The drawing rooms—two large rooms and four small cabinets—lie east of the White Hall, the center of the palace, and across from the ducal apartment. They served the duke, his guests, and court society as magnificent spaces for concerts and game evenings.
Visitors in the Assembly Room.
Invited guests entered the drawing rooms from the White Hall. The spacious Assembly Room spans the entire width of the palace, thus offering ample space for the pastimes of court society. Next to it lies the Music Room, a rectangular room with rounded corners that is flanked by small cabinets.
This is where the royal household met for card games and gambling.
"Assembly." was taken from the French "Assemblée". After the official reception in the White Hall or in the evening hours, the court society gathered here. Game tables and chairs to fit the occasion were set up to play the popular card games and games of chance. The room is lined with wood carvings in blue and gold, designed by royal architect Philippe de La Guêpière. Today, his drawings for Solitude Palace are stored in the Graphic Collection of Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (State Gallery Stuttgart).
Concerts were given in the Music Room.
Concerts for small audiences regularly took place in the Music Room. "2 pianos and 12 standing lecterns on high feet sculpted in white and gold" were provided for concerts. The room is white and gold with many mirrors: Here, architect de La Guêpière applied the idea of the Baroque hall of mirrors to the Music Room. The ornamentation is symmetrical and strictly in the late Rococo style. The paintings above the door are by royal painter Adolf Friedrich Harper.
The red wooden panels gave the cabinet its name.
The Music Room is at the center of four small, modest cabinets. In the Picture Cabinet, more than thirty paintings depicting landscapes and antique scenes are displayed between wall panels. In contrast, the Red Cabinet has wooden panels in red and gold, intended to create a "Chinese" ambiance. There was also a "Green Painting Cabinet" and another cabinet in yellow and gold.
