Portrait of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich

• Before 1671 (?)/ After 1676 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 126 х 95
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3988

Alexis I Mikhailovich (March 19, 1629 – January 29, 1676)

Tsar, member of the Romanov dynasty, father of Peter the Great. Son of Mikhail Fedorovich and Eudoxia Streshneva. He assumed the throne on July 14, 1645, and was crowned on September 28, 1645. During his reign the Zemsky Sobor (Assembly of the Land) passed the Law Code of 1649; the Customs (1653) and New Trade (1667) Regulations were adopted; and Ukraine came under Russian rule (1654), which led to the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo between Russia and Poland (1667).  On January 16, 1648 Alexis married Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (April 1, 1624 – March 3, 1669), together they had 13 children. On January 22, 1671 he entered into a second marriage with Natalia Naryshkina (August 22, 1651 – January 25, 1694), and had three children with her: Peter (May 30, 1672 – January 28, 1725), Natalia (August 22, 1673 – June 18, 1716), and Feodora (September 4, 1674 – November 28, 1678).

This portrait engraved by Cornelis Meyssens (1646–?) can be found among illustrations of the book Historia di Leopoldo Cesare (History of Leopold Caesar, Vienna, 1670); that is where its traditional dating comes from. However, an inscription made on the portrait “reigned and ruled” (in Latin, in the past tense) suggests that the portrait was made after the tsar’s death. The artist’s alterations and technical characteristics do not contradict the fact that the work was painted in the end of the 17^th century.

Portrait of Prince Anikita Repnin

• Late 1690s
• Canvas, oil. 181 х 128
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3947

Anikita Repnin (1668 – July 3, 1726). Middle son of Ivan Repnin (1615– 1697) who was a boyar close to the tsar and a house steward of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, and Ivan’s wife Yevdokia Nikiforovna Pleshcheyeva (? – April 8, 1695). Russian Field Marshal General (1725). From his early years Anikita was close to Peter the Great and took part in the creation of the emperor’s Toy Army. In 1685 he became Lieutenant and within two years he was promoted to Colonel. Repnin participated in the Azov campaigns of 1695–1696. In 1696 he commanded a frigate. In 1699 he became Major General. In the beginning of the Northern War he commanded a division. Following the order of Peter the Great he reconstituted Russian forces withdrawing from Narva after they were defeated in 1700. He took part in the Siege of Nöteborg (1702) and Narva (1704). During the Battle of Poltava (1709) he commanded the centre of the Russian troops. During the years 1709–1710 he commanded the siege and the seizure of Riga. During the years 1712–1713 and 1715–1716 he commanded troops in Pomerania. In 1719 he was appointed Governor General of Livonia, and at the same time he acted as President of the Military College from 1724–1725. After the death of Peter the Great, he supported the enthronement of Catherine I, but shortly afterwards Alexander Menshikov sent him away to Riga.

From the second half of the 19^th century to the early 21^st century almost all scholars believed the person depicted here to be Ivan Borisovich Repnin; however, this traditional view was recently reconsidered. In 2014 a new version was accepted by the Attribution Council of the Russian Museum.

Portrait of Prince Andrei the Elder Repnin

• After 27 January 1699
• Canvas, oil. 194 х 109
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3945

Portrait of Prince Andrei the Younger Repnin

• School of the Armoury Chamber
• After 27 January 1699
• Canvas, oil. 195 x 149
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3946

Andrei the Younger Repnin (? – January 27, 1699)Youngest son of Ivan Repnin (1615– 1697). His father Ivan was a house steward of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, and a boyar close to the tsar; his mother was Yevdokia Nikiforovna Pleshcheyeva (? – April 8, 1695). Andrei, together with his brother Anikita, accompanied Peter the Great during his dramatic overnight ride to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on the night of August 7-8, 1689. In approximately 1689 Andrei married Tatiana Alexeyevna, daughter of Alexei Rzhevsky; who was an okolnichy (a senior court rank) and the military commander of Samara during the years 1689–1690. Andrei was among some 39 stolniks (cupbearers) and the same number of soldiers in February 1697 who were sent to Italy to study maritime affairs.

From the second half of the 19th century to the early 21st century scholars believed the person depicted here to be Alexander Borisovich Repnin; however, this traditional view was recently reconsidered. In 2014 a new version was accepted by the Attribution Council of the Russian Museum. Based on the clothing depicted the portrait was dated from the 1680s to 1690s. It appears that it was Anikita Ivanovich that outlived both of his brothers who ordered the painting.

Portrait of Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev

• After 1710
• Canvas, oil. 308 х 346
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5798

Boris Sheremetev (April 25, 1652 – February 17, 1719). Statesman, commander and diplomat. In 1682 he was made Boyar. He took part in the first Azov campaign. He was a close associate of Peter the Great and fought in all the most important battles of the Northen War (Dorpat, Narva, and Riga). He became Field Marshal General in 1701 and was the first Russian count (1706). At the battle of Poltava he commanded the centre of the Russian Army. Peter the Great called Sheremetev his “Turenne” and valued him greatly for his selflessness.

In 1905 the painting was kept in the Sheremetev Palace and exhibited within the Tauride Exhibition as work of Ivan Argunov. Later the portrait was attributed to Schurmann, even though some scholars have doubted the existence of this artist. An inscription recently read on the portrait; “Karl Schurmann pictorducalis curl […]” suggests that during the siege of Riga in 1710, Karl Schurmann was painter to Frederick William, the Duke of Courland, and the future husband of Anna Ioannovna.

Portrait of Pyotr Tolstoy

• Late 1710s – 1720s
• Canvas, oil. 77 х 62,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4903

Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645 – February 17, 1729). Count (1724), statesman and diplomat. Son of Okolnichy Andrei Tolstoy and Solomonida Miloslavskaya (a distant relative of Tsaritsa Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya). Took part in the Streltsy Uprising (1682), but after the uprising was successfully squashed, he switched sides and defected to Peter the Great. During the years 1701–1714 he was ambassador in Constantinople. He was appointed senator (1714) and president of the College of Commerce. In 1717 he convinced Tsarevich Alexis; who was hiding in Naples, to return to Russia, which made him one of the closest confidants of Peter the Great. In 1718 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called. Tolstoy was in charge of the Secret Chancellery. In 1727 he was sentenced to death for conspiracy, but instead was sent to live in the Solovetsky Monastery.

The painting was dated based on the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called that Tolstoy received in February 1718, for his contribution to the return of Tsarevich Alexis Petrovich to Russia. The portrait was first attributed to Georg Gsell in a guidebook published by the Russian Museum. Several scholars rightfully compared the painting with a mirror portrait from the Moscow Tolstoy Museum, signed and dated by Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1719). Research conducted confirmed the existence of technical similarities between the portrait from the Russian Museum and the work from the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow.

Portrait of Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna

• 1717
• Canvas, oil. 76 х 97
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4904

Louis Caravaque’s painting is dated according to the official inventory of the artist’s works that he completed in November 1723. The entry for 1717 reads: “At the command of the Most Serene Prince, two portraits of Their Imperial Highnesses, Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna, were painted on a single canvas.” The portrait is also mentioned in Jacob Schtelin’s Notes: “Louis Caravaque ... painted the Imperial Princesses Anna and Elizabeth in their youth.”

Anna Petrovna (February 7, 1708 – May 15, 1728)

Tsarevna, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine Alexeyevna, awarded the title of Tsesarevna on December 23, 1721. On May 21, 1725 she married Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp (April 30, 1700 – June 18, 1739). She had a son, Peter (February 21, 1728 – July 2, 1762), future Emperor Peter III, who would succeed to the throne after Elizabeth Petrovna (1741 – 1761).

Elizabeth Petrovna (December 18, 1709 – December 25, 1761)

Tsarevna, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine Alexeyevna, awarded the title of Tsesarevna on December 23, 1721. Became Empress on November 25, 1741. Crowned on 25 April, 1742.

Портрет Петра I

• Canvas, oil. Диам. 55 (круг)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4906

Peter I on His Death Bed

• Early 1725
• Canvas, oil. 82 x 60,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4907

The painting of Nikitin may be perceived as a requiem for the "father of the fatherland." Immediately after the death of Peter I Nikitin was invited to embody the dead emperor. The portrait introduces the tsar, dressed in a white shirt, covered up to his chest with the yellowish draped fabric with a blue ermine mantle. The image of Peter I is full of majestic solemnity.

The portrait reflects deep and sincere sorrow: for Nikitin Peter I was not only the emperor, but the close and familiar person whose death was a personal loss for the artist. Master traced every wrinkle, every fold, every strand of hair, as if he felt his responsibility towards future generations.

Death has already distorted the face of Peter. But looking at the picture of the dead emperor, one can understand the greatness of his lifetime. In 1762 by order of Empress Catherine the portrait was transferred from the old wooden Winter Palace on Nevsky Prospekt near the Police Bridge to the Imperial Academy of Arts.

I.N. Nikitin, J.G. Tannauer, Andrei Matveyev were considered to be the authors of the portrait. Modern researchers state that this is the indisputable work of I.N. Nikitin. This fact is proven by the technological analysis of the portrait.

Peter I Alexeyevich [Peter the Great (May 30 [June 9], 1672 – January 28 [February 8], 1725) was the last ruler to formally take the title Tsar (starting from April 27, 1682) and the first to take the title Emperor of All Russia (starting from October 22, 1721). He was a member of the Romanov dynasty.

Peter was the fourteenth child of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich; his father's first child with Natalia Naryshkina. He was baptised by Protopope Andrei Savinov on June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, in the Chudov Monastery (according to other sources, in the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, Moscow) and given the name Peter. After his father’s death in 1676, Peter’s half-brother and godfather, Tsar Theodore Alexeyevich, became his guardian. Upon his death, Peter was proclaimed Tsar on April 27 (May, 7), 1682. This triggered the Streltsy Uprising, which resulted in the deaths of many Naryshkin supporters and the coronation of Ivan and Peter on June 25. Tsarevna Sophia became regent. Peter stayed with his mother, Natalia Naryshkina, in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, where he formed the first two new order regiments, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, and organised meetings of the “Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters.” Foreigners Franz Lefort and Patrick Gordon became his closest associates. On January 27, 1689, Peter married Eudoxia Lopukhina. They had three sons: Alexis (February18, 1690 – June 26, 1718), Alexander (October 3, 1691 – May 14, 1692), and Paul (1693–1693). During August of 1689, confrontations between Peter and Sophia began to sharply intensify. Fearing assassination, Peter fled to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on the night of August 7-8, accompanied by a small retinue. On August 8 both Tsaritsas, Natalia and Eudoxia joined him followed by the “Toy Army” and the artillery. Peter issued several decrees, demanding that existing regiments based in Moscow obey him as their rightful ruler. Sophia, recognizing her defeat, subsequently was confined to the Novodevichy Convent; while Peter’s elder brother, Tsar Ivan, effectively ceased intervening in affairs of the state.

