On June 9, 1672, the first Russian emperor, the reformer Tsar Peter I the Great, was born - the Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, the last Tsar of All Rus', the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721), the man who shaped the main directions of development Russian state in the 18th century, one of the most prominent statesmen in Russian history.
Childhood and adolescence of Peter the Great.
Peter I the Great was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672 in Moscow in the family of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Peter was the youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Tsar Alexei was married twice: the first time to Marya Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (1648-1669), the second time to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (from 1671). From his first marriage he had 13 children. Many of them died during their father’s lifetime, and of the sons, only Fyodor and Ivan survived him, although they were both seriously ill. Perhaps the thought of being left without heirs prompted Tsar Alexei to rush into a second marriage. The Tsar met his second wife Natalya in the house of Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, where she grew up and was brought up in a reformation environment. Infatuated with a beautiful and intelligent girl, the king promised to find her a groom and soon wooed her himself. In 1672, on May 30, they gave birth to a beautiful and healthy boy, who was named Peter. The king was very happy about the birth of his son. The relatives of his young wife, Matveev and the Naryshkin family were also happy. The prince was baptized only on June 29 in the Chudov Monastery, and godfather was Tsarevich Fyodor Alekseevich. By ancient custom, the newborn was measured and an icon of the Apostle Peter was painted in its size. The newborn was surrounded by a whole staff of mothers and nannies; Peter was fed by his nurse. If Tsar Alexei had lived longer, one could guarantee that Peter would have received the same excellent, for that time, education as his brother Fedor.
January 1676 died, then Peter was not yet four years old, and a fierce dispute arose between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys over the succession to the throne. 14-year-old Fyodor, one of the sons of Maria Miloslavskaya, ascended the throne. Having lost his father, Peter was brought up until the age of ten under the supervision of the Tsar’s elder brother Fyodor Alekseevich, who chose clerk Nikita Zotov as his teacher, who taught the boy to read and write. Peter liked Zotov's fascinating stories about other countries and cities in those days that were little known to the Russian people. In addition, Zotov introduced Peter to the events of Russian history, showing and explaining to him chronicles decorated with drawings. But the reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich was very short-lived, since he died on April 27, 1682. After the death of Feodor, the tsar had to be elected, because there was no established succession to the throne.
After the death of Fedor in 1682, the throne was to be inherited by Ivan Alekseevich, but since he was in poor health, the Naryshkin supporters proclaimed Peter Tsar. However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of Alexei Mikhailovich’s first wife, did not accept this and provoked a Streltsy riot, during which ten-year-old Peter witnessed a brutal massacre of people close to him. Ten years elected king, he experienced a number of difficult moments in 1682. He saw the mutiny of the archers; old Matveev, they say, was torn out of his hands by the archers; Uncle Ivan Naryshkin was handed over to him before his eyes; he saw rivers of blood; his mother and himself were in danger of death every minute. The feeling of hostility towards the Miloslavskys, cultivated earlier, turned into hatred when Peter learned how guilty they were of the Streltsy movements. He treated the archers with hatred, calling them the seed of Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky. Peter's childhood ended in such a turbulent way.
These events left an indelible mark on the boy’s memory, affecting both his mental health and his worldview. The result of the rebellion was a political compromise: two were elevated to the throne in 1682: Ivan (John) from the Miloslavskys and Peter from the Naryshkins, and Ivan’s sister Sofya Alekseevna was proclaimed ruler under the young kings. From that time on, Peter and his mother lived mainly in the villages of Preobrazhenskoye and Izmailovo, appearing in the Kremlin only to participate in official ceremonies, and their relationship with Sophia became increasingly hostile.
As a child, as we see, Peter did not receive any education other than simple literacy and some historical information. His amusements were of a childish military nature. Being a tsar, he was at the same time under disgrace and had to live with his mother in the amusing villages near Moscow, and not in the Kremlin palace. Such a sad situation deprived him of the opportunity to receive proper further education and at the same time freed him from the shackles of court etiquette. Lacking spiritual food, but having a lot of time and freedom, Peter himself had to look for activities and entertainment. In November 1683, Peter began to form the Preobrazhensky Regiment of willing people. In relation to this amusing regiment, Peter was not a sovereign, but a comrade-in-arms who studied military affairs along with other soldiers.
Maneuvers and small campaigns are undertaken, an amusing fortress is built on the Yauza (1685), called Presburg, and military science is studied not according to old Russian models, but according to the order of regular military service that was borrowed by Moscow from the West in the 17th century. Somewhat later than Peter’s war games were organized, a conscious desire to learn awoke in him. Self-study somewhat distracted Peter from exclusively military pastimes and broadened his mental horizons and practical activities. Time passed and Peter was already 17 years old, he was very developed both physically and mentally. His mother had the right to expect that her son, who had reached adulthood, would pay attention to state affairs and remove the hated Miloslavskys from them. But Peter was not interested in this and did not think of giving up his studies and fun for politics. To settle him down, his mother married him (January 27, 1689) to Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, to whom Peter had no attraction. Obeying the will of his mother, Peter got married, but a month after the wedding he left for Pereyaslavl from his mother and wife to the ships. It should be noted that the art of navigation fascinated Peter so much that it became a passion in him. But in the summer of 1869, he was summoned by his mother to Moscow, because the fight with the Miloslavskys was inevitable.
