# Interior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [RASTRELLI, Francesco Bartolomeo]() - Date: 1751-1800 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The most important urban developments of the eighteenth century in St. Petersburg were the Palace Square, Admiralty Square and Senate Square. A decisive factor in these schemes was the Winter Palace, which was to be integrated into a comprehensive urban development design. The Winter Palace was built in a pure French late Baroque style. Its façade dominates the Neva embankment, and, with the Admiralty, forms the core section of the city. Rastrelli planned the Smolny monastery opposite, with its powerful dome and four towers, as a foil to the palace. The picture shows the Ambassador Staircase in the Winter Palace. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Main Staircase]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()