The Capture of the Ottoman Fortress of Azov (July 19, 1696) in two Azov campaigns (1695–1696) became Peter’s first serious victory. Russia gained access to the Black sea. In 1697–1798 Peter the Great travelled to Europe for the first time as a member of the Grand Embassy. He visited Riga, Königsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, and Austria; he also planned to visit Venice and meet the Pope. He studied shipbuilding and military science in Holland and in England; the Grand Embassy recruited several hundreds of specialists to work in Russia. In July 1698 news about a new Streltsy Uprising in Moscow interrupted the mission. When the Tsar arrived in Moscow on August 25, investigation and interrogations took place resulting in almost simultaneous execution of 800 Streltsy. Tsarevna Sophia was made to take the veil under the name of Susanna. Eudoxia Lopukhina, whom Peter never loved, shared her fate: she was sent the Intercession Convent of Suzdal. And transformations began. On August 26, 1698 Peter issued his famous decrees on Western dress, shaving beards and moustaches, and Old Believers’ clothing. In 1700 the New Year was moved to January 1. After his coming back from the Grand Embassy, the Tsar began preparations for war with Sweden to gain access to the Baltic Sea. In 1699 Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth joined Peter’s Northern Union against Charles XII, King of Sweden. The Northern War started with a failure: on November 19 (30), 1700 Peter’s army was defeated at Narva. In autumn 1702 Peter renewed the war. He seized the fortress of Noteburg (that he renamed Schlisselburg) on the Baltic seashore, and in spring 1703 he took the fortress of Nyenschantz at the mouth of the Neva river. On May 10 (21), 1703 Peter (who was then Captain in the Bombardier Company of the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment) received the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, which he had established himself, for brave capture of two Swedish vessels. On May 16 (27), 1703 he founded St. Petersburg, and placed a Russian naval base, the fortress of Kronslot (later Kronstadt) on the island of Kotlin.

In 1703 he met Catherine, née Marta Skowrońska, widow of the dragoon Johan Cruse, who was captured as a war trophy during the seizure of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg. Peter officially married Catherine on February 19, 1712 after the Pruth River Campaign. Together they had several children: Catherine (December 28, 1706 – July 27, 1708), Anna (February 7, 1708 – May 15, 1728), Elizabeth (December 18, 1709 – December 25, 1761), Natalia (March 3, 1713 – May 27, 1715), Margarita (September 3, 1714 – July 27, 1715), Peter (October 29, 1715 – April 25, 1719), Paul (January 2, 1717 – January 3, 1717), Natalia (August 20, 1718 – March 4,1725).

In 1706 Charles XII, King of Sweden started a new campaign. Expecting to get support against Russia from the Little Russia hetman Ivan Mazepa, Charles XII sent troops to the Ukraine. In response, Peter personally commanded the cavalry corps of Alexander Menshikov at the Battle of Lesnaya, which took place on September 28 (October 9) and resulted in the crushing defeat of Lewenhaupt corps that were about to join the army of Charles XII coming from Livonia. Peter would later celebrate the anniversary of this battle as the decisive turning point in the Northern War. On June 27 (July 8), 1709 the army of Charles XII was completely defeated at the Battle of Poltava. During the years 1714–1720 the Russian army achieved more land and sea victories in the Baltic area. On August 30 (September 10), 1721 Russia and Sweden concluded the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the 21-year-long war. Russia gained access to the Baltic sea and annexed Ingria, Estonia, Finland, and part of Karelia. On October 22 Peter was accorded the title of Emperor of All Russia, Great Father of the Fatherland.

During the reign of Peter the Great Kamchatka was annexed by Russia. His most significant foreign policy undertaking after the Northern War was the Persian campaign of 1722–1724 resulting in annexation of the Western and the Southern coast of the Caspian sea including the towns of Derbent and Baku, and the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad. On February 5 (16), 1722 Peter issued a decree on succession to the throne (which was annulled by Paul I 75 years later) abolishing the old rules of succession of direct descendants in the male line, and stating that the reigning monarch could nominate his own successor. On May 7, 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as empress-consort and made her his co-ruler, but later suspected her of adultery. He failed to nominate his own successor before his death.

Peter the Great died after terrible suffering (according to the official information – of pneumonia) early in the morning of January 28 (February 8), 1725 in the Winter Palace by the Winter Canal. After his death the Senate proclaimed his wife, Catherine, his successor. On January 28 (February 8), 1725 she became Empress of Russia under the name of Catherine I.

Portrait of Catherine I with a Little Negro Boy

• Before December 1725 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 264 x 200
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5487

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.

Catherine is depicted with a ribbon and a star of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called. Originally the portrait was smaller (190 x 133), the architecture and the landscape around the subject were painted later. Traditionally the portrait was dated 1725–1726 based on the engraving by Alexei Zubov. A document dated December 22, 1725 reads: “At the command of His Majesty [...] painter Ivan Adolsky received” one hundred rubles for painting these two portraits of Empress Catherine I: this one and the one housed in the State Museum-Preserve Tsarskoye Selo; the paintings are slightly different.

Portrait of Peter II

• Second half of the 1720s
• Canvas, oil. 71 х 59 (овал)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-11

Peter II was the son of Tsarevich Alexis Petrovich and Princess Charlotte Christine Sophie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and the grandson of Emperor Peter the Great. He was himself Emperor from 1727. He was under the guardianship of the Supreme Privy Council, which was led by Peter the Great’s former favourite, his Supreme Highness Prince Alexander Menshikov. After Menshikov’s arrest in 1727 power in the Supreme Privy Council was usurped by the Dolgorukys, princes from an old boyar family. The system that existed before Peter the Great began to be restored and the court moved from St Petersburg to Moscow. The boyar aristocracy was strengthened and the army and navy fell into decline. Peter II had no inclination either to deal with matters of state or to study, and spent his time in games and entertainment. He died of smallpox in January 1730 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Portrait of Baron Sergei Stroganov, Youngest Son of the Salt manufacturer Grigory Stroganov and his Wife Maria

• 1726
• Canvas, oil. 87 х 65 (овал, вписанный в прямоугольник)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4908

Sergei Stroganov (August 20, 1707 – September 30, 1756). Youngest son of Grigory Stroganov, a prominent person and salt manufacturer, and his second wife Maria Yakovlevna, née Novosiltseva. Baron (from 1722), actual gentleman-in-waiting, Lieutenant General. Owner of a palace located on Nevsky Prospect, St Petersburg designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Collector and founder of the Stroganov Art Gallery. In 1735 he married Sofia Kirillovna Naryshkina. His son, Alexander Stroganov, would become president of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

The work was first attributed to Ivan Nikitin in 1804 and there is no question of his authorship. This is one of the few works of the artist that was signed and dated. Researchers note that the technique of the portrait is very good, and it has been preserved better than other works, which makes the individual manner of the artist more apparent. A similar style is visible on his portraits of Prasovia Ioannovna and Anna Petrovna.

Portrait of Peter II

• 1728
• Canvas, oil. 80 х 64,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5334

Peter II (1715–1730) was the son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Yevdokia (née Princess Charlotte Christine Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg), who died shortly after his birth; and the grandson of Peter I. He ascended to the throne on 7 May 1727, after the death of Catherine I. The young Emperor was constantly under the influence of others, becoming an instrument in the hands of various palace factions: first Menshikov, who, in order to increase his influence, wanted Peter I to marry his daughter Maria; then Dolgorukovs, who decided to marry him to the older daughter of Alexei Dolgorukov, Princess Ekaterina. On 30 November 1728, they got engaged, but he had contracted smallpox and died the day he proposed marriage. Upon his death, the male line of the Romanovs ended. He is depicted in ermine robes with the chain of the Order of St Andrew.

Portrait of a Boy in Hunting Attire

• End of 1720 - beginning of 1730
• Canvas, oil. 135 x 89
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж−5327

Self-Portrait with Wife

• 1729 (?). After 1727 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 75,5 x 90,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4913

Andrei Matveyev (1702, (?) – 1739, St Petersburg). Painter, portrait artist, and icon painter, who created allegorical, and decorative and monumental compositions. In 1716, at the request of Peter the Great, he was then sent to study painting in Holland. From September 1717 to September 1723, he studied under Arnold Boonen in Amsterdam, and from December 1723 to May (?) 1727 – in the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts under (?) Sperwer. In August 1727, he came back to Petersburg and began his work in the Chancellery of Construction. In 1731, Matveyev attained the rank of Master and became the head of the Painting Brigade of the Chancellery of Construction. He participated in creating murals for the Peter and Paul Cathedral, as well as tsarist residences in Petersburg, he also painted icons for the Church of The Holy Righteous Simeon and Anna The Prophetess.

Irina Matveyeva (1712/14–1740s). Daughter of the blacksmith Stepan Antropov. In 1729 (or 1728) she married the artist Andrey Matveyev. She later entered into a second marriage with the merchant Turgenev.

The portrait is thought to have been painted in 1729, the year the artist got married. Some researchers believed that the woman depicted is much older than the artist’s wife (who was only 16 years old when the portrait was painted), and that the people depicted are Princess Anna Leopoldovna and her husband Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick. Modern technical analysis established that the woman’s face was “aged” by alterations introduced after the work was completed.

Equestrian Portrait of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna with Retinue

• 1744–1755
• Canvas, oil. 50,5 x 66
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5374

Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich and Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna

• 1745 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 129 х 100
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5341

Peter Feodorovich (1728–1762) was the son of Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp; he was also the grandson of two implacable enemies, Emperor Peter the Great of Russia and King Charles XII of Sweden. He became heir to the Russian throne in 1742 and was Emperor from 25 December 1761 to 28 June 1762, but was never crowned. He imitated Peter the Great in intending to carry out a number of reforms. The Manifesto on the Freedom of the Nobility, the abolition of the Office for Secret Investigation and the secularisation of church lands formed the basis of the legislative measures subsequently taken by Catherine the Great. The view of traditional historiography is that he was ignorant and feeble-minded. He was overthrown by a palace coup instigated by his own wife, the future Catherine the Great, and was soon killed.

Empress Catherine II (the Great; 1729–1796), née Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, was born in the Prussian city of Stettin. In 1744, she arrived in Russia as the bride of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich, the future Emperor Peter III. That same year, she converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Catherine Alexeyevna. She married Peter Feodorovich in August 1745. In 1754 she gave birth to an heir, the future Emperor Paul I. The relationship with her husband did not work out, and he planned to have her sent to a convent. In the summer of 1762 she led a conspiracy of Peter’s guards and overthrew him, becoming Empress. In the first years of her reign she adhered to a policy of “enlightened absolutism”, but after the peasant rebellion led by Emelyan Pugachev (1773–1775) and the French Revolution (1789), she was forced to toughen her regime. She led victorious campaigns against Turkey (1768–1774; 1787–1792) and Sweden (1788–1790). During her reign, the Crimea (1783), the Northern Baltic Sea, the Baltic states, the eastern part of Poland, and the Aleutian Islands became part of Russia. Russian settlements were established in Alaska, and Eastern Georgia was taken under the protection of Russia. Russia’s prestige in Europe increased greatly.