The Pereyaslav fun and marriage ended the period of Peter's adolescence. Now he is an adult young man, accustomed to military affairs, getting used to shipbuilding and educating himself. At that time, Sophia understood that her time was approaching a denouement, that power should be given to Peter, but, not wanting this, she did not dare to take any drastic measures to strengthen herself on the throne. Peter, summoned by his mother to Moscow in the summer of 1689, began to show Sophia his power. In July, he forbade Sophia to participate in the procession, and when she did not listen, he left himself, thus causing public trouble for his sister. At the end of July, he barely agreed to issue awards to the participants of the Crimean campaign and did not receive Moscow military leaders when they came to thank him for the awards. When Sophia, frightened by Peter's antics, began to excite the Streltsy with the hope of finding support and protection in them, Peter, without hesitation, temporarily arrested the Streltsy chief Shaklovity. On the evening of August 7, Sophia gathered a significant armed force in the Kremlin. Seeing military preparations in the Kremlin, hearing incendiary speeches against Peter, the Tsar’s followers (among them were the Streltsy) let him know about the danger. Peter jumped straight out of bed onto his horse and, with three guides, rode off to the Trinity Lavra. From the Lavra, Peter and his leaders demanded a report on the weapons on August 7. At this time, Sophia tries to raise the archers and the people against Peter, but fails. The Sagittarius themselves force Sophia to hand over Shaklovity to Peter, whom he demanded. Shaklovity was interrogated and tortured, admitted to many plans against Peter in favor of Sophia, betrayed many like-minded people, but did not admit to plotting against Peter’s life. He and some Streltsy close to him were executed on September 11th. Together with the fate of Sophia's friends, her fate was also decided. Sophia received a direct order from Peter to live in the Novodevichy Convent, but did not become a nun. So, in the fall of 1689, Sophia’s reign ended
The beginning of one-man rule.
Since 1689, Peter became an independent ruler without any visible guardianship over him. The Tsar continued to study shipbuilding and military affairs from foreigners who lived in the German settlement in Moscow, and he studied diligently, sparing no effort. Foreigners now serve Peter not as teachers, but as friends, co-workers and mentors. Peter now freely at times flaunted himself in German dress, danced German dances and noisily feasted in German houses. Peter often began to visit the settlement (in the 17th century, foreigners were evicted from Moscow to a suburban settlement, which was called German), he even attended a Catholic service in the settlement, which, according to ancient Russian concepts, was completely indecent for him. Having become an ordinary guest in the settlement, Peter also found there the object of his heart’s passion, Anna Mons.
Little by little, Peter, without leaving Russia, in the settlement became familiar with the life of Western Europeans and cultivated the habit of Western forms of life.
But with his passion for the settlement, Peter’s former hobbies did not stop - military fun and shipbuilding. In 1690 we see great maneuvers near Presburg, a formidable fortress on the Yauza.
Peter spent the entire summer of 1692 in Pereyaslavl, where the entire Moscow court came to launch the ship. In 1693, Peter, with his mother’s permission, went to Arkhangelsk, enthusiastically rode on the sea and founded a shipyard in Arkhangelsk to build ships. His mother, Tsarina Natalya, died at the beginning of 1694. In the same year, 1694, maneuvers took place near the village of Kozhukhov, which cost several participants their lives. In 1695, the young Tsar clearly understood all the inconveniences of Arkhangelsk as a military and commercial port, realized that there could not be extensive trade near the Arctic Ocean, which was covered with ice most of the time, and that Arkhangelsk was too far from the center of the state - Moscow.
Ivan V died in 1696, leaving Peter as the only autocrat.
Peter's first war with Turkey.
Meanwhile, constant attacks by the Tatars on Rus' continued and the commitments made towards the allies gave rise to the idea in the Moscow government of the need to resume military operations against the Turks and Tatars. Peter’s first experience of leading real troops was the war with Turkey (1695-1700), which ruled the Crimea and the southern Russian steppes. Peter hoped to win access to the Black Sea. In 1695, the war began with Peter's campaign against the Azov fortress. In the spring, regular Moscow troops, numbering 30 thousand, reached Tsaritsyn along the Oka and Volga rivers, from there they crossed to the Don and appeared near Azov. But the strong Azov, receiving provisions and reinforcements from the sea, did not surrender. The assaults failed; Russian army suffered from a lack of provisions and from multiple powers (they were commanded by Lefort, Golovin and Gordon). Peter, who was himself in the army as a bombardier of the Preobrazhensky regiment, was convinced that Azov could not be taken without a fleet that would cut off the fortress from help from the sea. The Russians retreated in September 1695.
The failure, despite attempts to hide it, was made public. Peter's losses were no less than Golitsyn's losses in 1687 and 1689. The discontent among the people against foreigners, who were credited with failure, was very great. Peter did not lose heart, did not drive out the foreigners and did not leave the enterprise. For the first time here he showed the full power of his energy and in one winter, with the help of foreigners, he built a whole fleet of sea and river vessels on the Don, at the mouth of the Voronezh River. At the same time, Taganrog was founded as a base for the Russian navy on the Sea of Azov. Parts of galleys and plows were built by carpenters and soldiers in Moscow and in forest areas close to the Don. These parts were then transported to Voronezh and entire ships were assembled from them. At Easter 1696, 30 were already ready in Voronezh sea vessels and more than 1,000 river barges to transport troops. In May, the Russian army moved from Voronezh along the Don to Azov and besieged it a second time. This time the siege was complete, because Peter’s fleet did not allow Turkish ships to reach Azov. Peter himself was present in the army (with the rank of captain) and finally waited for a happy moment: on July 18, Azov surrendered. The victory was celebrated with the solemn entry of troops into Moscow, festivities and great awards.
This was the first victory of young Peter, which significantly strengthened his authority. However, he realized that Russia was not yet strong enough to establish a strong foothold in the south. Further, Peter, taking care of attracting foreign technicians to Russia, decided to create Russian technicians as well. Fifty young courtiers were sent to Italy, Holland and England, i.e. to countries then famous for the development of navigation. High Moscow society was unpleasantly surprised by this innovation; Peter not only made friends with the Germans himself, but apparently wants to make friends with others as well. The Russian people were even more amazed when they learned that Peter himself was going abroad.
Peter's trip to Europe.
Soon after returning to the capital in 1697, the king went abroad with the Great Embassy. He was the first Russian monarch to appear abroad. Peter traveled incognito, in the retinue of the “great embassy,” under the name of Peter Alekseevich Mikhailov, a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment.
The purpose of the trip was to reaffirm ancient friendship and love. The embassy was headed by generals Franz Lefort and Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin. They had 50 retinue people with them. Peter left Moscow and the state in the hands of the Boyar Duma.
And so, through Riga and Libau, the embassy went to Northern Germany. In Riga, which belonged to the Swedes, Peter received a number of unpleasant impressions both from the population (who sold food to the Russians at high prices) and from the Swedish administration. The governor of Riga (Dalberg) did not allow the Russians to inspect the fortifications of the city, and Peter looked at this as an insult. But in Courland the reception was more cordial, and in Prussia Elector Frederick greeted the Russian embassy extremely cordially. In Konigsberg, a number of holidays were given for Peter and the ambassadors.
