The postcard Living Room, or Italian Hall comes from the series of postcards called Pavlovka based on the paintings of the same name. The painter showed the interiors of Volkonsky’s family estate in Pavlovka in a very accurate and detailed manner.
The postcard series was issued at the special request of prince Serge Volkonsky (1860-1937) in the memory of his late father Mikhail Volkonsky (1832-1909). Researchers managed to find only ten vertical and horizontal postcards. The views of the estate’s exteriors, library interiors, portrait room, and living room were depicted there.
This is what Sergey Mikhailovich wrote about the Italian hall in his memoirs: ‘On the ground floor there’s a completely unexpected room. I turned ice storage room and cellar into the hall. There’s an arch that goes from the corridor. Descend two steps to the platform, where two staircases go down, and to the right and to the left goes the gallery. The architectural plan reminds of a swimming pool. And around, behind the columns, is a passage. Down, around the whole room, are the bookshelves and a cozy living room. The passage behind the columns goes round the whole hall. In front of the entrance arch, on the other end of the hall, is a huge window to the south with the view to the other, forest side of the ravine, to Alexandrovsky park, where the white church’s bell tower looks out from. There’s no ceiling, the rafters are out, like in the old Italian churches. From the middle part of the roof to the floor are ten and a half archines.’
To the left we can see a piece of a piano with the Chinese incense burner on the floor. It actually belonged to the Volkonsky family and is now one of the exhibit items at The Borisoglebsk History and Art Museum. The incense burner has neat hexagonal shape, a bit arched along the outline. On the sides are the apertures emphasized with the colours. The vessel’s decoration is bright and polychromic, it is painted with the floral motifs. The body of the vessel is decorated with the images of birds and butterflies.
To the right there are easychairs and a small table. The walls are covered with wood, in the far end of the room there’s a chimney. On the mantelpiece is a clock with the finial in the shape of a bird. To the right is a doorway to the other room.
The Volkonsky family often organized parties in this room. Their guests had fun, danced, read poems, listened to the music.
