Month: September 2015
Protected: Week 6: Family Portraits
Week 3: A Female Patron of Arts
In week 3, we learned about Catherine of Austria and her kunstkammer. Who is a another female patron of the arts? As you reflect on this question, remember to link any images or textual sources to your journal posting that might relate to this question or your thoughts on it
Her name was Yekaterina Alexeyevna, also known as Catherine the Great. She was arguably the most renowned female ruler of Russia, reigning from 1762 to 1796. Born in Stettin, Pomernania Prussia in 1729, she came into power after her husband, Peter III, got assassinated by rebels. Under her administrative rule, Russia’s strength grew and expanded, leading it to becoming one of the greatest powers of Europe.
Catherine the great was a patron not only to fine arts but also to literature and education.
Current day State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, began with Catherine the Great’s very own personal collection. The museum was founded in 1764 and it opened to the public from 1852. Known as the oldest museum in the world, it holds over 3 million paintings, sculptures, antiques, etc, from all around the world. Her taste in paintings and sculptures were highly inclusive but she had very high standards. She sought only the very finest art pieces from all over the world for her personal gallery.
The Empress was highly educated and had an ardent passion for literature. She could write plays, fiction, comedies and even memoirs and often encouraged and patronized her favorite French writers and encyclopaedists. When she learned that Diderot, a french writer, was threatened by the French government to stop the publication of his famous French Encyclopaedia, she granted him the permission to stay and complete his masterpiece in Russia under her name and protection.
Slightly before the passing of Yekaterina Alexeyevna, she received a former court painter of Marie Antoinette, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, at her residence in St Petersburg. The Empress had a self portrait done. Madame Vigée Le Brun had described Catherine the Great in her memoirs as an impressive figure with a small stature and beautiful face. She was described to have been fat as well and had a high and wide forehead. She wore her white hair up, framing up her soft, sensitive eyes, Greek nose and expressive profile perfectly.
Towards the end of her life, Catherine had brought forth the rise in provinces and districts. Many more government officials were brought in. Russia expanded its territory and modernized at a rapid pace, taking many steps forward to becoming one of the world’s most powerful country up till this date.
Readings
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~museum/armory/gender.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Sophie_Dreier
http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3390&context=etd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great