Between the fun, Peter seriously studied artillery and received a diploma from Prussian specialists, recognizing him as a skilled firearms artist.
After some excursions in Germany, Peter went to Holland. In Holland, Peter first of all went to the town of Saardam; there were famous shipyards there. In Saardam, Peter began to do carpentry and ride on the sea. Peter then moved to Amsterdam, where he studied shipbuilding at the East India Dockyard.
Then England, Austria followed, and when Peter was getting ready for Italy, news came from Moscow about a new revolt of the archers. Although a report soon arrived that the riot had been suppressed, Peter hurried home.
On the way to Moscow, passing through Poland, Peter met the new Polish king Augustus II, their meeting was very friendly (Russia strongly supported Augustus during the elections to the Polish throne). Augustus offered Peter an alliance against Sweden, and Peter, taught by the failure of his anti-Turkish plans, did not refuse the same refusal as he had previously answered in Prussia. He agreed in principle to the alliance. So, he took abroad the idea of expelling the Turks from Europe, and from abroad he brought the idea of fighting Sweden for the Baltic Sea.
What did traveling abroad give you? Its results are very great: firstly, it served to bring the Moscow state closer to Western Europe, secondly, the personality and direction of Peter himself were finally developed. For Peter, the journey was the last act of self-education. He wanted to get information on shipbuilding, and in addition received a lot of impressions, a lot of knowledge. Peter spent more than a year abroad, and, realizing the superiority of the West, he decided to raise his state through reforms. Upon returning to Moscow on August 25, 1968, Peter immediately began reforms. At first he starts with cultural innovations, and then a little later he carries out reforms of the government system
The beginning of reforms in Russia.
Abroad, Peter’s political program basically took shape. Its ultimate goal was the creation of a regular police state based on universal service; the state was understood as the “common good.” The tsar himself considered himself the first servant of the fatherland, who was supposed to teach his subjects by his own example. Peter's unconventional behavior, on the one hand, destroyed the centuries-old image of the sovereign as a sacred figure, and on the other hand, it aroused protest among part of society (primarily the Old Believers, whom Peter cruelly persecuted), who saw the Antichrist in the tsar.
Having finished with the archers, Peter set out to weaken the power of the boyars. Peter's reforms began with the introduction of foreign dress and the order to shave the beards of everyone except peasants and the clergy. So from the beginning Russian society It turned out to be divided into two unequal parts: for one (the nobility and the elite of the urban population) the Europeanized culture imposed from above was intended, the other preserved the traditional way of life. In 1699, a calendar reform was also carried out. A printing house was created in Amsterdam to publish secular books in Russian, and the first Russian order, St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, was founded. The Tsar encouraged training in crafts, created numerous workshops, introducing Russian people (often forcibly) to the Western style of life and work. The country was in dire need of its own qualified personnel, and therefore the king ordered young men from noble families to be sent abroad to study. In 1701, the Navigation School was opened in Moscow. The reform of city government also began. After the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, a new patriarch was not elected, and Peter created the Monastic Order to manage the church economy. Later, instead of the patriarch, a synodal government of the church was created, which remained until 1917. Simultaneously with the first transformations, preparations for war with Sweden were intensively underway.
War with the Swedes.
In September 1699, the Polish ambassador Karlowitz came to Moscow and proposed to Peter, on behalf of Poland and Denmark, a military alliance against Sweden. The agreement was concluded in November. However, in anticipation of peace with Turkey, Peter did not enter into the war that had already begun. On August 18, 1700, news was received of the conclusion of a 30-year truce with Turkey. The Tsar reasoned that the Baltic Sea was more important for access to the West than the Black Sea. On August 19, 1700, Peter declared war on Sweden (Northern War 1700-1721).
The war, the main goal of which was to consolidate Russia in the Baltic, began with the defeat of the Russian army near Narva in November 1700. However, this lesson served Peter well: he realized that the reason for the defeat was primarily in the backwardness of the Russian army, and with even greater energy he set about rearming it and creating regular regiments, first by collecting “dacha people”, and from 1705 by introducing conscription . The construction of metallurgical and weapons factories began, supplying the army with high-quality cannons and small arms. Many church bells were poured into cannons, and weapons were purchased abroad using confiscated church gold. Peter gathered a huge army, putting serfs, nobles and monks under arms, and in 1701-1702 he came close to the most important port cities of the eastern Baltic. In 1703, his army captured the swampy Ingermanland (Izhora land), and there on May 16, at the mouth of the Neva River on the island renamed by Peter from Yanni-Saari to Lust-Eiland (Jolly Island), a new capital was founded, named in honor of the Apostle Peter St. St. Petersburg. This city, according to Peter’s plan, was to become an exemplary “paradise” city.
During these same years, the Boyar Duma was replaced by a Council of Ministers consisting of members of the Tsar’s inner circle; along with Moscow orders, new institutions were created in St. Petersburg.
The Swedish king Charles XII fought in the depths of Europe with Saxony and Poland and neglected the threat from Russia. Peter did not waste time: fortresses were erected at the mouth of the Neva, ships were built at shipyards, the equipment for which was brought from Arkhangelsk, and soon a powerful Russian fleet arose on the Baltic Sea. Russian artillery, after its radical transformation, played decisive role during the capture of the fortresses of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) and Narva (1704). Dutch and English ships appeared in the harbor near the new capital. In 1704-1707 the king firmly secured Russian influence in the Duchy of Courland.
Charles XII, having concluded peace with Poland in 1706, made a belated attempt to crush his Russian rival. He moved the war from the Baltic states into the interior of Russia, intending to take Moscow. At first, his offensive was successful, but the retreating Russian army deceived him with a cunning maneuver and inflicted a serious defeat at Lesnaya (1708). Charles turned south, and on June 27, 1709, his army was completely defeated in the Battle of Poltava. Up to 9,000 dead remained on the battlefield, and on June 30, the remaining part of the army (16 thousand soldiers) laid down their arms. The victory was complete - one of the best armies of that time, which had terrified all of Eastern Europe for nine years, ceased to exist. Peter sent two dragoon regiments in pursuit of the fleeing Charles XII, but he managed to escape to Turkish possessions.
