From "Hôtel particulier" of Paris to the Mansion of Moscow. The Theme of Rotunda in Russian Classicism

The article traces the genesis of a special type of French house with a protruding rotunda of style "Louis XVI". The role of an oval or circular salon in the set design of the living space has become one of the key. In addition to numerous examples, the study involves architectural treatises and illustrated deluxe editions, in which the French theorists and practitioners describe similar design. Remarkable is the mechanism of penetration of this construction method into the Russian architectural school, in which masters placed under the dome premises the cylindrical circular arch with a central support. Analysis of this phenomenon, examples from the Moscow classicism help to understand the importance and the role of this element, borrowed from Western School of Engineering. Nature of its use in the interiors of domestic monuments of classicism in some cases allows to attribute these constructive solutions to specific architects and architectural schools.