UNKNOWN WESTERN EUROPEAN ENGRAVER View of the Fontanka river from the Grotto and Reserve Palace Engraving with a chisel and etching, authentic colouring with watercolors, circa 1775. 36 x 48 cm. Based on the original of 1753 by G. A. Kachalov and the drawing by M. I. Makhaev.

Engraving. Avenue alongside the Fontanka river from the Grotto and Reserve Palace with direction at noon from the album ‘Plan of the capital city of St. Petersburg’ displaying the most famous avenues. Published by the Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences in Saint Petersburg, released by the fiftieth anniversary of the city in 1753. On the left bank of the Fontanka river there was the wooden building of the Reserve Palace, accumulating supplies for the needs of the Summer Palace, the residence of Peter I. Near the bridge there was a location of the Partikulyarnaya shipyard, established in 1716-1717 and rebuilt by A. I. Korobov in the late 1730s. On the right side there were the Summer garden and Grotto. The creation of the Summer garden took place under the control of Peter I. The Grotto (dismantled at the beginning of the XIX century) was a small pavilion, decorated inside with sea stones, shells and fountains.