After the council near Poltava, Field Marshal Sheremetev went to besiege Riga, and Menshikov, also promoted to field marshal, went to Poland to fight against the Swedes’ protege Leshchinsky, who was proclaimed Polish king instead of Augustus. Peter himself went to Poland and Germany, renewed his alliance with Augustus, and entered into a defensive alliance against Sweden with the Prussian king.
On June 12, 1710, Apraksin took Vyborg, on July 4, Sheremetev captured Riga, and on August 14, Pernov capitulated. On September 8, General Bruce forced the surrender of Kexholm (Old Russian Karela), thus the conquest of Karelia was completed. Finally, on September 29, Revel fell. Livonia and Estland were cleared of the Swedes and came under Russian rule.
War with Turkey and the end of the Northern War.
However, Charles XII was not yet completely defeated. Now in Turkey, he made efforts to quarrel with Peter and impose a war on Russia in the south. On October 20, 1710, the Turks tore the peace apart. The war with Turkey (1710-1713) was unsuccessful: in the Prut campaign (1711), Peter, along with his entire army, was surrounded and was forced to conclude a peace treaty, abandoning all previous conquests in the south. According to the agreement, Russia returned Azov to Turkey and destroyed the Taganrog harbor. The treaty was concluded on July 12, 1711.
Hostilities were resumed in the north, where Swedish field marshal Magnus Gustafson Steinbock assembled a large army. Russia and its allies defeated Steinbock in 1713. On July 27, 1714, on the Baltic Sea near Cape Gangut, the Russian fleet defeated the Swedish squadron. Following this, the island of Åland, located 15 miles from Stockholm, was captured. The news of this horrified all of Sweden, but Peter did not abuse his happiness and returned with the fleet to Russia. On September 9, the Tsar solemnly entered St. Petersburg. In the Senate, Peter reported to Prince Romodanovsky about the Battle of Gangut and was promoted to vice admiral.
On August 30, 1721 it was signed Nystadt Peace: Russia received Livonia (with Riga), Estland (with Revel and Narva), part of Karelia, Izhora land and other territories, and Finland was returned to Sweden.
In 1722-1723 Peter led a successful campaign against Persia, capturing Baku and Derbent.
Management reform.
Before setting off on the Prut campaign, Peter founded the Governing Senate, which had the functions of the main body of the executive, judicial and legislative powers. In 1717, the creation of collegiums began - central bodies of sectoral management, founded in a fundamentally different way than the old Moscow orders. New authorities - executive, financial, judicial and control - were also created locally. In 1720 the General Regulations were issued - detailed instructions on organizing the work of new institutions.
In 1722, Peter signed the Table of Ranks, which determined the order of organization of military and civil service and was in effect until 1917. Even earlier, in 1714, a Decree on Single Inheritance was issued, which equalized the rights of owners of estates and estates. This was important for the formation of the Russian nobility as a single full-fledged class. In 1719, by order of Peter, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces, consisting of districts.
But the tax reform, which began in 1718, was of paramount importance for the social sphere. In Russia, in 1724, a poll tax was introduced for males, for which regular population censuses (“audits of souls”) were carried out. During the reform it was eliminated social category serfs and clarified social status some other categories of the population.
In 1721, on October 20, after the end of the Northern War, Russia was proclaimed an empire, and the Senate awarded Peter the titles “Father of the Fatherland” and “Emperor”, as well as “Great”.
Relations with the church.
Peter and his military leaders regularly praised the Almighty from the battlefield for their victories, but the king’s relationship with Orthodox Church left much to be desired. Peter closed monasteries, appropriated church property, and allowed himself to blasphemously mock church rites and customs. His church policies provoked mass protests from schismatic Old Believers who considered the tsar to be the Antichrist. Peter persecuted them cruelly. Patriarch Adrian died in 1700, and no successor was appointed. The Patriarchate was abolished, the Holy Synod was established in 1721, government agency church management, consisting of bishops, but led by a layman (chief prosecutor) and subordinate to the monarch.
Transformations in the economy.
Peter I clearly understood the need to overcome the technical backwardness of Russia and in every possible way contributed to the development of Russian industry and trade, including foreign trade. Many merchants and industrialists enjoyed his patronage, among whom the Demidovs were the most famous. Many new plants and factories were built, and new industries emerged. Russia even exported weapons to Prussia.
Foreign engineers were invited (about 900 specialists arrived with Peter from Europe), and many young Russians went abroad to study sciences and crafts. Under Peter's supervision, Russian ore deposits were studied; Considerable progress has been made in mining.
A system of canals was designed, and one of them, connecting the Volga with the Neva, was dug in 1711. Fleets, military and commercial, were built.
However, its development in wartime conditions led to the priority development of heavy industry, which after the end of the war could no longer exist without state support. In fact, the enslaved position of the urban population, high taxes, the forced closure of the Arkhangelsk port and some other government measures were not conducive to the development of foreign trade.
In general, the grueling war that lasted for 21 years, requiring large capital investments, obtained mainly through emergency taxes, led to the actual impoverishment of the country's population, mass escapes of peasants, and the ruin of merchants and industrialists.
Transformations in the field of culture.
The time of Peter I is a time of active penetration of elements of secular Europeanized culture into Russian life. Secular educational institutions began to appear, and the first Russian newspaper was founded. Peter made success in service for the nobles dependent on education. By a special decree of the tsar, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people for Russia. Special significance there was the construction of stone Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the tsar. They created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime. The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc. changed. Gradually, a different system of values, worldview, and aesthetic ideas took shape in the educated environment. Arabic numerals and civil script were introduced, printing houses were established, and the first Russian newspaper. Science was encouraged in every possible way: schools were opened, books on science and technology were translated, and the Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724 (opened in 1725).
Personal life of the king.