Peter Fyodorovich is depicted in an official uniform of the Life Guard Dragoons Regiment of the Holstein Army with the Order of St. Andrews (the ribbon and the star). Catherine Alexeyevna is depicted with the Grand cross of the Order of Saint Catherine (the ribbon, the cross and the star). The stylistic elements and the lack of archival documents about the creation of this double portrait raise doubts about the authorship of the painter. The wedding of Peter Fyodorovich and Catherine Alexeyevna took place in August 1745. It is very likely that this double portrait was painted during that year as a portrait of the engaged couple. Their child, future Emperor Paul I was born on 20^th of September (1^st of October) 1754.

Portrait of Ivan Shuvalov

• Canvas, oil. 71,5 x 56,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-9281

Ivan Shuvalov (1727–1797) was an adjutant general. As he became the favourite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in 1749, he had a great influence on Russian foreign and domestic affairs. He was the curator of the Moscow University and the Academy of Art. He took Mikhail Lomonosov under his wing and was acquainted with Voltaire and Helvétius. After the accession of Catherine the Great to the throne, he lived abroad until 1777. After his return to Russia, he became Grand Chamberlain. The painting depicts Shuvalov in uniform with the Orders of St. Anna and the White Eagle. This painting is one of Rokotov’s early works.

Portrait of Ivan Shuvalov

• Between 1755 and 1757
• Canvas, oil. 217 x 157
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3924

Ivan Shuvalov (1727–1797) was a privy councillor, Great Chamberlain and lieutenant general. He was a favourite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. He was the founder and the first curator of the University of Moscow (1755), the first president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, which was also founded as his project, and was a patron of the arts. He contributed to the development of the arts and sciences in Russia. From 1763 through 1777, he travelled around Western Europe. He was acquainted with Diderot and Voltaire. He is depicted with the Order of the White Eagle (ribbon and star; 1754). The portrait was painted by artist prior into entering into a contract for admission into the service at the Imperial Academy of Art as an “example of his work and abilities”.

Portrait of the Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich

• Canvas, oil. 114 x 90
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4938

Unknown painter

Gsell Georg

Painter, graphic artist. He painted portraits, murals, genre paintings, and icons. In 1690–1695 he studied in Vienna under the Antwerp painter А. Schoonjans. In 1704 he moved to Antwerp, and subsequently, to Amsterdam, where he married the artist Dorothea Maria Henrietta Graff in 1715. In 1717 (other sources mention 1716 and 1718) he came to Russia at the invitation of Peter the Great, whom he met in Amsterdam. He was in charge of the Picture Gallery in Peterhof. He painted the plafonds at the Summer Palace, and the rockwork in the Summer Garden. In 1726 he taught drawing and painting in the Academy of Sciences. He also worked at the Kunstkamera, made projects of illuminations, and designed compositions for the triumphal gates. He painted the picture for the dome of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, as well as nine icons for the interior. In 1729 he created thirteen paintings for the Lutheran Church of Saint Peter on Nevsky Prospect: the knee-high images of the Apostles and Gospel writers, and an image of the Crucifixion. In 1731 he took part in decorating the Triumphal Gates for the coronation of Anna Ioannovna. In 1728–1731 he made ten paintings for the Peter and Paul Cathedral based on the Stations of the Cross and the Passion of Christ. In 1735 he presented a project of murals for the Senate Hall of the Twelve Colleges, but the commission, consisting of Mikhail Zemtsov and Andrei Matveyev, rejected it. In 1738–1739 Georg Gsell helped Jacob von Stäehlin to complete inventories of the painting collections of Peterhof Palaces: Monplaisir, Hermitage, and Marly. For many years he worked at the Kunstkamera. His two sons were painters as well, so the artist was known as “Father Gsell.” Among his students were such artists as Fyodor Cherkasov, A. Grekov, Mikhail Nekrasov, Alexei Malinovkin, Ivan Nesterov, Pyotr Pagin, A. Dedeshin, and Ivan Shereshperov.

Tannauer (Tanauer, Danhauer, Danauer) Johann Gottfried

German painter, portrait artist, and miniaturist. Initially, Tannauer would practice watchmaking and music. He studied painting in Venice under S. Bombelli. Subsequently, he lived in Holland, where he would copy Rubens’s paintings. When Peter the Great was abroad, he invited Tannauer to come to Russia upon the recommendation of Johannes Kupezky. On October 1, 1710 an agreement was signed in Vienna, making Tannauer a painter serving in Russia. In March 1711 the artist came to Smolensk. During the Pruth River Campaign, he accompanied Peter the Great, and then settled down in St Petersburg. He was a court artist. Tannauer painted portraits, historical pictures, and miniatures; he also created ink drawings and fixed clocks. His son, Johann Sebastian Tannauer, studied engraving at the Academy of Sciences.

Schurmann, Karl

Karavak Louis

Painter, portraitist, designer, miniaturist, graphic artist. Member of the third generation of French painters working in Marseilles and Tulon. Invited to Russia by Peter the Great (1715). Lived and worked in St Petersburg (from 1716). Painted portraits of Peter the Great and members of the Imperial family. Painted murals and headed painting work in Peterhof and in the Summer Palace in St Petersburg. Compiled festival projects for the Imperial court. Court artist with an exclusive right to paint Imperial portraits during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740) and Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761). Taught painting to Ivan Vishnyakov, Alexei Antropov and Mikhail Zakharov.

Nikitin Ivan Nikitich

Painter, portraitist. Son of a Moscow priest, brother of Roman Nikitin. Possibly educated at the Armoury School of Printing in Moscow. Lived in St Petersburg (from 1711). Studied under Tommaso Redi in Florence as a fellow of Peter the Great (1716-19). Returned to Russia (1720). Court portraitist (from 1721). Painted life portraits of Peter the Great on Kronstadt (1715-21). Married and divorced Maria Fyodorovna Mamens, lady of the bedchamber to Empress Catherine I (1727). Arrested in St Petersburg in connection with the libelling of Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich (1732). Spent five years in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Exiled to Siberia (1737). Released by the Privy Council (1742). Died on the way from Siberia to Moscow. 

Adolsky (Odolsky), Ivan-Bolshoi

Painter and engraver. Adolsky worked at the Moscow Armoury, and in 1710 he was transferred to the Petersburg Armoury Chancellery. From 1721 he was instructor of painting and engraving at the Petersburg Printing House. His students were Moscow icon painters such as K. Yevtikhiyev, as well as painters of the Chancellery of Construction. During the mid 1720s he worked in Petersburg imperial palaces. He returned to Moscow in 1728; and in 1735–1736 he was the supervisor of the Moscow Armoury. The last reports, mentioning him as the supervisor of the Armoury, are dated 1750.

Matveyev Andrei Matveyevich

Painter, portraitist, iconpainter, author of allegorical and decorative-monumental compositions. Awarded a fellowship to study in Holland by Peter the Great (1716). Studied under Arnold Boonen in Amsterdam (1717–1723) and under Sperwer at the Antwerp Academy of Arts (1723–1727). Returned to St Petersburg and employed by the Chancellery of Construction (1727). Awarded the title of master and headed the team of painters at the Chancellery of Construction (1731). Helped to decorate the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul and Imperial residences in St Petersburg. Painted icons for the Church of St Simeon and St Anne.

Ludden Johann Paul

German painter, portraitist, author of history paintings. Came to St Petersburg (according to his own words) in 1728 with engraver Christian-Albert Wortmann. Court painter of Peter II. Made portraits as private commissions.

Prenner, Georg Caspar

Grooth Georg Christoph

German painter. Portraitist. He worked in Russia from 1740 (1?) to 1749. Since December 1743, the Keeper of the Palace art galleries. He also decorated the interiors of palaces and other buildings in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo. He created a whole gallery of portraits of the Russian aristocracy.

Rokotov Fyodor Stepanovich

Painter, portraitist. Believed to have studied in his youth under Moscow icon-painters. Moved to St. Petersburg (17505). Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1760). Junior assistant (1762). Academician (1765). Returned to Moscow (17605) and worked there as a free artist.

De Veilly (De Velly, Develly) Jean Louis

French painter, draughtsman, miniaturist, author of monumental paintworks. Lived in Holland, England. Worked in Russia from 1754 to 1804. Signed a contract thereby “was bound to serve to Her Imperial Majesty as a painter at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts” (Russian State Historical Archive, fund 789, inv. l., part 1, 1759, file 6), taught at the Academy (more than a year). Author of portraits and plafonds. Created drawings for engravings.

Д. С. Мережковский. Двойная бездна

• 1901
• Цинкография. 11 х 9,6
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-1049

Новая Минерва (Торжество Дягилева)

• Paper, watercolours. 29 x 42 (в свету)
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-35902

Виньетка

• 1902
• Рамка розового цвета, цинкография. И.: 13,2 х 19,7; л.: 14,8 х 21,4
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-16111

Мир искусства

• 1902
• Цинкография. И.: 29,6 х 23; л.: 31,2 х 24,6
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-32873

Мир искусства. V год издания

• 1902
• Цинкография. И.: 18,2 х 11,5; л.: 24,4 х 16,6
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-40939

Портрет Льва Бакста

• gouache, ink. 47 х 34
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-13438

Гибель богов

• 1903
• Цинкография. 22,2 х 17,7
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-1020

Гимн солнцу

• 1904
• Цинкография. И.: 10,8 х 15,5 (овал); л.: 13,4 х 19,5
• The State Russian Museum
• АФ-34452

Народное творчество Русского Севера

• 1904
• Цинкография. И.: 20,4 х 16,2; л.: 22,7 х 18,4
• The State Russian Museum
• Гр-24817

Портрет Сергея Павловича Дягилева (1872–1929)

• 1904
• Canvas, oil. 97 х 83
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-1922

Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev and his Nanny

• 1906
• Canvas, oil. 161 x 116
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-2117

Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872–1929) was one of the central figures of fin-de-siècle cultural life in St Petersburg. Before launching the Saisons Russes in Paris, he founded and published the World of Art (Mir iskusstva) magazine (1898–1904), curated a series of important art shows and wrote articles on art and the theatre.

One of Léon Bakst’s most outstanding works of portraiture, Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev and his Nanny is, perhaps, the most famous image of the legendary Russian impresario, who was a close friend of the artist. Diaghilev’s slightly fastidious pose, raised eyebrows and appraising glance betray a self-confident and authoritative personality. The figure of the old nanny sitting in the corner was a typical feature of the way of life of the old Russian nobility. Contrasting the figure of Diaghilev, she offers a clearer insight into the personality of the sitter — a former provincial whose energy and talent helped him to not only conquer the Russian capital, but the whole of Europe as well. 

