Peterhof Palace
E. Huard
Description
Subject Matter:
This photograph of Peterhof Palace, built under the direction of Peter the Great and known colloquially as the "Russian Versailles," was probably taken by the French photographer E. Huard during the 1860s when he was documenting the city of Saint Petersburg. Huard's oblique angle to the palace, photographed from the perspective of the lower gardens, situates Peterhof's famous series of fountains at the center of the image, their plumes of water rivalling the treetops in scale. There was good reason to focus on the fountains over the palace, as Peterhof's "Grand Cascade" was considered a technological marvel. All of its fountains operate without the use of pumps, instead relying on the elevation difference between the Upper and Lower Gardens to create the water pressure that drives them. Clearly a subject of great fascination for nineteenth-century tourists, Huard's view was one of numerous photographs of Peterhof Palace taken from this particular spot.
Physical Description:
Photograph of Peterhof Palace and the Grand Cascade from an oblique view.
Usage Rights:
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