GRAND COSTUMED BALL at the Hermitage Theater of the Winter Palace. Group photograph. St. Petersburg, February-March 1903. Late print, reproduction of the 1903 image. Mounted on a mat. 23.5x39.8 cm.

In February 1903, the largest masquerade ball in the history of St. Petersburg took place at the Winter Palace. The ball, dedicated to the 290th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, was attended by the elite of the state. The guests were dressed in costumes from the pre-Petrine era: ladies in kokoshniks and sarafans, gentlemen in the attire of musketeers, falconers, and boyars. Members of the imperial family also wore historical costumes. Extensive historical and archival research was conducted, and consultants including historians and art experts were involved in creating costumes for the imperial couple and the courtiers. For example, Tsar Nicholas II's "Small Imperial Costume" was partially authentic. The director of the Hermitage, I.A. Vsevolozhsky, and the artist of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters, E.P. Ponomarev, worked on the design. Sixteen authentic items of royal costumes from the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin were borrowed, including pearl wristbands of Fyodor Ioannovich, an authentic scepter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, buttons, and appliques. The theater costume designer of the Imperial Theaters, I.I. Kaffi, along with two tailors, worked on creating a costume made of velvet and brocade, specially ordered from the suppliers of the imperial house, the Sapozhnikov brothers. The imperial hat was made in the hat workshop of the Brüno brothers, suppliers to the Imperial Court since 1872. Other participants of the ball also prepared meticulously. Even the musicians and choir members were dressed in traditional Russian caftans. The 65 "dancing officers" appointed by the empress were also attired as musketeers or falconers from the 17th century. Most costumes were created based on the sketches of the fashionable artist Sergey Solomko. At the request of the empress, the participants were captured by the best photographers in St. Petersburg, and a year later, by order of the Imperial Court, a commemorative "Album of the Costumed Ball at the Winter Palace" was released, containing 21 photogravures and 174 phototypes.