At the age of sixteen, Peter was married to Evdokia Lopukhina, but he lived with her for barely a week. She bore him a son, Alexei, heir to the throne. It is known that Peter transferred his dislike for Evdokia to her son, Tsarevich Alexei. In 1718 Alexei was forced to renounce his right to the throne. In the same year, he was tried, accused of conspiracy against the sovereign, found guilty and killed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Since returning from the Great Embassy, Peter finally broke up with his unloved first wife.
Subsequently, he became friends with the captive Latvian Marta Skavronskaya (future Empress Catherine I), with whom he married in 1712, who from 1703 was his de facto wife. This marriage produced 8 children, but except for Anna and Elizabeth, they all died in infancy. In 1724 she was crowned empress, Peter planned to bequeath the throne to her. In 1722, Peter issued a law on succession to the throne, according to which the autocrat could appoint a successor for himself. Peter himself did not take advantage of this right.
At the height, with an iron bridle
Raised Russia on its hind legs?
Often my historical research follows the principle “He went to Odessa and came out to Kherson.” That is, I was looking for information on one topic, but found it on a completely different issue. But also interesting. So it is this time. Meet: Peter 1 through the eyes of foreign artists... Well, okay, a couple of ours were there too.
Peter I, nicknamed Peter the Great, Russian Tsar in 1697. Based on the original by P. Van der Werff. Versailles.
Portrait of Peter the Great. XVIII century. J.-B. Weiler. Louvre. 
Portrait of Tsar Peter the Great. XVIII century. Unknown. Louvre. 
Portrait of Tsar Peter I. 1712. J.-F. Dinglinger. Dresden. 
I didn’t understand what nationality the artist was. It seems that he is still French, since he studied in France. I transcribed his last name as French, but who knows...
Portrait of Peter the Great. XVIII-XIX centuries Unknown artist of the Russian school. Louvre. 
Portrait of Peter the Great. 1833. M.-V. Jacotot according to the original Dutch artist. Louvre. 
Portrait of Peter the Great. Until 1727. Sh. Bois. Louvre. 
Portrait of Peter the Great. Around 1720. P. Bois the Elder. Louvre. 
Peter the Great (presumable). XVII century N. Lanyo. Chantilly. 
This portrait, of course, made me fall. I don’t understand where they saw Peter here.
Well, we're done with the portraits, let's look at the paintings.
An incident from the youth of Peter the Great. 1828. C. de Steben. Museum fine arts in Valenciennes. 
Yes, that golden-haired youth is the future Tsar Peter I. Wow!
Peter the Great in Amsterdam. 1796. Pavel Ivanov. Louvre. 
Louis XV pays a visit to Tsar Peter at the Lediguieres' mansion on May 10, 1717. XVIII century L.M.Zh. Ersan. Versailles. 
If anyone doesn’t understand, the French king settled down in the arms of our king.
The most expensive trophy of Peter I in Northern War Perhaps it was the Polonyanka from Marienburg, Marta Skavronskaya (nicknamed by the Russians Katerina Trubacheva), whom the Tsar first saw in St. Petersburg, which was under construction on Trinity Island, in the chambers of Alexander Menshikov at the end of 1703. Peter noticed the charming woman and did not remain indifferent to her...
Conclusion on succession to the throne, 1717
Grigory MUSIKIYSKY
Before meeting Martha, Peter’s personal life was going very badly: things didn’t work out with his wife, as we know; not only was she old-fashioned, but also stubborn, unable to adapt to her husband’s tastes. Remember their beginning living together Can . Let me just remind you that Queen Evdokia was forcibly taken to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery, in July 1699 she was tonsured under the name of nun Elena and lived there for a long time quite freely with the money of churchmen who were dissatisfied with the policy of the sovereign.
The tsar's long-term romance with the blond beauty Anna Mons, whose vanity was certainly flattered by the tsar's courtship and luxurious gifts, also ended dramatically. But she didn’t love him, she was simply afraid, risking, however, having an affair on the side with the Saxon envoy, for which Peter put his deceiving lover under house arrest for a long time.
Portraits of Peter I
Unknown artists
We will trace more details about the twists and turns of Martha Skavronskaya’s fate during her reign, but here we will dwell only on her relationship with the tsar. So, the tsar drew attention to the pretty, neat and tidy Katerina, and Alexander Danilovich, without much resistance, gave her over to Peter I.
Peter I and Catherine
Dementy SHMARINOV
Peter I takes Catherine from Menshikov
Unknown artist, from the collection of the Yegoryevsk Museum
At first, Katerina was on the staff of numerous mistresses of the loving Russian Tsar, whom he took with him everywhere. But soon, with her kindness, gentleness, and selfless submission, she tamed the distrustful king. She quickly became friends with his beloved sister Natalya Alekseevna and entered her circle, liking all of Peter’s relatives.
Portrait of Princess Natalya Alekseevna
Ivan NIKITIN
Portrait of Catherine I
Ivan NIKITIN
In 1704, Katerina already became Peter’s common-law wife, gave birth to a son, Pavel, and a year later, Peter. The simple woman sensed the tsar’s moods, adapted to his difficult character, endured his oddities and whims, guessed his desires, and quickly responded to everything that interested him, becoming the closest person to Peter. In addition, she was able to create for the sovereign the comfort and warmth of a home, which he never had before. New family became for the king a support and a quiet, welcome haven...
Peter I and Catherine
Boris CHORIKOV
Portrait of Peter the Great
Adrian van der WERFF
Peter I and Catherine riding in a shnyava along the Neva
18th century engraving of NH
Among other things, Catherine had iron health; she rode horses, spent the night in inns, accompanying the king on his travels for months and quite calmly endured the hardships and hardships of the campaign, which were very difficult by our standards. And when it was necessary, she behaved absolutely naturally in the circle of European nobles, turning into a queen... There was no military review, ship launching, ceremony or holiday at which she would not be present.