Портрет Вальмира Федоровича Нувеля

• 1914
• Graphite pencil, sanguine. 37,2 x 26
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-3244

Group Portrait of the Members of the World of Art. 1916–20. Modello for an unpainted picture

• Canvas, oil. 52 х 89
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-1864

Depicts (from left to right): Igor Grabar (1871–1960), Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947), Yevgeny Lanceray (1875–1946), Ivan Bilibin (1876– 1942), Alexander Benois (1870–1960), Georgy Narbut (1886–1920), Nikolai Milioti (1874– 1962), Konstantin Somov (1869–1939), Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (1875–1957), Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878–1939), Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1871–1955) and Boris Kustodiev (1878–1927).
In 1910, on behalf of the Tretyakov Gallery, Igor Grabar invited Boris Kustodiev to paint a group portrait of the members of the World of Art. Himself a frequent contributor to the World of Art exhibitions, Kustodiev willingly agreed and began work at the first opportunity. Between 1913 and 1916, he painted a series of personal portraits from life in mixed media. Almost all the artist’s compositional versions were later employed in this modello of the intended large group portrait, which was in fact never painted. Kustodiev depicts the artists sitting round a table laid for tea in Mstislav Dobuzhinsky’s drawing room. Engaged in friendly discussion, the figures are portrayed in a series of diverse movements, gestures and poses. The intended genre interpretation was both unusual for a group portrait and compositionally daunting. The artist’s study evoked all sorts of surmises and conjectures regarding the relationships between the sitters and the state of the World of Art at that time.

Somov Konstantin Andreyevich

Painter, graphic artist. Studied at Ilya Repin\'s studio (from 1894) at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1888-1897) and the Academic de Filippo Colarossi in Paris (1898). Academician (1914). Member of the Munich and Berlin Sezessions (1898), World of Art (1899), Union of Russian Artists (1903) and the Salon d\'Automne (1906). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Russian Water-colourists (1894-1895), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898) and Sezession in Munich (1898, 1899) and Berlin (1898). Lived in Paris (from 1925). 

Щербов Павел Егорович

Bakst Leon (Lev Samoilovich)

Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer. Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1883-87) and the Atelier dc Jean Louis Gerome and Academic de Rodolphe Julian in Paris (1893-96). Taught at the Elizaveta Zwantseva School of Drawing and Painting in St Petersburg (1906-09). Member of the Society of Russian Waterecolourists (1891-1907), World of Art (1899-1903, 1906, 1913) and the Union of Russian Artists (1903-1910). Life member of the Salon d\'\'\'\'Automne (from 1906). Academician (1914). Contributed to many exhibitions of theatrical design and one-man shows. Designed sets and costumes for the Mariinsky Theatre and Alexandrinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Paris Opera and theatres in London and New York. Leading designers of Sergei Diaghilev\'\'\'\'s Ballets Russes (from 1909) and the ballet companies of Anna Pavlova and Ida Rubinstein. Emigrated to Paris (1909).

Serov Valentin Alexandrovich

Painter, graphic artist, teacher, portraitist, landscapist, history painter. Son of the composer Alexander Serov. Studied under Ilya Repin in Paris and Moscow (1874-75, 1878-80) and under Pavel Chistyakov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1880-85). Academician of painting (1898), full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1903-05). Member of the Abramtsevo circle (from the 18705). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1889). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1890-99; member from 1894), Munich Sezession (1896, 1898,1899; member from 1899), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1896-1906, member from 1900; 1911-12, founding member), Berlin Sezession (1903), Exhibition of Historical Russian Portraits at the Tauride Palace in St Petersburg (1905), Union of Russian Artists (1905-10; member from 1903), Sergei Makovsky Salon (1909), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900, grand prix), International Exhibitions in Munich (1909), Vienna (1902), Venice (1907), Brussels (1910) and Rome (1911) and the Exhibitions of Russian Art in Paris (1906, 1910), Berlin (1906) and Vienna (1908). Member of the board of the Tretyakov Gallery. Taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1897-1909). Designed for theatres in Moscow and St Petersburg and Sergei Diaghilev\'\'s Saisons Russes (from 1886).

Lanceray, Yevgeny

Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich

Graphic artist, theatrical designer. Studied at the Faculty of Law, St Petersburg University (1896–1900), School of Drawing, Society for the Encouragement of Arts (1895–1898), Anton Ažbè’s school in Munich (1898), under Ilya Repin at the Princess Maria Tenisheva School (1898–1900) and at the Higher School of Art, Imperial Academy of Arts (1900–1904). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1900). Founding member of the World of Art (1900–1917). Drew for World of Art, Hell’s Post, Bugbear and Golden Fleece and magazines. Designed for theatres (from 1907). Illustrated and designed children’s books — traditional heroic poems, folk tales and the fairytales of Alexander Pushkin — for publishing houses in St Petersburg (1900s). Illustrated the fairytales of Alexander Pushkin for Goslitizdat (1930s). Created his own highly original style of book design, based on the motifs of Russian folk and medieval art. 

Kustodiev Boris Mikhailovich

Painter. Studied under Vasily Savinsky and Ilya Repin at the Higher School of Art, Imperial Academy of Arts (1896-1903). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in France and Spain (1903-1904). Academician of painting (1909). Founding member of the New Society of Artists (1904) and member of the Union of Russian Artists (1907), World of Art (1910) and the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1923). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1900). Contributed to the periodical exhibitions of the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1900-1901), Spring Exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1900-1903) and the exhibitions of the New Society of Artists (1904-1908), Union of Russian Artists (1907-1910), World of Art (1910-1924), Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1923, 1925) and the International Exhibitions in Munich (1901, gold medal; 1909) and Malmo (1914, gold medal). Designed for theatres in Moscow and St Petersburg (from 1911). 

Golden Autumn. Slobodka

• 1889
• Canvas, oil. 43 x 67,2
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4271

The motif of Russian autumn is often encountered throughout the career of Isaac Levitan, a master of the lyrical landscape. The traditional gathering of autumn leaves, the special transparency of the air and the feeling of sorrow at the passage of summer found a lively response in the artist’s soul. Animating the world of nature with subtle emotions, Levitan creates a mood landscape, expressing the beauty of nature with the help of rich and complex paintwork. Growing among the peasant allotments divided by a narrow, stooping hedge, the young birch tree shows off its still magnificent foliage. This is the most active patch of paint in the entire canvas, uniting the slightly muffled tones of the rest of the colour orchestra. Mikhail Nesterov wrote that Levitan managed to convey the “modest and innermost concealed in each Russian landscape — its soul and charm.” Golden Autumn. Slobodka was shown at the Sezession exhibition of 1898.

Паперть Саввино-Сторожевского монастыря в Звенигороде

• Paper, gouache. 49,7 х 64,9
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-8433

Запах

• 1894–1895
• Цветная акватинта. И., д.: 12,9 х 17,1; л.: 24,8 x 32,4
• The State Russian Museum
• Гр-28643

Страх

• 1893–1894
• Цветная акватинта. И., д.: 29,3 х 19,9; л.: 38,1 x 28,7
• The State Russian Museum
• Гр-28646

Демон

• 1894
• Гипс раскрашенный. 50 x 58 x 22
• The State Russian Museum
• Ск-565

Seventeenth-Century Moscow Street on a Public Holiday

• 1895
• Canvas, oil. 204 x 390
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4355

The Russian way of life in the seventeenth century was the theme of many paintings by Andrei Ryabushkin in the second half of the 1890s. Recreating the historical setting, the artist accurately conveys the costumes and architecture of that period. Interpreting the subject as a vivid urban scene, Ryabushkin paints an internally dynamic image of a street after a downpour, transformed into a fast flowing river.

Вознесение Господне

• 1895
• paper mounted on cardboard, tempera, , lacquer. 51,7 х 39,4
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-40867

Сошествие Христа во ад

• 1895
• paper mounted on cardboard, tempera, ink, , sauce, graphite pencil, lacquer. 51,2 х 40,4
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-40866

Троица. Явление Христа на пути в Эммаус. Поясной деисусный чин с Христом-Эммануилом, Богоматерью и Иоанном

• 1895
• paper mounted on cardboard, tempera, , graphite pencil, . И.: 19 х 34,7 (полукруг); 19 х 34,5 (полукруг); 7,1 х 13,8; л.: 53,7 x 39,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-40868

Лежащий лев

• 1896
• etching, . И.: 13,8 х 11; д.: 15,9 х 12; л.: 28,8 х 20,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Гр-28244

Портрет художника А. Н. Бенуа

• 1896
• Canvas, oil. 49 х 39
• The State Russian Museum
• ЖБ-616

После дождя

• 1896
• Paper, watercolours. 35,8 x 73,2
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-8362

Morning

• 1897
• Canvas, oil. 261 x 447
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-1834

Vrubel dreamed about combining art and life in his creative work and searched for a high monumental style and a special national form that was expressed in ornamental and rhythmic patterns characteristic for his works. His style was close to the stylistics of art nouveau that is known for its rapid transitions from statics to movement and from serenity to sudden agitation. The artistic features of art nouveau include flowing lines, oblong figures, expressive contours, and the use of floral motifs. Stems, leaves, and flowers of faded exotic plants intertwine and create a complicated pattern in which one can see female figures or fantastic beasts.

Art nouveau artist were keen on allegories, and this tendency is vivid in the Spring panel. The awakening nature is symbolized by four mermaids. A naked female figure emerges from the mystical entwinement of giant trees, dense grass and fantastic flowers. The woman looks at the light of dawn – the “Beam”, as the artist calls it. It is embodied by another woman’s figure with a strangely bent body. The woman longs from the grass to the sky. The third “Fairy” comes out of the grass and marsh wilds. She represents the awakening – her face is motionless, her big dark eyes have just opened and her first morning thoughts float in them as the remains of her night dreams. The forth figure in the right is depicted only fragmentarily – we see a woman’s face with the expression of fear and despair. When asked about the meaning of this figure, Vrubel answered: “It’s a fairy tale”. Four female figures amplify the general emotional tone of the landscape, its poetry and music. The images created by the artist have multiple meanings and may arise various emotions. The use of various shades of green gives the feeling of early morning freshness when the sun is about to rise above the horizon. This panel is a part of a decorative and monumental triptych called Times of Day that was created by Vrubel for the interior of S.T. Morozov’s house in Moscow (designed by the Moscow art nouveau architect F.O. Schechtel).

