Peter I at the Battle of Poltava
1724 (1725?)
- oil on canvas. 76 х 63,5
- Ж-4901
Received in 1897 from the collection of Prince Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky, St Petersburg
- Location in museum The Mikhailovsky Palace, Room 7 Open the panorama of the hall in the virtual tour
- Period Late 17th century – the 18th century
- CategoryBattle Scenes
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Peter I (the Great; 1672–1725) was the younger son of the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He became Tsar in 1682 (until 1696, he ruled jointly with his brother Ivan V). From 1721, he was the first Emperor of All the Russias.
The painting was created in the European tradition, with the monarch participating in a battle scene. A scholar doing research on Peter’s iconography pointed out as far back as one and a half centuries ago that this “image of the tsar is not so similar to other portraits of his.” In the catalogue of a portrait exhibition organized in 1870, the painting was said to be a “study completed” for a large painting, which was ordered from Tannauer in 1718.