Portrait of Peter I and Catherine I
Unknown artist
Reception with Countess Skavronskaya
Dementy SHMARINOV
After returning from Prut campaign Peter married Catherine in 1712. By that time they already had two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, the rest of the children died before they were even five years old. They got married in St. Petersburg, the whole ceremony was arranged not as a traditional wedding celebration of a Russian autocrat, but as a modest wedding of Schoutbenacht Peter Mikhailov and his fighting girlfriend (unlike, for example, the magnificent wedding of Peter's niece Anna Ioannovna and Duke of Courland Friedrich Wilhelm in 1710. )
And Catherine, uneducated and without any experience of life at the top, really turned out to be the woman the tsar could not do without. She knew how to get along with Peter, extinguish outbursts of anger, she could calm him down when the king began to have severe migraines or convulsions. Everyone then ran after their “heart friend” Ekaterina. Peter put his head on her lap, she quietly said something to him (her voice seemed to bewitch Peter) and the king fell silent, then fell asleep and a few hours later woke up cheerful, calm and healthy.
Rest of Peter I
Mikhail SHANKOV
Peter, of course, loved Catherine very much, adored his beautiful daughters, Elizabeth and Anna.
Portrait of princesses Anna Petrovna and Elizaveta Petrovna
Louis CARAVACQUE
Alexey Petrovich
And what about Tsarevich Alexei, Peter’s son from his first marriage? The blow to the unloved wife ricocheted into the child. He was separated from his mother and given to be raised by his father's aunts, whom he saw rarely and was afraid of from childhood, feeling unloved. Gradually, a circle of opponents of Peter’s reforms formed around the boy, who instilled in Alexey pre-reform tastes: the desire for external piety, inaction and pleasure. The Tsarevich lived cheerfully in “his company” under the leadership of Yakov Ignatiev, he got used to feasting in Russian, which could not but harm his health, which was not very strong by nature. At first, the prince was taught to read and write by an educated and skilled rhetorician, Nikifor Vyazemsky, and from 1703, Alexei’s teacher was a German, doctor of law Heinrich Huyssen, who compiled an extensive curriculum designed for two years. According to the plan, in addition to studying French, geography, cartography, arithmetic, geometry, the prince practiced fencing, dancing, and horse riding.
Johann Paul LUDDEN
It must be said that Tsarevich Alexei was not at all the shaggy, wretched, frail and cowardly hysteric that he was sometimes portrayed as and has been portrayed to this day. He was the son of his father, inherited his will, stubbornness and responded to the king with dull rejection and resistance, which was hidden behind demonstrative obedience and formal veneration. An enemy grew up behind Peter's back, not accepting anything of what his father did or fought for... Attempts to involve him in government affairs were not crowned with much success. Alexey Petrovich was in the army, took part in campaigns and battles (in 1704 the prince was in Narva), carried out various state orders of the tsar, but did so formally and reluctantly. Dissatisfied with his son, Peter sent the 19-year-old prince abroad, where he three years He studied somehow, unlike his sparkling parent, preferring peace to everything else. In 1711, almost against his will, he married Wolfenbüttel Crown Princess Charlotte Christina Sophia, sister-in-law of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI, and then returned to Russia.
Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Johann-Gottfried TANNAUER Grigory MOLCHANOV
Alexey Petrovich did not love the wife forced on him, but he coveted the serfdom of his teacher Nikifor Vyazemsky, Efrosinya, and dreamed of marrying her. Charlotte Sophia gave birth to his daughter Natalya in 1714, and a year later - a son named Peter in honor of his grandfather. Nevertheless, until 1715 the relationship between father and son was more or less tolerable. In the same year, upon baptism into the Orthodox faith, the queen was named Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Portrait of the family of Peter I.
Peter I, Ekaterina Alekseevna, eldest son Alexey Petrovich, daughters Elizabeth and Anna, youngest two-year-old son Peter.
Grigory MUSIKIYSKY, Enamel on copper plate
The prince believed in his plan, being convinced that he was the only legitimate heir to the throne and, gritting his teeth, waited in the wings.
Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich
V. GREITBAKH Unknown artist
But soon after giving birth, Charlotte Sophia died, she was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral on October 27, 1915, and on the same day Peter handed Alexei Petrovich a letter Announcement to my son(written, by the way, on October 11), in which he accused the prince of laziness, evil and stubborn disposition and threatened to deprive him of the throne: I will deprive you of your inheritance, I will cut you off like a member of the body affected by gangrene, and do not think that you are my only son and that I am writing this only for warning: truly I will fulfill it, for for my Fatherland and people I did not and do not regret my life, then how Can I feel sorry for you, indecent one?
Portrait of Tsarevich Peter Petrovich in the form of Cupid
Louis CARAVACQUE
On October 28, the Tsar gave birth to his long-awaited son, Pyotr Petrovich, “Shishechka”, “Little Little Gut”, as his parents later lovingly called him in letters. And the claims against the eldest son became more serious, and the accusations became more severe. Many historians believe that such changes were not without influence on Tsar Catherine and Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, who perfectly understood the unenviability of their fate if Alexei Petrovich came to the kingdom. After consulting with close people, Alexey renounced the throne in his letter: “And now, thank God, I have a brother, to whom, God grant him health.”
Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich
Johann Paul LUDDEN
Further - more. In January 1716, Peter wrote a second letter of accusation, “One last reminder,” in which he demanded that the prince be tonsured a monk: And if you don’t do this, then I will treat you like a villain. And the son gave formal consent to this. But Peter understood perfectly well that in the event of his death, a struggle for power would begin, the act of renunciation would become a simple piece of paper, and one could leave the monastery, i.e. In any case, Alexey will remain dangerous for Peter’s children from Catherine. This was a completely real situation; the king could find many examples from the history of other states.
In September 1716, Alexey received a third letter from his father from Copenhagen with an order to immediately come to him. Here the prince’s nerves gave way and in despair he decided to escape... Having passed Danzig, Alexei and Euphrosyne disappeared, arriving in Vienna under the name of the Polish nobleman Kokhanovsky. He turned to his brother-in-law, the Austrian Emperor, with a request for protection: I came here to ask the emperor... to save my life: they want to destroy me, they want to deprive me and my poor children of the throne, ...and if the Tsar hands me over to my father, it’s the same as executing me himself; Yes, even if my father spared me, then my stepmother and Menshikov would not rest until they tortured me to death or poisoned me. It seems to me that with such statements the prince himself signed his own death warrant.
