The exhibition Catherine the Great: An Enightened Empress opened today at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. More than three hundred works of art associated with the image and life of one of the most famous women in the history of Russia on loan fromthe Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg are on display until 21st of October, 2012.

Writers continue to write books about her, the theatre and cinema constantly return to the image of this great woman. Who could have thought that a modest German princess called Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was brought to Russia at the age of 16 to marry the heir to the Russian throne, would become Empress Catherine the Great. Catherine’s first portrait in Russia, painted by an unknown artist, is just a picture of an ordinary nice young girl. Eighteen years later, in the coronation portrait by Danish artist Vigilius Eriksen she looks a sovereign.

Contemporary western cinema, in the opinion of historian Olga Yeliseyeva, distorts the image of Catherine the Great emphasizing her German origin.

“Catherine spoke a very good Russian without an accent. We have a lot of documents at our disposal that Catherine wrote in Russian. It is true that she made small mistakes in spelling and punctuation but this is also true of many Russian women. In any case, what did it mean to be Russian in the Russian Empire? People could be of the German origin but at the same time feel Russian, accept the Russian ways and live like Russians.

Catherine adopted a lot of Russian features, such as generosity, taste for luxury and living in style. Catherine’s gifts to her favourites and the luxury of her court became legendary. The exhibition in Edinburgh shows jewellery, dresses and accessories made by the best craftsmen of the time. Even snuff-boxes and perfume bottles are studded with precious stones. Catherine was interested in Chinese art and loved the elegant gold hair clasps that were given to her by the Chinese Emperor. She commissioned first-rate silver and porcelain sets for the dining-rooms of her palaces and she bought large collections of European art to arrange a picture gallery in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The Imperial Museum was to show the world that Russia had the right to be called a European country and the Russian Empress was well-educated. She bought paintings by Giordano, Rembrandt, Van Dyke and Velasquez. The National Museum of Scotland displays Rubens’ Apotheosis of James I from the Walpole collection bought by Catherine in 1779. This collection belonged to British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. It was famous all over Europe and was sought after by many art collectors. However, Sir Walpole’s grandson chose to sell the paintings to Russia. At that time Empress Catherine was already known to be an experienced art collector and an educated woman who corresponded with famous European philosophers and writers and wrote novels and plays herself.

At the presentation of the exhibition in St. Petersburg British Consul Gareth Word said that this year Russia and the UK were marking important dates in the history of their monarchies: Empress Catherine the Great ascended the throne 250 years ago and Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of her reign. The British Consul believes that for any country and nation the figure of a monarch symbolizes unity and permanent values even in the contemporary fast-changing world.

The exhibition Catherine the Great: An Enlightened Empress will undoubtedly be a great success, the staff of the National Museum of Scotland believe. A lot of applications to attend it have already been registered. The residents of the Scottish capital are eager to know the life story of that great woman ‘at first hand’, at the exhibition of works of art from the world-famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg which was actually founded by Catherine the Great.

© The Voice of Russia. 13 July, 2012

Next year, the Hermitage Amsterdam will host a new exhibition dedicated to Peter the Great. 

The central theme for the year 2013 will be the special relationship between Russia, the Netherlands and Amsterdam. The two countries have been major trading partners since the Golden Age, and Amsterdam’s canal ring inspired Peter the Great’s to found the city of St Petersburg. In the centuries that followed, this relationship grew stronger. In 1813, when Napoleon was defeated, the Russian Cossacks advanced as far as the gates of Amsterdam, and a member of the House of Orange-Nassau married the daughter of a tsar. The year 2009 saw a crowning moment in relations between the Netherlands and Russia: the opening of the Hermitage Amsterdam, the only European satellite of the famous St Petersburg museum. The Hermitage Amsterdam will kick off the anniversary year of 2013 with a major exhibition about Peter the Great, the tsar who brought Russia into the modern age.

The exhibition will run from 26 February 2013 - 13 September 2013.

© Hermitage Amsterdam. 13 July, 2012

Join Alexey Litvin as he takes a group of visitors on a guided tour of the exhibition on the investigations into the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family at Ekaterinburg.

The exhibition is being hosted by the Federal State Archives of the Russian Federation (GARF) in Moscow until July 29th.

Note: the video is in Russian, however, for those of you who do not understand the language, do not allow that to deter you from previewing the items on display in this historic exhibition.

For more information on this exhibition, please refer to the following articles:

||| Documents Relating to the Murders of Nicholas II and His Family Presented in Moscow + VIDEO |||

An exhibit called Catherine II: the Path to the Throne, dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the Russian empress’s ascension to the throne opens today, July 3, at the State Historical Museum in Moscow. The exposition focuses on the early period of Catherine's life in Russia: from her arrival in Russia to the time she became empress, ITAR-TASS reports.

The key sections of the exposition tell about the origins of the German princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg and her upbringing, arrival in Russia, conversion to the Orthodox faith, marriage to the heir to the throne, birth of her son and the palace coup on June 22 and subsequent coronation on September 22, 1762.