Афиша "Выставка русских и финляндских художников. 1898"

• 1897
• Chromolithography. И.: 80 х 66; л.: 101 х 68
• The State Russian Museum
• Гр.луб-2655

Версаль. Людовик XIV кормит рыб

• 1897
• Cardboard, gouache, watercolours, chalk, graphite pencil, charcoal pencil. 47,7 x 62,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-5126

Версаль. Прогулка короля

• 1897
• Paper, watercolours, gouache, graphite pencil. 21,4 x 46 (в свету)
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-5131

Версаль. У Курция (Вид на дворец со стороны Швейцарского озера)

• 1897
• Paper, watercolours, gouache, graphite pencil, charcoal pencil. 48,8 х 63,6
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-5132

Иллюстрация к книге Е. В. Балобановой «Легенды о старинных замках Бретани». Кипарис

• 1897
• Cardboard, ink, nib, watercolours. 28,2 x 18,9
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-33801

Иллюстрация к книге Е. В. Балобановой «Легенды о старинных замках Бретани». Сросшиеся деревья

• 1897
• Cardboard, ink, nib, graphite pencil. 28 х 18,8
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-33803

Иллюстрация к книге Е. В. Балобановой «Легенды о старинных замках Бретани». Царица бурь

• 1897
• Paper, ink, nib, watercolours. 28,2 х 18,9
• The State Russian Museum
• Р-33802

Levitan Isaac Ilich

Painter, graphic artist, teacher. Studied under Alexei Savrasov and Vasily Polenov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1873-1885). Academician of painting (1898). Member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1891) and the Munich Sezession (1897), Contributed to exhibitions (from 1880). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1884-1900), periodical exhibitions of the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1887-1900), Fellowship of South Russian Artists (1892), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1893), Munich Sezession (1896, 1898, 1899), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1899, 1900), Pan-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (1896), International Exhibition in Munich (1898) and the World Exhibitions in Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900). Taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1898-1900). 

Якунчикова Мария Васильевна

Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich

Painter, draughtsman, theatrical designer, applied artist, portraitist, writer of philosophical Symbolist compositions. Studied law at St Petersburg University (1874-79) and art under Pavel Chistyakov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1880-84). Academician of painting (1905). Member of the Abramtsevo circle (from 1889). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1891). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1895, 1899, 1904), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1900-03, 1906; member from 1900, 1911), 36 Artists (1901, 1902), Union of Russian Artists (1903-10; founding member), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900; gold medal) and the International Exhibitions in Vienna (1901) and Venice (1907). Designed for Sawa Mamontov\'\'s Russian Private Opera (1890-1901).

Nesterov Mikhail Vasilyevich

Painter, portraitist, landscape artist, genre painter, author of memoirs and essays on artists. Studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1877-81, 1884-86) and the Imperial Academy of Arts (1881-84). Full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1910). Member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1896) and founding member of the Union of Russian Artists (1903). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1889-1901), World of Art (1899-1901), 36 Artists (1901-03), Union of Russian Artists (1922, 1923), All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (1896), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900), International Exhibitions in Munich (1898,1909) and Rome (1911), Die erste russische Kunstausstellung in Berlin (1922) and the Exhibition of Russian Art in New York (1924). Honoured Artist of the RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATED SOCIALIST REPUBLIC (1942). 

Ryabushkin Andrei Petrovich

Painter, graphic artist. Studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1875-82) and the Imperial Academy of Arts (1882-90). Member of the Society of Artists of History Painting (from 1895), World of Art (from 1901) and the Union of Russian Artists (from 1903). Contributed to exhibitions at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1888).

Ционглинский (Циоглинский) Ян (Иван) Францевич

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich

Korovin Konstantin Alexeyevich

Painter, theatrical designer, teacher. Studied under Vasily Perov, Alexei Savrasov and Vasily Polenov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1875-1886) and at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1882). Academician of painting (1905). Member of the Abramtsevo Сircle (from 1885). Member of the World of Art (1900) and founding member of the Union of Russian Artists (1903). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1878). Contributed to the periodical exhibitions of the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1888-1897) and the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1889-1899), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1894-1902), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1899-1906, 1921, 1922), 36 Artists (1901, 1902), Union of Russian Artists (1903-1923), World Exhibitions in Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900, two gold medals) and the International Exhibitions in Munich (1898), Vienna (1902), Venice (1907) and Rome (1911). Designed for theatres in Moscow and St Petersburg (from 1885). Taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1901-1918), State Free Art Studios (1918-1919) and the Stroganov School (1900s-1910s). Emigrated (1922).

Portrait of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich

• Before 1671 (?)/ After 1676 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 126 х 95
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3988

Alexis I Mikhailovich (March 19, 1629 – January 29, 1676)

Tsar, member of the Romanov dynasty, father of Peter the Great. Son of Mikhail Fedorovich and Eudoxia Streshneva. He assumed the throne on July 14, 1645, and was crowned on September 28, 1645. During his reign the Zemsky Sobor (Assembly of the Land) passed the Law Code of 1649; the Customs (1653) and New Trade (1667) Regulations were adopted; and Ukraine came under Russian rule (1654), which led to the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo between Russia and Poland (1667).  On January 16, 1648 Alexis married Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (April 1, 1624 – March 3, 1669), together they had 13 children. On January 22, 1671 he entered into a second marriage with Natalia Naryshkina (August 22, 1651 – January 25, 1694), and had three children with her: Peter (May 30, 1672 – January 28, 1725), Natalia (August 22, 1673 – June 18, 1716), and Feodora (September 4, 1674 – November 28, 1678).

This portrait engraved by Cornelis Meyssens (1646–?) can be found among illustrations of the book Historia di Leopoldo Cesare (History of Leopold Caesar, Vienna, 1670); that is where its traditional dating comes from. However, an inscription made on the portrait “reigned and ruled” (in Latin, in the past tense) suggests that the portrait was made after the tsar’s death. The artist’s alterations and technical characteristics do not contradict the fact that the work was painted in the end of the 17^th century.

Portrait of Prince Anikita Repnin

• Late 1690s
• Canvas, oil. 181 х 128
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3947

Anikita Repnin (1668 – July 3, 1726). Middle son of Ivan Repnin (1615– 1697) who was a boyar close to the tsar and a house steward of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, and Ivan’s wife Yevdokia Nikiforovna Pleshcheyeva (? – April 8, 1695). Russian Field Marshal General (1725). From his early years Anikita was close to Peter the Great and took part in the creation of the emperor’s Toy Army. In 1685 he became Lieutenant and within two years he was promoted to Colonel. Repnin participated in the Azov campaigns of 1695–1696. In 1696 he commanded a frigate. In 1699 he became Major General. In the beginning of the Northern War he commanded a division. Following the order of Peter the Great he reconstituted Russian forces withdrawing from Narva after they were defeated in 1700. He took part in the Siege of Nöteborg (1702) and Narva (1704). During the Battle of Poltava (1709) he commanded the centre of the Russian troops. During the years 1709–1710 he commanded the siege and the seizure of Riga. During the years 1712–1713 and 1715–1716 he commanded troops in Pomerania. In 1719 he was appointed Governor General of Livonia, and at the same time he acted as President of the Military College from 1724–1725. After the death of Peter the Great, he supported the enthronement of Catherine I, but shortly afterwards Alexander Menshikov sent him away to Riga.

From the second half of the 19^th century to the early 21^st century almost all scholars believed the person depicted here to be Ivan Borisovich Repnin; however, this traditional view was recently reconsidered. In 2014 a new version was accepted by the Attribution Council of the Russian Museum.

Portrait of Prince Andrei the Elder Repnin

• After 27 January 1699
• Canvas, oil. 194 х 109
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3945

Portrait of Prince Andrei the Younger Repnin

• School of the Armoury Chamber
• After 27 January 1699
• Canvas, oil. 195 x 149
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3946

Andrei the Younger Repnin (? – January 27, 1699)Youngest son of Ivan Repnin (1615– 1697). His father Ivan was a house steward of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, and a boyar close to the tsar; his mother was Yevdokia Nikiforovna Pleshcheyeva (? – April 8, 1695). Andrei, together with his brother Anikita, accompanied Peter the Great during his dramatic overnight ride to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on the night of August 7-8, 1689. In approximately 1689 Andrei married Tatiana Alexeyevna, daughter of Alexei Rzhevsky; who was an okolnichy (a senior court rank) and the military commander of Samara during the years 1689–1690. Andrei was among some 39 stolniks (cupbearers) and the same number of soldiers in February 1697 who were sent to Italy to study maritime affairs.

From the second half of the 19th century to the early 21st century scholars believed the person depicted here to be Alexander Borisovich Repnin; however, this traditional view was recently reconsidered. In 2014 a new version was accepted by the Attribution Council of the Russian Museum. Based on the clothing depicted the portrait was dated from the 1680s to 1690s. It appears that it was Anikita Ivanovich that outlived both of his brothers who ordered the painting.

Portrait of Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev

• After 1710
• Canvas, oil. 308 х 346
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5798

Boris Sheremetev (April 25, 1652 – February 17, 1719). Statesman, commander and diplomat. In 1682 he was made Boyar. He took part in the first Azov campaign. He was a close associate of Peter the Great and fought in all the most important battles of the Northen War (Dorpat, Narva, and Riga). He became Field Marshal General in 1701 and was the first Russian count (1706). At the battle of Poltava he commanded the centre of the Russian Army. Peter the Great called Sheremetev his “Turenne” and valued him greatly for his selflessness.

In 1905 the painting was kept in the Sheremetev Palace and exhibited within the Tauride Exhibition as work of Ivan Argunov. Later the portrait was attributed to Schurmann, even though some scholars have doubted the existence of this artist. An inscription recently read on the portrait; “Karl Schurmann pictorducalis curl […]” suggests that during the siege of Riga in 1710, Karl Schurmann was painter to Frederick William, the Duke of Courland, and the future husband of Anna Ioannovna.

Portrait of Pyotr Tolstoy

• Late 1710s – 1720s
• Canvas, oil. 77 х 62,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4903

Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645 – February 17, 1729). Count (1724), statesman and diplomat. Son of Okolnichy Andrei Tolstoy and Solomonida Miloslavskaya (a distant relative of Tsaritsa Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya). Took part in the Streltsy Uprising (1682), but after the uprising was successfully squashed, he switched sides and defected to Peter the Great. During the years 1701–1714 he was ambassador in Constantinople. He was appointed senator (1714) and president of the College of Commerce. In 1717 he convinced Tsarevich Alexis; who was hiding in Naples, to return to Russia, which made him one of the closest confidants of Peter the Great. In 1718 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called. Tolstoy was in charge of the Secret Chancellery. In 1727 he was sentenced to death for conspiracy, but instead was sent to live in the Solovetsky Monastery.

The painting was dated based on the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called that Tolstoy received in February 1718, for his contribution to the return of Tsarevich Alexis Petrovich to Russia. The portrait was first attributed to Georg Gsell in a guidebook published by the Russian Museum. Several scholars rightfully compared the painting with a mirror portrait from the Moscow Tolstoy Museum, signed and dated by Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1719). Research conducted confirmed the existence of technical similarities between the portrait from the Russian Museum and the work from the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow.

Portrait of Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna

• 1717
• Canvas, oil. 76 х 97
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4904

Louis Caravaque’s painting is dated according to the official inventory of the artist’s works that he completed in November 1723. The entry for 1717 reads: “At the command of the Most Serene Prince, two portraits of Their Imperial Highnesses, Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna, were painted on a single canvas.” The portrait is also mentioned in Jacob Schtelin’s Notes: “Louis Caravaque ... painted the Imperial Princesses Anna and Elizabeth in their youth.”