Alexey Petrovich, Tsarevich
Engraving 1718
Austrian relatives hid the unfortunate fugitives out of harm's way in the Tyrolean castle of Ehrenberg, and in May 1717 they transported him and Euphrosyne, disguised as a page, to Naples to the castle of San Elmo. With great difficulty, alternating various threats, promises and persuasion, captain Rumyantsev and diplomat Pyotr Tolstoy sent to search, managed to return the prince to his homeland, where in February 1718 he officially abdicated the throne in the presence of senators and reconciled with his father. However, Peter soon opened an investigation, for which the notorious Secret Chancellery was created. As a result of the investigation, several dozen people were captured, severely tortured and executed.
Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in Peterhof
Nikolay GE
Peter I and Tsarevich Alexei
Kuznetsov porcelain
In June, the prince himself ended up in the Peter and Paul Fortress. According to the legal norms of that time, Alexey was certainly perceived as a criminal. Firstly, having gone on the run, the prince could have been accused of treason. In Rus', no one ever had the right to freely travel abroad until 1762, before the appearance of the manifesto on the freedom of the nobility. Moreover, go to a foreign sovereign. This was absolutely out of the question. Secondly, at that time, not only the one who committed something criminal, but also the one who intended this criminal intent was considered a criminal. That is, they were judged not only for deeds, but also for intentions, including intentions, even unspoken ones. It was enough to admit this during the investigation. And any person, a prince or not a prince, who was guilty of something like that was subject to the death penalty.
Interrogation of Tsarevich Alexei
Book illustration
And Alexey Petrovich admitted during interrogations that in different years at different times he different people had all sorts of conversations in which he criticized his father’s activities in one way or another. There was no obvious intent associated, for example, with a coup d'etat in these speeches. This was precisely criticism. With the exception of one moment, when the Tsarevich was asked - if the Viennese Tsar went with troops to Russia or gave him, Alexei, troops to achieve the throne and overthrow his father, would he take advantage of this or not? The prince answered positively. The confessional testimony of Tsarevich Euphrosyne’s beloved also added fuel to the fire.
Peter I went to court, emphasizing that this was a fair court, that this was a court of the highest ranks of the state who were solving a state problem. And the king, being a father, does not have the right to make such a decision. He wrote two messages addressed to spiritual hierarchs and secular ranks, in which he seemed to ask for advice: ...I fear God so as not to sin, for it is natural that people see less in their own affairs than others do in theirs. It’s the same with doctors: even if he was the most skilled of all, he would not dare to treat his own illness himself, but calls on others.
The clergy answered evasively: the king must choose: according to the Old Testament, Alexei is worthy of death, according to the New Testament - forgiveness, for Christ forgave the repentant prodigal son... The senators voted for the death penalty; On June 24, 1718, a specially formed Supreme Court pronounced the death sentence. And on June 26, 1718, after further torture under unclear circumstances, Tsarevich Alexei was apparently killed.
Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich
George STEWART
If someone thought that I was trying to justify such a wild and cruel attitude of Peter towards his eldest son, then this is not so. I just want to understand what guided him, taking into account the laws and customs of that era, and not his emotions.
When Alexei Petrovich passed away in 1718, it seemed that the situation with the succession to the throne had been resolved very well, the little Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich, whom the Tsar loved very much, was growing up. But in 1719 the child died. Peter did not have a single direct heir in the male line. Once again this question remained open.
Well, the mother of Peter’s eldest son, Tsarina-nun Evdokia Lopukhina, meanwhile, was still in the Intercession Monastery, where she managed to create a real microcosm of the Moscow queen of the late 17th century, with an organized supply of food, things, preservation of the court rituals of the Moscow empress and ceremonial trips to pilgrimage.
And everything would have been fine, maybe it would have continued like this for a long time, Peter, despite the great battles and accomplishments, had nothing to do with her, but in 1710 our queen managed to fall in love. Not just like that, but, it seems, for real. In Major Stepan Bogdanov Glebov. She achieved a meeting with Glebov, a romance began, which on his part was very superficial, because the major understood that an affair with the queen, even a former one, could have consequences... He gave Evdokia sables, arctic foxes, jewelry, and she wrote letters full of passion : You forgot me so quickly. It’s not enough that your face, and your hands, and all your members, and the joints of your hands and feet are watered with my tears... Oh, my light, how can I live in the world without you? Glebov was frightened by such a waterfall of feelings and soon began to miss dates, and then left Suzdal altogether. And Dunya continued to write sad and passionate letters, without fear of any punishment...
Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, first wife of Peter I
Unknown artist
All these passions emerged from the so-called Kikinsky search in the case of Tsarevich Alexei. Monks and nuns of Suzdal monasteries, Krutitsy Metropolitan Ignatius and many others were convicted of sympathy for Evdokia Fedorovna. Among those arrested purely by chance was Stepan Glebov, from whom the queen’s love letters were found. Enraged Peter gave the order to the investigators to take a close look at the nun Elena. Glebov very quickly admitted that lived prodigal with the former empress, but denied participation in the conspiracy against the tsar, although he was tortured in a way that no one was tortured even at that cruel time: they were pulled on a rack, burned with fire, then locked in a tiny cell, the floor of which was studded with nails.
In a letter to Peter, Evdokia Fedorovna apologized for everything and asked for forgiveness: Falling at your feet, I ask for mercy, for forgiveness of my crime, so that I do not die a useless death. And I promise to continue to be a monk and to remain in monasticism until my death and I will pray to God for you, Sovereign.
Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina (nun Elena)
Unknown artist
Peter brutally executed everyone involved in the case. On March 15, 1718, on Red Square, the barely alive Glebov was impaled and left to die. And so that he would not freeze prematurely in the cold, a sheepskin coat was “carefully” thrown over his shoulders. A priest was on duty nearby, waiting for a confession, but Glebov said nothing. And one more touch to the portrait of Peter. He took revenge on the unlucky lover of his ex-wife by also ordering the name of Stepan Glebov to be included in the list of anathemas, as the queen's lover. On this list, Glebov was in company with the most terrible criminals of Russia: Grishka Otrepiev, Stenka Razin, Vanka Mazepa..., and later Levka Tolstoy also ended up there...
