Modern Wonders by Shana Priwer & Cynthia Phillips

Modern Wonders by Shana Priwer & Cynthia Phillips

Author:Shana Priwer & Cynthia Phillips [Priwer, Shana & Phillips, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781317464563
Google: C9DfBQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 24048449
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2008-10-01T00:00:00+00:00


ICE PALACE

One of the first large structures built entirely from ice was the Ice Palace commissioned by Russian Empress Anna Ivanova in the winter of 1739–1740, to celebrate the victory of Russia over Turkey. Georg Kraft, head of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, assisted in the design and construction of the Ice Palace as a scientific experiment. The first attempt at building the Ice Palace on an ice-covered river failed when the roof caved in, causing the walls to collapse and flooding the site with water. The second, successful, version of the Ice Palace was built on the shore near the Winter Palace.

The Ice Palace was built on a large scale and was about 165 feet (50 meters) wide and 66 feet (20 meters) tall. It was built from large blocks of ice sawed from the Neva River. These blocks were stacked on top of each other and frozen together by pouring liquid water on them. The structure was then sculpted by stone carvers, who produced a realistic Baroque-styled façade on the Ice Palace, similar to buildings in the rest of St. Petersburg at the time. The building was reportedly extremely beautiful, with a marble-like appearance that changed to a translucent dark blue when struck by light. The interior was decorated with elaborate posts and statues, and divided into a number of large and small rooms. Windows were made from panes of clear ice.

The interior of the palace was filled with a variety of realistic furniture built completely from ice, including tables, chairs, and even beds and pillows. The furnishings were highly detailed, down to a deck of ice cards placed on an ice table. An ice fireplace with ice logs could actually burn, as the logs were smeared with oil; an ice bathtub was also functional. An outdoor garden was filled with ice trees and ice birds. In addition to its realistic furnishings, the Ice Palace had fantastic elements such as a life-sized ice elephant. During the day, the elephant served as a fountain, jetting water up to 12 feet (4 meters) in height. But at night, in contrast to the ice, the elephant gave off jets of burning oil. In addition to the elephant, the Ice Palace included icy dolphins with tongues of flame. Visitors to the palace were amazed by the contrast of fire and ice, which had been made possible by consultation with the scientist Kraft, who knew that oil could burn faster than ice could melt.

This painting shows the Empress Anna Ivanova, in the yellow dress at the center, dancing and entertaining in the Ice Palace at the wedding of her two court jesters (left).



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