Anna Petrovna (February 7, 1708 – May 15, 1728)

Tsarevna, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine Alexeyevna, awarded the title of Tsesarevna on December 23, 1721. On May 21, 1725 she married Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp (April 30, 1700 – June 18, 1739). She had a son, Peter (February 21, 1728 – July 2, 1762), future Emperor Peter III, who would succeed to the throne after Elizabeth Petrovna (1741 – 1761).

Elizabeth Petrovna (December 18, 1709 – December 25, 1761)

Tsarevna, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine Alexeyevna, awarded the title of Tsesarevna on December 23, 1721. Became Empress on November 25, 1741. Crowned on 25 April, 1742.

Портрет Петра I

• Canvas, oil. Диам. 55 (круг)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4906

Portrait of Catherine I with a Little Negro Boy

• Before December 1725 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 264 x 200
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5487

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.

Catherine is depicted with a ribbon and a star of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called. Originally the portrait was smaller (190 x 133), the architecture and the landscape around the subject were painted later. Traditionally the portrait was dated 1725–1726 based on the engraving by Alexei Zubov. A document dated December 22, 1725 reads: “At the command of His Majesty [...] painter Ivan Adolsky received” one hundred rubles for painting these two portraits of Empress Catherine I: this one and the one housed in the State Museum-Preserve Tsarskoye Selo; the paintings are slightly different.

Portrait of Peter II

• Second half of the 1720s
• Canvas, oil. 71 х 59 (овал)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-11

Peter II was the son of Tsarevich Alexis Petrovich and Princess Charlotte Christine Sophie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and the grandson of Emperor Peter the Great. He was himself Emperor from 1727. He was under the guardianship of the Supreme Privy Council, which was led by Peter the Great’s former favourite, his Supreme Highness Prince Alexander Menshikov. After Menshikov’s arrest in 1727 power in the Supreme Privy Council was usurped by the Dolgorukys, princes from an old boyar family. The system that existed before Peter the Great began to be restored and the court moved from St Petersburg to Moscow. The boyar aristocracy was strengthened and the army and navy fell into decline. Peter II had no inclination either to deal with matters of state or to study, and spent his time in games and entertainment. He died of smallpox in January 1730 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Portrait of Peter II

• 1728
• Canvas, oil. 80 х 64,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5334

Peter II (1715–1730) was the son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Yevdokia (née Princess Charlotte Christine Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg), who died shortly after his birth; and the grandson of Peter I. He ascended to the throne on 7 May 1727, after the death of Catherine I. The young Emperor was constantly under the influence of others, becoming an instrument in the hands of various palace factions: first Menshikov, who, in order to increase his influence, wanted Peter I to marry his daughter Maria; then Dolgorukovs, who decided to marry him to the older daughter of Alexei Dolgorukov, Princess Ekaterina. On 30 November 1728, they got engaged, but he had contracted smallpox and died the day he proposed marriage. Upon his death, the male line of the Romanovs ended. He is depicted in ermine robes with the chain of the Order of St Andrew.

Portrait of a Boy in Hunting Attire

• End of 1720 - beginning of 1730
• Canvas, oil. 135 x 89
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж−5327

Equestrian Portrait of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna with Retinue

• 1744–1755
• Canvas, oil. 50,5 x 66
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5374

Portrait of Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich and Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna

• 1745 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 129 х 100
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5341

Peter Feodorovich (1728–1762) was the son of Tsarevna Anna Petrovna and Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp; he was also the grandson of two implacable enemies, Emperor Peter the Great of Russia and King Charles XII of Sweden. He became heir to the Russian throne in 1742 and was Emperor from 25 December 1761 to 28 June 1762, but was never crowned. He imitated Peter the Great in intending to carry out a number of reforms. The Manifesto on the Freedom of the Nobility, the abolition of the Office for Secret Investigation and the secularisation of church lands formed the basis of the legislative measures subsequently taken by Catherine the Great. The view of traditional historiography is that he was ignorant and feeble-minded. He was overthrown by a palace coup instigated by his own wife, the future Catherine the Great, and was soon killed.

Empress Catherine II (the Great; 1729–1796), née Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, was born in the Prussian city of Stettin. In 1744, she arrived in Russia as the bride of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich, the future Emperor Peter III. That same year, she converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Catherine Alexeyevna. She married Peter Feodorovich in August 1745. In 1754 she gave birth to an heir, the future Emperor Paul I. The relationship with her husband did not work out, and he planned to have her sent to a convent. In the summer of 1762 she led a conspiracy of Peter’s guards and overthrew him, becoming Empress. In the first years of her reign she adhered to a policy of “enlightened absolutism”, but after the peasant rebellion led by Emelyan Pugachev (1773–1775) and the French Revolution (1789), she was forced to toughen her regime. She led victorious campaigns against Turkey (1768–1774; 1787–1792) and Sweden (1788–1790). During her reign, the Crimea (1783), the Northern Baltic Sea, the Baltic states, the eastern part of Poland, and the Aleutian Islands became part of Russia. Russian settlements were established in Alaska, and Eastern Georgia was taken under the protection of Russia. Russia’s prestige in Europe increased greatly.

Peter Fyodorovich is depicted in an official uniform of the Life Guard Dragoons Regiment of the Holstein Army with the Order of St. Andrews (the ribbon and the star). Catherine Alexeyevna is depicted with the Grand cross of the Order of Saint Catherine (the ribbon, the cross and the star). The stylistic elements and the lack of archival documents about the creation of this double portrait raise doubts about the authorship of the painter. The wedding of Peter Fyodorovich and Catherine Alexeyevna took place in August 1745. It is very likely that this double portrait was painted during that year as a portrait of the engaged couple. Their child, future Emperor Paul I was born on 20^th of September (1^st of October) 1754.

Portrait of Ivan Shuvalov

• Canvas, oil. 71,5 x 56,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-9281

Ivan Shuvalov (1727–1797) was an adjutant general. As he became the favourite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in 1749, he had a great influence on Russian foreign and domestic affairs. He was the curator of the Moscow University and the Academy of Art. He took Mikhail Lomonosov under his wing and was acquainted with Voltaire and Helvétius. After the accession of Catherine the Great to the throne, he lived abroad until 1777. After his return to Russia, he became Grand Chamberlain. The painting depicts Shuvalov in uniform with the Orders of St. Anna and the White Eagle. This painting is one of Rokotov’s early works.

Portrait of Ivan Shuvalov

• Between 1755 and 1757
• Canvas, oil. 217 x 157
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3924

Ivan Shuvalov (1727–1797) was a privy councillor, Great Chamberlain and lieutenant general. He was a favourite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. He was the founder and the first curator of the University of Moscow (1755), the first president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, which was also founded as his project, and was a patron of the arts. He contributed to the development of the arts and sciences in Russia. From 1763 through 1777, he travelled around Western Europe. He was acquainted with Diderot and Voltaire. He is depicted with the Order of the White Eagle (ribbon and star; 1754). The portrait was painted by artist prior into entering into a contract for admission into the service at the Imperial Academy of Art as an “example of his work and abilities”.

Portrait of the Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich

• Canvas, oil. 114 x 90
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4938

Portrait of Sylvester Kulyabka

• Archbishop of St Petersburg and Schlüsselburg
• 1760
• Canvas, oil. 102 x 77,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4916

The portrait is one of a series of portraits of archimandrites of the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St Petersburg painted by Alexei Antropov in the 1760s and 1770s.
Sylvester (Semyon) Kulyabka (1701 or 1704–1761) was rector of Kiev Religious Academy (1740), Archbishop of St Petersburg and Schlüsselburg and Archimandrite of the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery (from 1750). The subject is depicted in the vestments of an archbishop, with a crosier and a panagia. On the background is the Kulyabka family coat of arms.

Портрет И. И. Шувалова

• 1760
• Canvas, oil. 85 х 70,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4965

Автопортрет

• 1761
• Canvas, oil. 48 х 40
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5450

Antropov Alexei Petrovich

Painter, portraitist, icon-painter. Studied under Louis Caravaque, Andrei Matveyev and Alexander Zakharov, took lessons from Pietro de Rotari (from 1732). Joined the painting department of the Ministry of Construction (1739), foreman (1749). Helped to decorate the interiors of palaces in and around St Petersburg and Moscow. Painted the interior decor of the Si Petersburg Opera House (1750). Created murals and icons for St Andrew’s Cathedral in Kiev (1750-55). Lived in St Petersburg (from 1758). Worked for the Holy Synod and supervised the work of painters (from 1761), Taught Dmitry Levitsky and Pyotr Drozhdin.

Losenko Anton Pavlovich

History painter, portraitist, draughtsman. Studied at Ivan Argunov\'\'s studio (from 1753) and under Jean-Louis de Velly and Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenee at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1758-60). Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Adjunct (1762). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in France (1760-62, 1763-65), studied under Jean Restout and Joseph-Marie Vien. Awarded silver medals for drawings by the Academic des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1763, 1764,1765). Studied in Italy (1765-69). Nominated to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1769), academician and professor (1770). Head of the history painting class, director of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1772-73

Чемесов Евграф Петрович

Peter I on His Death Bed

• Early 1725
• Canvas, oil. 82 x 60,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4907

The painting of Nikitin may be perceived as a requiem for the "father of the fatherland." Immediately after the death of Peter I Nikitin was invited to embody the dead emperor. The portrait introduces the tsar, dressed in a white shirt, covered up to his chest with the yellowish draped fabric with a blue ermine mantle. The image of Peter I is full of majestic solemnity.

The portrait reflects deep and sincere sorrow: for Nikitin Peter I was not only the emperor, but the close and familiar person whose death was a personal loss for the artist. Master traced every wrinkle, every fold, every strand of hair, as if he felt his responsibility towards future generations.

Death has already distorted the face of Peter. But looking at the picture of the dead emperor, one can understand the greatness of his lifetime. In 1762 by order of Empress Catherine the portrait was transferred from the old wooden Winter Palace on Nevsky Prospekt near the Police Bridge to the Imperial Academy of Arts.

I.N. Nikitin, J.G. Tannauer, Andrei Matveyev were considered to be the authors of the portrait. Modern researchers state that this is the indisputable work of I.N. Nikitin. This fact is proven by the technological analysis of the portrait.

Peter I Alexeyevich [Peter the Great (May 30 [June 9], 1672 – January 28 [February 8], 1725) was the last ruler to formally take the title Tsar (starting from April 27, 1682) and the first to take the title Emperor of All Russia (starting from October 22, 1721). He was a member of the Romanov dynasty.

