This is a slightly reduced version of Premazzi's 1855 watercolour (see Tsarskoe Selo: Watercolours, paintings and engravings from the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries, ed. Alain de Gourcuff, Paris, 1992, pl.12). The room was designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli for the Empress Elizabeth I. Rastrelli's scheme echoes the lavish gilding of the courtyard facade of the palace. Catherine the Great occupied the room after redecoration, but her successor, Paul I did not care for this palace, work on it was stopped, works of art were removed and it was neglected until the accession of Alexander I (1777-1825) in 1801. After a fire in 1820 the room was restored by the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov. According to Alexander Benois in his study of the Tsarskoe Selo, published in 1910, this bedroom was used by Alexander. His simple campaign bed and the plain chairs contrast oddly with the sumptuousness of the alcove. The men of the imperial family all slept habitually on these folding beds to give the impression of their readiness to spring to the defence of their people, an impression enhanced by the tunic and riding boots placed ready for use on the sofa to the left of the picture.