The discovered painting decoration of the Vorontsov` Palace in St. Petersburg: Spectroscopic characterization in support of conservation

During the repair and restoration works, taken place in 2015-2017 in the complex of buildings of the St. Petersburg’s Suvorov Military School, located at crossing of Moskovsky avenue and the Fontanka River, fragments of wall painting belonged to the R. I. Vorontsov`s palace were found out. The palace was originally built by the member of one of the prominent families in XVIII Century Saint Petersburg. Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov (1717-1783) was the count of the Roman Empire, General-in-Chief, Senator, Governor-General of Vladimir, Penza and Tambov, and one of the first figures of Russian Freemasonry and the most famous personalities of the Vorontsov family. In 1757 R. I. Vorontsov acquired the estate on the banks of the Fontanka River and in 1759–1760 he built a country mansion there. The architect in charge of the project has not been positively identified, but a search on the documents on Vorontsov’s house property suggested contributions from Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli and Giacomo Quarenghi[1].