Peter was the fourteenth child of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich; his father's first child with Natalia Naryshkina. He was baptised by Protopope Andrei Savinov on June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, in the Chudov Monastery (according to other sources, in the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, Moscow) and given the name Peter. After his father’s death in 1676, Peter’s half-brother and godfather, Tsar Theodore Alexeyevich, became his guardian. Upon his death, Peter was proclaimed Tsar on April 27 (May, 7), 1682. This triggered the Streltsy Uprising, which resulted in the deaths of many Naryshkin supporters and the coronation of Ivan and Peter on June 25. Tsarevna Sophia became regent. Peter stayed with his mother, Natalia Naryshkina, in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, where he formed the first two new order regiments, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, and organised meetings of the “Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters.” Foreigners Franz Lefort and Patrick Gordon became his closest associates. On January 27, 1689, Peter married Eudoxia Lopukhina. They had three sons: Alexis (February18, 1690 – June 26, 1718), Alexander (October 3, 1691 – May 14, 1692), and Paul (1693–1693). During August of 1689, confrontations between Peter and Sophia began to sharply intensify. Fearing assassination, Peter fled to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on the night of August 7-8, accompanied by a small retinue. On August 8 both Tsaritsas, Natalia and Eudoxia joined him followed by the “Toy Army” and the artillery. Peter issued several decrees, demanding that existing regiments based in Moscow obey him as their rightful ruler. Sophia, recognizing her defeat, subsequently was confined to the Novodevichy Convent; while Peter’s elder brother, Tsar Ivan, effectively ceased intervening in affairs of the state.

The Capture of the Ottoman Fortress of Azov (July 19, 1696) in two Azov campaigns (1695–1696) became Peter’s first serious victory. Russia gained access to the Black sea. In 1697–1798 Peter the Great travelled to Europe for the first time as a member of the Grand Embassy. He visited Riga, Königsberg, Brandenburg, Holland, England, and Austria; he also planned to visit Venice and meet the Pope. He studied shipbuilding and military science in Holland and in England; the Grand Embassy recruited several hundreds of specialists to work in Russia. In July 1698 news about a new Streltsy Uprising in Moscow interrupted the mission. When the Tsar arrived in Moscow on August 25, investigation and interrogations took place resulting in almost simultaneous execution of 800 Streltsy. Tsarevna Sophia was made to take the veil under the name of Susanna. Eudoxia Lopukhina, whom Peter never loved, shared her fate: she was sent the Intercession Convent of Suzdal. And transformations began. On August 26, 1698 Peter issued his famous decrees on Western dress, shaving beards and moustaches, and Old Believers’ clothing. In 1700 the New Year was moved to January 1. After his coming back from the Grand Embassy, the Tsar began preparations for war with Sweden to gain access to the Baltic Sea. In 1699 Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth joined Peter’s Northern Union against Charles XII, King of Sweden. The Northern War started with a failure: on November 19 (30), 1700 Peter’s army was defeated at Narva. In autumn 1702 Peter renewed the war. He seized the fortress of Noteburg (that he renamed Schlisselburg) on the Baltic seashore, and in spring 1703 he took the fortress of Nyenschantz at the mouth of the Neva river. On May 10 (21), 1703 Peter (who was then Captain in the Bombardier Company of the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment) received the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, which he had established himself, for brave capture of two Swedish vessels. On May 16 (27), 1703 he founded St. Petersburg, and placed a Russian naval base, the fortress of Kronslot (later Kronstadt) on the island of Kotlin.

In 1703 he met Catherine, née Marta Skowrońska, widow of the dragoon Johan Cruse, who was captured as a war trophy during the seizure of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg. Peter officially married Catherine on February 19, 1712 after the Pruth River Campaign. Together they had several children: Catherine (December 28, 1706 – July 27, 1708), Anna (February 7, 1708 – May 15, 1728), Elizabeth (December 18, 1709 – December 25, 1761), Natalia (March 3, 1713 – May 27, 1715), Margarita (September 3, 1714 – July 27, 1715), Peter (October 29, 1715 – April 25, 1719), Paul (January 2, 1717 – January 3, 1717), Natalia (August 20, 1718 – March 4,1725).

In 1706 Charles XII, King of Sweden started a new campaign. Expecting to get support against Russia from the Little Russia hetman Ivan Mazepa, Charles XII sent troops to the Ukraine. In response, Peter personally commanded the cavalry corps of Alexander Menshikov at the Battle of Lesnaya, which took place on September 28 (October 9) and resulted in the crushing defeat of Lewenhaupt corps that were about to join the army of Charles XII coming from Livonia. Peter would later celebrate the anniversary of this battle as the decisive turning point in the Northern War. On June 27 (July 8), 1709 the army of Charles XII was completely defeated at the Battle of Poltava. During the years 1714–1720 the Russian army achieved more land and sea victories in the Baltic area. On August 30 (September 10), 1721 Russia and Sweden concluded the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the 21-year-long war. Russia gained access to the Baltic sea and annexed Ingria, Estonia, Finland, and part of Karelia. On October 22 Peter was accorded the title of Emperor of All Russia, Great Father of the Fatherland.

During the reign of Peter the Great Kamchatka was annexed by Russia. His most significant foreign policy undertaking after the Northern War was the Persian campaign of 1722–1724 resulting in annexation of the Western and the Southern coast of the Caspian sea including the towns of Derbent and Baku, and the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad. On February 5 (16), 1722 Peter issued a decree on succession to the throne (which was annulled by Paul I 75 years later) abolishing the old rules of succession of direct descendants in the male line, and stating that the reigning monarch could nominate his own successor. On May 7, 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as empress-consort and made her his co-ruler, but later suspected her of adultery. He failed to nominate his own successor before his death.

Peter the Great died after terrible suffering (according to the official information – of pneumonia) early in the morning of January 28 (February 8), 1725 in the Winter Palace by the Winter Canal. After his death the Senate proclaimed his wife, Catherine, his successor. On January 28 (February 8), 1725 she became Empress of Russia under the name of Catherine I.

Portrait of Baron Sergei Stroganov, Youngest Son of the Salt manufacturer Grigory Stroganov and his Wife Maria

• 1726
• Canvas, oil. 87 х 65 (овал, вписанный в прямоугольник)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4908

Sergei Stroganov (August 20, 1707 – September 30, 1756). Youngest son of Grigory Stroganov, a prominent person and salt manufacturer, and his second wife Maria Yakovlevna, née Novosiltseva. Baron (from 1722), actual gentleman-in-waiting, Lieutenant General. Owner of a palace located on Nevsky Prospect, St Petersburg designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Collector and founder of the Stroganov Art Gallery. In 1735 he married Sofia Kirillovna Naryshkina. His son, Alexander Stroganov, would become president of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

The work was first attributed to Ivan Nikitin in 1804 and there is no question of his authorship. This is one of the few works of the artist that was signed and dated. Researchers note that the technique of the portrait is very good, and it has been preserved better than other works, which makes the individual manner of the artist more apparent. A similar style is visible on his portraits of Prasovia Ioannovna and Anna Petrovna.

Self-Portrait with Wife

• 1729 (?). After 1727 (?)
• Canvas, oil. 75,5 x 90,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4913

Andrei Matveyev (1702, (?) – 1739, St Petersburg). Painter, portrait artist, and icon painter, who created allegorical, and decorative and monumental compositions. In 1716, at the request of Peter the Great, he was then sent to study painting in Holland. From September 1717 to September 1723, he studied under Arnold Boonen in Amsterdam, and from December 1723 to May (?) 1727 – in the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts under (?) Sperwer. In August 1727, he came back to Petersburg and began his work in the Chancellery of Construction. In 1731, Matveyev attained the rank of Master and became the head of the Painting Brigade of the Chancellery of Construction. He participated in creating murals for the Peter and Paul Cathedral, as well as tsarist residences in Petersburg, he also painted icons for the Church of The Holy Righteous Simeon and Anna The Prophetess.

Irina Matveyeva (1712/14–1740s). Daughter of the blacksmith Stepan Antropov. In 1729 (or 1728) she married the artist Andrey Matveyev. She later entered into a second marriage with the merchant Turgenev.

The portrait is thought to have been painted in 1729, the year the artist got married. Some researchers believed that the woman depicted is much older than the artist’s wife (who was only 16 years old when the portrait was painted), and that the people depicted are Princess Anna Leopoldovna and her husband Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick. Modern technical analysis established that the woman’s face was “aged” by alterations introduced after the work was completed.

Портрет великого князя Павла Петровича в детстве

• Canvas, oil. 58,5 х 47,5 (овал, вписанный в прямоугольник)
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4939

Портрет А. Ф. Кокоринова

• 1769
• Canvas, oil. 134 x 102
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4985

Портрет великого князя Павла Петровича в юности

• Canvas, oil. 84 x 67
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-29

Portrait of Catherine II in Travelling Costume

• Canvas, oil. 70,5 x 56
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4963

View of Palace Embankment from the Peter and Paul Fortress

• 1790s
• Canvas, oil. 72 x 107
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-3292

This is a repeat version of a painting for which Fyodor Alexeyev was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts – View of Palace Embankment from the Peter and Paul Fortress (1794, Tret. Gal.). On the left is the Peter and Paul Fortress with the Naryshkin Bastion. The Naryshkin Bastion was renamed the Catherine Bastion after the wife of Peter the Great (1725). The Summer Garden can be seen on the opposite bank of the River Neva. Palace Embankment begins on the right with the Marble Palace and the Betskoi and Saltykov houses.

Портрет Екатерины II

• Marble. 63 х 35 х 35
• The State Russian Museum
• Ск-1392

Портрет генерал-фельдмаршала светлейшего князя Г. А. Потемкина-Таврического

• Marble. 63 х 41 х 35
• The State Russian Museum
• Ск-300

Portrait of Skobeyeva, Wife of the Smolensk Landlord D. Skobeyev

• The second half of the 1790s
• Canvas, oil. 72 х 57
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5018

At the end of the eighteenth century Borovykovsky created a series of portraits (mostly female) and established in portrait painting a so-called new type of man, "not composed, but discovered only by him " (portraits of V.I.Arseneva, M.I.Lopuhina, N.A.Naryshkina , M.A.Orlova-Denisova, and etc.). In the portrait of Skobeeva (name and patronymic are unknown), as in most others, the artist has used his compositional scheme: “half-figure” model with distinctive portrait features is depicted with arms crossed in a light dress on the background of a landscape.

Open energetic face with large features expresses determination and courage. This impression is supported by the facts from biography of the heroine of the portrait. Skobeeva was the daughter of the Kronstadt sailor. She was a pupil and mistress of D.P. Troshchinsky, the State Secretary of Catherine II. There is a version that in an effort to confront her ambiguous position, the girl ran from a guardian and married a poor Smolensk landowner D. Skobeev.

Perhaps as a sign of approval of the union the spouses decided to have a portrait painted by the most fashionable portrait painter of those times. The head of the family ordered the artist two portraits of his wife: in the bosom of nature (the portrait) and the image of inaccessible Diana (Skobeeva as Diana. The end of the 1790s. The State Historical Museum. An embodiment of the portrait of smaller).

Portrait of Marfa Arbenieva

• 1798
• Canvas, oil. 78,4 x 58,2
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5012

Marfa Ivanovna Arbenieva (1741–1804): Daughter of Ivan Kozlov and wife of I. I. Arebniev. Aunt of the poet Ivan Kozlov. Played hostess to the poet Gavriil Derzhavin, Count Alexander Stroganov and the playwright Jacob Knyazhnin.

