About

The Kshesinskaya Mansion on the Petrogradskaya Side — the Northern Art Nouveau (Severny Modern) residence of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. Kshesinskaya was prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Ballet and, in her earlier years, the mistress of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, future Nicholas II. She built the mansion in 1904-1906 for her private life after their relationship ended; she left Russia after the 1917 Revolution. This themed tour focuses on the interiors as material evidence of a Silver Age Petersburg private life — the specific way in which the ballerina's personal life became a public matter, and how the receiving rooms and private apartments were built with both public and private uses in mind. Costumes, photographs and personal effects give voice to the specific era. In Russian; the historical material is language-heavy.