shapes of trees to make theatrical scenes. He made dramatic use of the contrast between the white bark and light leaves of birch trees and the dark needles of red-brown trunks of pine trees, setting groups of birch trees in front of dark backgrounds of pines. He made decorative use of the different seasons in the park, painting scenes with brilliant colors of the autumn leaves. Gonzaga was the architect of Pavlovsk Park until his death in 1831 at the age of eighty. Gonzago Gallery The Gonzago Gallery is a unique architectural and fresco ensemble in the Pavlovsk Palace, created by the Italian decorator, architect and art theorist Pietro di Gottardo Gonzago in the early 19th century. It is the only example in Northern Europe of an exterior fresco painting of such a large area: 350 square metres for the wall and 200 square metres for the ceiling. The gallery was built in 1795-1797 by the architect Vincenzo Brenna as a summer outdoor dining room for the palace's inhabitants. The painting of the Gallery, created by Pietro di Gotthardo Gonzago, was carried out on behalf of Empress Maria Feodorovna much later. The work was carried out in 1805–1807. It is believed that Gonzago previously made a drawing on the wet plaster method graffiti, and then worked on the plaster that has not yet dried up in the technique of grisaille red paint based on iron oxide pigment. When the plaster had dried, the artist elaborated and modelled the form with lime-based paints. In 1822-1824 the architect Carlo Rossi built a library over the Gallery with large arched windows framed with rosettes ornaments. Because of the construction of the library, Gonzago's assistant had to redo the ceiling of the Gallery in 1824. Rossi placed busts of ancient writers and philosophers between the windows, with stucco wreaths above them. In the 19th-century updates of the paintings in the Gallery were made. During the Soviet era, a museum-reserve was established based on the Pavlovsky Palace. In the 1930s, the Gallery was used as a canteen at a children's health camp. During World War II, the frescoes were seriously damaged. The difficult process of restoration of the Gonzago Gallery was only completed in 2011. Notes Bibliography Orloff, Alexandre and Chvidkovski, Dimitri, Saint-Petersbourg- l'architecture des tsars, Editions Place des Victoires, Paris 1995, translated from Russian to French by Brigitte de Monclos, Massie, Suzanne, Pavlovsk: The