The creation of the exhibit was made possible in part by the Russian Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, State Archive of the Russian Federation, Peterhof museum reserve, and others.

© ITAR-TASS. 03 July, 2012

A unique exhibition dedicated to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta opened in the Moscow Kremlin on Monday.

On display are about 200 artifacts which were delivered to Russia from Italy, Malta and France

The goal is to give visitors a better understanding of the Order of Malta which was founded in Jerusalem in 1113. The world’s oldest surviving order of chivalry, the Order of Malta currently deals with a variety of issues, including those pertaining to the humanitarian sector.

Enhancing ties with Russia remains the organization’s priority, especially given that in 1798 Russian Emperor Paul I became the Grand Master of the Order of Malta.

© The Voice of Russia. 02 July, 2012

The Time of Empire Style exhibition has opened in the Palace Pavilion of 1825 in the Kolomenskoe Memorial Estate in Moscow.

It will represent over 100 rare exhibits dating back to the luxurious epoch of the 19th century.
      
Some items will be displayed for general public for the first time, such us, for example, a rare collection of bronze clocks of that period. All these period pieces, among them furniture, palace interior furnishings, sculptural compositions, portraits and graphic works are united by the Empire style, which was especially popular in France under Napoleon and in Russia during the reign of Alexander I.

The exhibition is dedicated to the 200th anniversary since the Patriotic War of 1812, which put an end to Napoleon's policy of grab. The choice of the exhibition venue is not accidental: the Palace Pavilion of 1825 is the only remaining construction of the Palace of Alexander I. In childhood the future emperor often visited Kolomenskoe with his grandmother Catherine II.

The exhibition is open for public from June 29th to September 29th, 2012.

© Ria.ru. 29 June, 2012

The investigation into one of the worst crimes of the 20^th century, lasted nearly a century. Between 1918 and 2011, a series of investigations into the murders of Emperor Nicholas II and his family took place in Russia. This is the subject of an exhibition which recently opened in the Exhibition Hall of the Federal Archives in Moscow.

The exhibition offers a comprehensive look into the last months of the Russian Imperial family at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, their murders by the Bolsheviks, the  investigations into their deaths, and the search and identification of their remains many years later. This unique exhibit explores the difficulties, confusion and contradictions which have plagued researchers into the Ekaterinburg tragedy for decades.

The following video offers a summary of the exhibition. Click on the link below which provides a short article, as well as another video and more than 40 additional photograph from the exhibition. The exhibit runs until July 29th in the Exhibition Hall of the Federal Archives which is located at ul. B. Pirogovskaya, 17 in Moscow. Admission is free!

||| Click Here to View More Than 40 Photos from the Exhibit |||

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 16 June, 2012

Moscow hosts an international exhibition to mark 130 years of co-operation between the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the peoples of the Middle East.

In June 1881, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich went to Palestine accompanied by his brother, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, and their cousin, Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich. Together, they visited the sacred sights of Jerusalem, and it was here that Sergei helped to found the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.

The establishment of the Society was declared on 21 May 1882.The purpose of the Society was dedicated to the upkeep of Orthodox shrines in the Holy Land and the provision of services to Russian pilgrims. Grand Duke Sergei served as Chairman of the Society and his status as patron of the Russian presence in Jerusalem is believed to have given him more pleasure than any of his other duties.

When Grand Duke Sergei, was murdered by terrorists in Moscow in 1905, he was succeeded as President of the Society by his widow, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who served until 1917, when the Society was dissolved.

Today, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is once again thriving in the Holy Land.

© Paul Gilbert. 08 June, 2012

The Pavlovsk State Museum-Preserve has opened an exhibition showcasing the dresses of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of the Emperor Nicholas II. On display are her elegant evening gowns, morning robes, and the dress she wore while she painted, a pastime she thoroughly enjoyed at the Alexander Palace.

Historians note that Alexandra was a woman with good taste in fashion. The early 20th-century empress preferred loose, flowing, dresses, refusing to wear a corset.

Exhibition curator, Natalya Vershinin said that many of the dresses are being displayed for the very first time after being painstakingly restored by professionals in costume history.

Also on display are a rich assortment of accessories including fans (probably the largest collection in Russia), gloves, purses, umbrellas, even handkerchiefs. A unique display of kokoshniki are also part of the exhibit. Vershinin notes that these had been kept in a special storage room for more than 100 years and include hats worn by the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II during the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913.

The exhibition also include dresses of other Russian empresses and grand duchesses from Catherine the Great, as well as ladies of St. Petersburg aristocracy.   

Note: It is common knowledge that Emperor Nicholas II and his family never lived at Pavlovsk, so readers might be asking themselves why this exhibition would take place here? Pavlovsk currently houses several thousand items from the Alexander Palace. For more information, please refer to the following article in Royal Russia News (February 4th, 2010);

|||Pavlovsk to Return Treasures to the Alexander Palace |||

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 08 June, 2012