Pompeii was systematically dug up, turned into a museum and away we go. Noble gentlemen literally went crazy from the richness of the decorative interior decoration, which was demonstrated by the villas of Pompeii. One by one, halls in the Pompeian style appear in the palaces of Europe, which reaches its peak of popularity in the 19th century, in the era of historicism.

The style comes to Russia almost immediately after the start of large-scale excavations and museumification of Pompeii. In 1763, Catherine II received as a gift from the King of Naples four volumes of the Antiquities of Herculaneum, which contained engraved images of archaeological finds. And in the 1780s, Charles Cameron created a number of interiors in this style for the Empress in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

In the 19th century, the style takes on completely different incarnations. Classic – in light shades, where the walls were painted on a white background. Such were the lost Pompeian interiors of the Winter Palace (1836-1839, architect A.P. Bryullov), as well as the interiors of the Yusupov Palace (1840-1860s, architect I.A. Monighetti) and the Mariinsky Palace (1840s). , architect A.I. Stackenschneider), which have survived to this day.

But there is an absolutely unique example of the Pompeian style, where the entire decoration is done in terracotta-black tones, reminiscent of the style of ancient Greek red-figure vases. This is the Etruscan drawing room in the Sheremetev Palace, created by the architect Hieronymus Corsini in 1837-1838.

In the 19th century, there were no stylistic differences in Pompeian, Etruscan and Greek styles, since for the most part architects brought a little from everywhere into their projects, so all three definitions are acceptable for these interiors. It is this deep and not quite typical coloring that makes this living room one of the most interesting and noteworthy museum interiors in St. Petersburg. The walls and ceiling are richly decorated with grotesques, meanders and acanthus leaves, imitation of relief plaques, etc.

Furniture sets have always been an integral part of Pompeian interiors. It was made based on ancient Roman furniture, adapting items to modern needs. At this time, low stools, lodges, sofas, cabinets are gaining popularity. All furniture is decorated with red-figure or black-figure painting in the antique style, and complex legs of furniture items in the form of winged lions or sphinxes are covered with gilding.

Regarding the authorship of the furniture set of the Etruscan living room, there are two versions. According to the first, it, like the interior, could have been designed by Corsini, since there is no doubt that the suite was created at the same time as the architectural decoration. But there is another version, according to which, Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov, a famous architect and brother of the famous painter Karl Bryullov, could be its author.

After the fire of 1837, Alexander Bryullov restored the interiors of the Winter Palace and designed the famous, although now lost, Pompeian dining room, for which furniture was also created according to his sketches.

Some items from the Sheremetev set are exact copies of furniture from the Pompeian dining room in the Winter Palace, which is why the specialists of the Museum of Theater and Musical Art suggested its authorship.

The Pompeian style became a fashionable trend in the era of architectural historicism. In many palaces and mansions in Russia in the middle of the 19th century, one could find Pompeian halls, few of which have survived to this day, and therefore those few surviving interiors are of particular value.