Empress Elisabeth in the eyes of a Russian and a European artist (the beginning and the end of the rule) Cover Image

Императрица Елизавета в глазах художников русского и западного (начало и конец правления)
Empress Elisabeth in the eyes of a Russian and a European artist (the beginning and the end of the rule)

Author(s): Tatiana Valirianovna Ilina
Subject(s): Visual Arts, 18th Century, 19th Century
Published by: Издательство Исторического факультета СПбГУ
Keywords: Empress Elisabeth of Russia; Russian art of the 18th century; Russian-French artistic links; portrait in Russian art; Rossica;

Summary/Abstract: Numerous publications on 18th-century Russian history and art in the 19th century compensated to a large extent for the lack of historiography in that very epoch. Miriskusniki (members of an artistic organization “Mir iskusstva” — “The World of Art”) played a key role in this process. But the Soviet historiography since the end of the 1920s is silent about it and this concerns especially Elizaveta Petrovna, who was overshadowed by such historical figures as Ivan IV or Peter the Great. However, she lived and ruled in the time which is highly important both for Russian history and Russian art. Historians turned attention to this fact earlier than art historians (E. V. Anisimov, for example). The present paper sheds light on the personality of Elizaveta Petrovna on the material of fine art by comparing the two portraits of her — one, dating from the beginning of her rule by a Russian artist who was by that time the head of Zhivopisnaia komanda Kantselarii ot Stroenii, famous both for his decorative monumental works and portraits; and the other, painted by a French master, a brilliant colorist who was invited specially to paint a portrait of the Empress. Both works allow to raise important questions — about national traditions of Russian art, new trends introduced to it and their interaction. These are indeed important questions which demand further research and comments.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 39-46
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Russian