Marele salon de recepţie. Sufrageria palatului regal - Muzeul Naţional Cotroceni

Marele salon de receptie

Dupa primul razboi mondial, o data cu implinirea idealului national, prestigiul institutiei monarhice creste considerabil. Umbriti, pana in anul 1914 de puternica personalitate a lui Carol I si contestati de nenumarate ori, noii suverani, o data cu marea Unire, castiga mult in popularitate, in calitatea lor de conducatori ai Romaniei Mari.

A fost, se pare, ambitia reginei Maria de a consemna noul statut al monarhiei si prin noi lucrari de constructie la Cotroceni. Pentru aceasta au fost transformate doua incaperi din perioada Gottereau - salonul de dans si celebra sufragerie, in care, la 14 august 1914, s-a semnat intrarea Romaniei in primul razboi mondial. ...... Spatiul realizat, numit azi "spatiul Cerchez", dar care in epoca era cunoscut sub denumirea de "salonul alb" constituie, indubitabil, o reusita. El se invecineaza si se continua stilistic cu sufrageria Cotroceni, aceasta din urma edificata, probabil, inainte de primul razboi mondial.

O arcada mediana imparte incaperea in doua zone boltite diferit; una este acoperita cu o bolta semicilindrica cu penetratii, reluand traditia constructiva caracteristica Tarii Romanesti in secolul al XVII-lea, iar cealalta este acoperita cu trei calote semisferice, bordate cu braie in torsada si despartite prin arce dublouri, amintind solutii constructive definitorii pentru Moldova aceluiasi secol.

Marele salon de receptie este mobilat cu cateva valoroase piese de arta iberica; tronul neogotic si masa lunga in stil Renastere italiana au menirea sa ne readuca in memorie disparuta sufragerie istorica.

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Sufrageria Palatului Cotroceni

Doua arcade inguste comunica cu spatiul ce precede sufrageria, configurat tot in maniera neoromaneasca, cu o coloana centrala, determinand patru zone patrate, acoperite cu calote semisferice. Sufrageria, patrata, avand peretii subliniati de arcade inalte ce sustin bolta semisferica, este rezolvata in acelasi spirit neoromanesc. ....

In sufrageria regala se afla acele inconfundabile piese de mobilier care se spune ca ar fi fost "designate" de insasi regina Maria. Acest ansamblu, compus din "marea masa a regelui Arthur" si din 24 de scaune este, in plan stilistic, un exemplu de art-deco original, propriu conceptiei reginei. Executata in lemn stuct si pe de-a-ntregul aurit, el a fost probabil lucrat intr-un atelier vienez, in spiritul secession, in primul sfert secolului XIX. ... Motive decorative asemanatoare vom remarca pe mobilierul fix si pe cache-radiatoare.

Aspectul mobilierului, arcadele, curbele care invaluie intreg spatiul, lumina difuz filtrata prin vitralii, totul concura la crearea unei atmosfere pline de solemnitate. .......

Iata cateva personalitati de marca ale vietii politice si culturale care au fost oaspetii acestui spatiu:

I.I.C. Bratianu, Nicolae Titulescu, Alexandru Averescu, Dinu Bratianu, Barbu Stirbei, Take Ionescu, Nicolae Iorga, George Enescu, Costin Petrescu, Milita Patrascu, sculptorul Ivan Mestrovici, Cella Delavrancea, egiptologul Gunther Roeder, prof. Huntington, Rabindranath Tagore, Eduard Benes, Joseph Boyle, Hector Bolitho, regii si reginele Iugoslaviei, Greciei, Bulgariei, Albaniei si multi altii.

(Extrase din ghidul Muzeului National Cotroceni)

The Great Reception Room

After World War I, as the national ideal was finally accomplished, the prestige of the monarchy was considerably increased. Shadowed by King Charles I's strong personality until 1914 and contested several times, the new sovereigns gained in popularity a lot as leaders of Great Romania.

It seems that it was Queen Marie's ambition to mark the new status of the monarchy by new building works at Cotroceni. On this occasion, two rooms of the Gottereau period - the ballroom and the famous dining room, where, on the 14th of August 1916, Romania's entering World War I was signed - were transformed.

The space that came into being, today called "the Cerchez interior" but which was known as the white room at the time, was, undoubtedly, a success. It neighbours and stylistically continues the Cotroceni dining room, the latter being probably built before World War I.

A medial arcade divides the room into two differently vaulted zones: one is covered by a barrel vault with penetrations, which resumes the building tradition characteristic to 17th century Walachia, and the other is covered by three cupolas, bordered by friezes adorned with torsioned rope motifs and separated by double arches which remind of the building solutions characteristic to Moldavia in the same century. The great reception hall is furnished with several valuable pieces of Iberian art...

The neo - Gothic throne, happily placed between two semicircular arches, reminding of the destination of this room, as well as the long table in the Italian Renaissance style, are meant to bring to our minds the former dining room.

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The Dinning Room

Two narrow arcades communicate with the space that precedes the dining room, in the same neo-Romanian style, with a central column that delimits four square zones, covered by cupolas. A small side space with a fireplace which is several stairs higher is of a purely rustic type, another one, in the shape of a niche, communicates with the outer pavilion. The dining room is square and its walls are marked by high arcades that support the cupola, in the same neo-Romanian spirit...

In the royal dining room there are those unequalled pieces of furniture that are said to have been designed "by Queen Marie herself." This ensemble, made up of the "big round table of King Arthur" and twenty-four chairs is stylistically an example of decorative art, specific to the Queen's conception. Made of stuccoed wood and entirely gilded, it was probably manufactured in a workshop in Vienna, in the Secession style, in the first quarter of our century. A special type of ornament, inspired by "eclectic" and Byzantine art is woven on the massive forms. One will remark similar decorative motifs on the fixture and on the cache-radiators.

The aspect of the furniture, the arcades that support the vaults, the curves that shape the entire space, the dim light filtered through stained glass windows - all these contribute to creating an atmosphere of great solemnity...

... several outstanding personalities of political and cultural life who were its guests: I.I. Bratianu, Nicolae Titulescu, Alexandru Averescu, Dinu Bratianu, Barbu Stirbei, Take lonescu, Nicolae lorga, George Enescu, Costin Petrescu, Milita Patrascu, the sculptor Ivan Mestrovici, Cella Delavrancea, the Egyptologist Gunter Roeder, Professor Huntington, Rabindranath Tagore, Eduard Bene~, Henri Berthelot, Joseph Boyle, Hector Bolitho, the kings and queens of Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and many others.

(Excerpts from The Cotroceni National Museum Guide)