6 million roubles in gold, 7 times more than Pella Palace - Lanceray, p. 123〕 construction projects involving the most illustrious architects of the period – Vasily Bazhenov, Vincenzo Brenna, Charles Cameron, Matvey Kazakov, Giacomo Quarenghi, 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〔Shvidkovsky, p. 281〕 imperial palace in the Saint Petersburg area. ==Background== 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, Elisabeth, 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; with age, the feeling mutated into hatred for the mother. In the beginning of Catherine's reign Paul was vital to her survival, being the living symbol of dynastic continuity.〔Streeter, p. 71〕 By 1772, as Paul was coming of age, he displayed desire to participate in the government,〔Streeter, p. 82〕 and thus became a contender for his mother's absolute power. Catherine 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.〔Streeter, p. 99〕 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 his turn, grew more and more suspicious of anything done by his mother,〔Streeter, pp. 107, 109, 117〕 and even almost boycotted Alexander's 1793 wedding ceremony.〔Streeter, p. 127〕 The political struggle between Catherine and Paul that initially "had secret significance hidden from the uninitiated but known to the court"〔Shvidkovsky, p. 282〕 became public and was well known in Saint Petersburg as well as in foreign courts.〔Shvidkovsky, p. 185, provides example of Claude Nicolas Ledoux referring to Alexander as "the new Alexander" and "Alexander of the North", i.e. Catherine's plans were well known at the French court.〕 Catherine began changing architecture of Russia upon her ascension to throne.〔Cracraft, Rowland pp. 51, 52〕 She embraced two concepts, ''architecture as allegory'' of her political ideas, and ''architecture as policy'' of implementing these ideas.〔Cracraft, Rowland p. 51〕 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,〔Cross, p. 292〕 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.〔Shvidkovsky, p. 293〕 The bitter exchange sealed Paul's tastes in favor of emerging Romanticism ''and'', at the same time, French Baroque,〔Lanceray, p. 146〕 and sowed the seed for the "Battle of the Palaces". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of the Palaces」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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