Portrait of Catherine I
1717
- oil on canvas. 83 x 66 (oval)
Received in 1956 via the Expert Purchasing Committee from M. M. Uspensky Provenance: collection of Fyodor Kurakin, Nadezhdino Estate, Saratov Gubernia (until 1905)- State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Catherine Alexeyevna (née Marta Skowrońska (April 15, 1684 – May 6, 1727) Second spouse of Peter the Great (became his wife on February 19, 1712). On May 7, 1724 Peter crowned her as empress-consort and made her his co-ruler. On January, 1725 she became Empress of Russia.
The work was dated based on documentary evidence proving that in 1717, Carel de Moor painted portraits of Peter the Great and Catherine I from life.
In 1718, Ambassador Boris Kurakin sent the portrait of Peter the Great to Russia. Apparently, Kurakin kept the portrait of Catherine I and the work remained at the estate of Nadezhdino. It remained unknown until 1905 when it was exhibited at the Tauride exhibition. Researchers have noted that the image on de Moor’s painting corresponds well to the way Catherine’s contemporaries described her appearance, which revealed her humble origins and lower-class beauty; de Moor’s painting was described as a “realistic portrait that is not so flattering to the model.”