Portrait of Peter I
1716
- oil on canvas. 224 х 142
Received in 1964 from the Central Depository of Museum Funds of the Suburban Palaces; earlier – Palace of Peter I in the Summer Garden; Grigory Orlov collection (Marble Palace)- Peterhof State Museum Reserve
On February 7, 1713 Peter the Great met with Frederick IV of Denmark (1699–1730) near the town of Tönning, and they exchanged highest state awards. Frederick received the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, and Peter – the Danish Order of the Elephant. The portrait must have been painted between 1713 (when Peter received the order) and 1722 (the year when the artist died); it is most likely that the painting was created in 1716 during Peter’s official visit to Copenhagen. The painting used to belong to Count Grigory Orlov and was housed in the Marble Palace in St Petersburg. After Orlov’s death his collection was bought by the state, but it remained in the Marble Palace. In 1832 Emperor Nicholas I granted the Marble Palace to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. The paintings that were housed in the palace were examined by the emperor, and he ordered to move 55 portraits (including the portrait of Peter the Great painted by Le Coffre) to Peterhof. That is when a new frame was made for the painting. However, a year after that Nicholas I decided to move the portrait to the Cabin of Peter the Great, but because “there was no suitable space for it” in the cabin, it was placed in the Summer Palace.