Portrait of Alexei Tomilov

• 1808
• Canvas, oil. 68 х 55,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5131

Alexei Romanovich Tomilov (1779-1848) was an artillery officer by education and a commander during the building of a fortress in Kronstadt (1799). He left the service in 1808. Alexei Romanovich was a collector and an art amateur, one of the founders and a committee member of the Artists Support Society (since 1820) and a honored free member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1833).

View of the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg

• After 1810
• Canvas, oil. 71 х 112,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5049

The Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg is one of the most important churches in the Orthodox world. It houses one of the two most venerated duplications of the Our Lady of Kazan icon, the patroness of the imperial house and the protector of the Russian land. The cathedral, built from 1801–1811 from a design by Andrei Voronikhin, was intended to emphasise the political aspirations of the Russian Empire. The majestic colonnade of the cathedral, spreading out toward Nevsky Prospect, is reminiscent of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This is the influence of both the romantic interest in Catholicism and the mission of Russia in the greater Christian world. In the solemn rhythm of the forms of the orders of Classical architecture, undoubtedly, there is a kind of heroic sensibility. And it is no wonder that after Napoleon’s expulsion from Russia, Kazan Cathedral became a war memorial, where in 1813 the ashes of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov were laid to rest, and trophies of the Patriotic War of 1812 were housed: flags, banners, and keys to forts and cities.

Fyodor Alexeyev depicts Andrei Voronikhin’s Kazan Cathedral and the original layout of the adjoining square. The wooden obelisk crowned with a cross stood in the centre of the square until 1826. Ivan Martos’s plaster figures of St Gabriel the Archangel and St Michael the Archangel stand at the ends of the colonnade. Pendant statues of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov and Field Marshal Michael Barclay de Tolly were opened outside the Kazan Cathedral in 1837.

The landscapes of Fyodor Alexeyev are created with accurate views of the city, which capture its emotional picturesqueness. In front of the Cathedral of Our Lady Kazan there is an obelisk erected in honour of the sanctification of the building. The painter drew not only the capital’s greatness, but he also depicted its everyday life. The simple street life surrounds the edifice: kiosks and stalls, laundresses washing the clothes in the canal, boats going under the bridge, on which bystanders walk. The figures of people are clustered in an intricate genre.

View onto the Admiralty and Palace Embankment from the First Cadet Corps

• Canvas, oil. 138 x 178
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5813

The paintings of Fyodor Yakovlevich draw the attention to themselves, not only because he recreates on canvas the views of St. Petersburg with such accuracy, but because he gives them an emotional and artistic dimension. His works became the interesting  subject to study when it came to the history and architectural changes in the city’s appearance.

In the foreground, there is an upper terrace of the First Cadet Corps, which was founded in 1732 and placed in the former Palace of the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov. On the opposite bank, there is the Admiralty, rebuilt by Andrei Zakharov after a fire in 1806. Behind the canal, which encircles the Admiralty, the Palace Embankment appears on the left.

Крестьянские дети в поле (Мальчик с двумя девочками)

• Canvas, oil. 38,5 х 30
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5164

Sleeping Shepherd Boy

• Between 1823 and 1826
• Wood, oil. 27,5 x 36,5
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5157

The landscape background to this picture is a view onto the River Vorozhba from the windows of Alexei Venetsianov’s house in Safonkovo in Tver Province. The painting was first exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in 1826. The heartfelt interpretation of this portrait of a peasant boy is typical of the Russian school of painting. Rejecting any attempts at ethnographic accuracy, it is both concrete and poetically uplifting. The device of tearing the foreground away from the background conjures up the sensation of the endless breadth and depth of the landscape. The subtle transitions of light and colour create an almost tangible feeling of the passage of life — slow in the summer heat, yet inexorable and endlessly diverse. Full of calm and tranquillity, Venetsianov’s painting introduces us to the private world of the Russian village, where the appearance of a stranger is an important event.

Portrait of the Writer Varvara Lizogub

• 1847
• Canvas, oil. 82,5 x 68
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-5227

The writer and representative of the intellectual elite is depicted by the artist as if she were participating in some kind of masquerade. She is dressed in an Eastern costume and in a headdress that resembles a Russian kokoshnik. Lizogub, Varvara Ippolitovna (née Petrovskaya; dates unknown) was the wife of the colonel Vasily Ivanovich Lizogub (1801–1870). Lizogub was the author of the Zuleika narrative poem, published in August 1845, and of poetry published in the magazine Moskvityanin (1841, No. 7).

Portrait of Infantry General Yakov Rostovtsev, his Wife Vera Rostovtseva, nee Emin, Sons Nikolai Rostovtsev and Mikhail Rostovtsev and Daughter Alexandra Rostovtseva

• Unfinished
• 1850 — 1854
• Canvas, oil. 90 x 69
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-6272

Christ and the Disciples Entering the Garden of Gethsemane

• 1889
• Canvas, oil. 142 x 192
• The State Russian Museum
• Ж-4145

Nikolai Ge painted mostly Gospel subjects in the final years of his career in art. His cycle of works dedicated to the life of Jesus Christ is one of the finest achievements of both his own life and the Russian Realist painting of the 1880s and early 1890s. Work on Christ and the Disciples Entering the Garden of Gethsemane coincided with a period of close contacts with Leo Tolstoy, who greatly influenced the artist’s own ethical viewpoints. Like Tolstoy, Ge presents himself and the viewer with a moral dilemma in this work. The unusual colour scheme is deliberately intended to bring out the emotional aspects of the theme the figures of Christ and the disciples are immersed in darkness and virtually indiscernible.

Levitsky Dmitry Grigoryevich

Leading Russian eighteenth-century painter and portraitist. Son of Grigory Levitsky Nos, a priest and Ukrainian engraver. Moved to St Petersburg (c. 1758). Studied under Alexei Antropov. Worked in Moscow (17605). Nominated to the Academy (c. 1769). Academician (1770). Headed the portraiture class at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1771-87). Councillor (1776), member of the Academy council (1780). Retired for unknown reasons (1787). Worked as a free painter. Returned to the Academy council (1807).

Shibanov Mikhail

Alexeyev Fyodor Yakovlevich

Painter, founding father of the Russian school of urbanscape painting. Son of a guard at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Studied fruit and flower and landscape painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1766-73). Awarded a fellowship to Venice (1773-77). Studied under Giuseppe Moretti and Pietro Gaspari. Returned to St Petersburg and worked as a painter for the Imperial Theatres (1799). Copied paintings by Canaletto and Bernardo Bellotto for Catherine the Great. Nominated to the Academy (1794). Sketched places visited by Catherine the Great (1787) in south Russia (1795). Painted urbanscapes in Moscow (1800). Councillor of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1802), Taught perspective painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1803-24).

Shubin Fedot Ivanovich

Leading Russian Neoclassical sculptor, portraitist. Son of a tusk carver in Archangel Province. Studied under Nicolas-Francois Gillet at the Imperial Academy of Arts through the intercession of Mikhail Lomonosov (1761-66), under Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris (from 1767) and under Joseph Nollekens in Rome (from 1770). Combination of psychology and Neoclassical idealisation was highly rated by Catherine the Great. Portrayed many leading Russian statesmen.

Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich

Painter, draughtsman, miniaturist, icon painter, portraitist. Born into a family of  low rank Cossacks. Studied painting under his father, the icon painter Luke Borovik, in Mirgorod. Listed "above the specified number" in the Mirgorod regiment where his father and relatives served (1774). Awarded the rank of  "comrade of  the colours" (1783), resigned with the rank of lieutenant. Moved to St Petersburg (1788) and studied under Dmitry Levitsky and Johann Baptiste I Lampi. Nominated to the Imperial Academy of  Arts (1794), academician of portrait painting (1795). Councillor of  the Imperial Academy of Arts (1802). Contributed to the iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedralin St Petersburg (1804). Mason and member of Ekaterina Tatarinova\'\'s  mystical sect. 

Kiprensky Orest Adamovich

Portraitist, history painter, draughtsman.

Illegitimate son of a serf woman, Anna Gavrilova, who gave him the name Kipreisky, later changed to Kiprensky. Grew up in the family of his foster father Adam Schwalde. Emancipated from serfdom and enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Arts (1788). Studied history painting under Grigory Ugryumov and Gabriele-Francois Doyen. Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1803-09). Worked in St Petersburg, Moscow and Tver. Academician of portrait painting (1812), councillor of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1815). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Lived in Italy (1816-23, 1828-36). Contributed to the Paris Salon (1822). Donated Self-Portrait (1820) to the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence (1825). Appointed second-class professor of history and portrait painting with automatic member¬ship of the nobility (1831). Councillor of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples (1831). Buried at Sant\'\' Andrea delle Fratte in Rome. 

Venetsianov Alexei Gavrilovich

Founding father of Russian peasant genre painting. Painter, portraitist, etcher, lithographer. Son of a Moscow merchant, educated at private boarding school, worked as a draughtsman. Moved to St Petersburg (1802) and worked as a land surveyor for the crown properties and forestry departments. Studied painting independently, copied works in the Imperial Hermitage and drew pastel portraits. Academician (1811). Resigned from the civil service, moved to the country and painted genre scenes from life (early 1820s). Exhibited at the Imperial Academy of Arts and the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Had many students, who formed the Venetsianov school in Russian art. Killed in a road accident at the Milyukov estate.

Tropinin Vasily Andreyevich

Portraitist, genre painter, landscapist, draughtsman. Serf of Count Minich and then Count Morkov. External student at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1804). Called home by his owner, worked as a serf painter in the Ukraine and Moscow. Freed from serfdom and nominated to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1823). Academician (1824). Mostly worked in Moscow, influencing the Moscow school of painting. Painted portraits of such contemporaries as Alexander Pushkin and single-figure genre compositions. Contributed to many exhibitions in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Zaryanko Sergei Konstantinovich

Painter, portraitist, interior artist. Son of an emancipated serf. Studied under Alexei Venetsianov and simultaneously attended the Imperial Academy of Arts. Non-class artist (1836), major silver medal (1841), academician (1843), professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1850). Lived in St Petersburg (mid–1820s–1843; 1846–1855) and Moscow (1843–1846; 1856–1870). Taught drawing at various educational establishments. Professor of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1856–1870).

Ge Nikolai Nikolaevich

Painter, draughtsman, history and religious painter, portraitist, landscapist. Studied mathematics at Kiev University (1847-48) and St Petersburg University (1848- 50). Studied under Pyotr Basin at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1850-57) and influenced by Karl Brullov and Alexander Ivanov. Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Rome and Florence (1857-63). Lived in Florence (until 1869). Professor (1863; resigned 1869). Founding member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1871). Influenced by Leo Tolstoy (i88os). Lived in Kiev and St Petersburg, moved to Ivanovskoe in Chernihiv Province (1876). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1857), Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1871-94), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1867) and the International Exhibitions in Munich (1869) and London (1873). One-man show at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1870).