The palace of Sanssouci, commissioned by Frederick the Great in 1745, was intended as a summer residence – a pleasure palace, without care, as its name connotes. The music room is an explosion of gilded boiserie, designed by Johann August Nahl, with mirrors alternating with painted panels by Antoine Pesne illustrating scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
In the nineteenth century, Frederick Wilhelm IV employed Ludwig Persius to restore the palace. A winged sofa in the Rococo Revival style upholstered in royal blue joins the original gilt seating arrangement, reupholstered in royal blue; there is also a matching fire screen. Ormolu-mounted furniture, an overmantel mirror flanked by wall lights and a gilt-mounted garniture of vases complete the room decoration.