Peter transferred Evdokia that same year to another, the Ladoga Assumption Monastery, where she spent 7 years until his death. There she was kept on bread and water in a cold, windowless cell. All the servants were removed, and only the faithful dwarf Agafya remained with her. The prisoner was so humble that the jailers here treated her with sympathy. In 1725, after the death of Peter I, the queen was transferred to Shlisselburg, where under Catherine I she was kept in strict secret custody. Again there was scanty food and a cramped cell, albeit with a window. But despite all the hardships, Evdokia Lopukhina survived both her crowned husband and his second wife Ekaterina, so we will meet her again...
No less dramatic was the story of Maria Hamilton, who came from an ancient Scottish family and was on Ekaterina Alekseevna’s staff as a maid of honor. Maria, distinguished by her excellent beauty, quickly came to the attention of the monarch, who recognized her as talents that it was impossible not to look at with lust and for some time became his mistress. Possessing an adventurous character and an indomitable desire for luxury, the young Scot was already mentally trying on the royal crown, in the hope of replacing the aging Catherine, but Peter quickly lost interest in the beautiful girl, since there was no one better for him than a wife in the world...
Catherine the First
Maria was not bored for a long time and soon found solace in the arms of the royal orderly Ivan Orlov, a young and handsome guy. They both played with fire, because in order to sleep with the king’s mistress, even an ex-mistress, you really had to be an eagle! By an absurd accident, during the search for Tsarevich Alexei in the case, suspicion of the loss of a denunciation written by Orlov himself fell on him. Not understanding what he was accused of, the orderly fell on his face and confessed to the Tsar that he was cohabiting with Maria Gamonova (as she was called in Russian), saying that she had two children from him who were born dead. During interrogation under the whip, Maria admitted that she poisoned two conceived children with some kind of drug, and immediately drowned the last one that was born in a night boat, and told the maid to throw away the body.
Peter I
Grigory MUSICIYSKY Karel de MOOR
It must be said that before Peter I, the attitude in Rus' towards bastards and their mothers was monstrous. Therefore, in order not to incur anger and troubles on themselves, mothers mercilessly poisoned the fruits of sinful love, and if they were born, they often killed them. in different ways. Peter, first of all, caring for the state interests (a great matter... over time, there will be a small soldier), in the Decree of 1715 on hospitals, ordered that hospitals be established in the state to maintain shameful babies, whom wives and girls give birth to illegally and, for the sake of shame, are swept away to different places, which is why these babies die uselessly... And then he threateningly decided: And if such illegitimate births appear in the killing of those babies, and for such atrocities they themselves will be executed by death. In all provinces and cities, it was ordered to open houses in hospitals and near churches for the reception of illegitimate children, who at any day could be placed in the window, which was always open for this purpose.
Mary was sentenced - death penalty through cutting off the head. Actually, according to the Code of 1649, a child killer is alive buried in the ground up to their tits, with their hands together and trampled under their feet. It happened that the criminal lived in this situation for a whole month, unless, of course, the relatives did not interfere with feeding the unfortunate woman and did not allow stray dogs to chew her to death. But another death awaited Hamilton. After the verdict was pronounced, many people close to Peter tried to appease him, emphasizing that the girl acted unconsciously, out of fear, she was simply ashamed. Both queens stood up for Maria Hamilton - Ekaterina Alekseevna and the dowager queen Praskovya Fedorovna. But Peter was adamant: the law must be fulfilled, and he is not able to abolish it. Without a doubt, it was also important that the babies killed by Hamilton could have been the children of Peter himself, and it was this, like the betrayal, that the tsar could not forgive his former favorite.
Maria Hamilton before her execution
Pavel SVEDOMSKY
On March 14, 1719, in St. Petersburg, in front of a crowd of people, the Russian Lady Hamilton ascended the scaffold, where the scaffold already stood and the executioner was waiting. Until the last, Maria hoped for mercy, dressed up in a white dress and, when Peter appeared, knelt before him. The Emperor promised that the executioner’s hand would not touch her: it is known that during the execution the executioner roughly grabbed the executed person, stripped him naked and threw him on the block...
Execution in the presence of Peter the Great
Everyone froze in anticipation of Peter's final decision. He whispered something in the executioner’s ear, and he suddenly swung his wide sword and in the blink of an eye cut off the head of the kneeling woman. So Peter, without breaking his promise to Mary, at the same time tried out the executioner’s sword brought from the West - a new execution weapon for Russia, used for the first time instead of a crude ax. According to the recollections of contemporaries, after the execution, the sovereign raised Mary’s head by her luxurious hair and kissed her lips that were not yet cooled, and then read to all those gathered, frozen in horror, an intelligent lecture on anatomy (about the features of the blood vessels that feed the human brain), in which he a great lover and connoisseur...
After a demonstration lesson in anatomy, Maria’s head was ordered to be preserved in alcohol in the Kunstkamera, where it lay in a jar along with other monsters from the collection of the first Russian museum for almost half a century. Everyone had long since forgotten what kind of head it was, and visitors, ears hanging, listened to the watchman’s tales that once Tsar Peter the Great ordered the head of the most beautiful of his court ladies to be cut off and preserved in alcohol, so that descendants would know what beautiful women were in those times. While conducting an audit in Peter's Cabinet of Curiosities, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova discovered heads preserved in alcohol next to the freaks in two jars. One of them belonged to Willim Mons (our next hero), the other to Peter’s mistress, maid of honor Hamilton. The Empress ordered them to be buried in peace.
Portrait of Peter I, 1717
Ivan NIKITIN
Last strong love Maria Cantemir, the daughter of the Gospodar of Moldavia Dmitry Cantemir and Cassandra Sherbanovna Cantakuzen, the daughter of the Wallachian Gospodar, became Tsar Peter. Peter knew her as a girl, but she quickly turned from a thin little girl into one of the most beautiful ladies of the royal court. Maria was very smart, knew several languages, was interested in ancient and Western European literature and history, drawing, music, studied the basics of mathematics, astronomy, rhetoric, philosophy, so it’s no wonder that the girl could easily join in and support any conversation.
Maria Cantemir
Ivan NIKITIN
The father did not interfere, but, on the contrary, with the support of Peter Tolstoy, helped bring his daughter closer to the tsar. Catherine, who at first turned a blind eye to her husband’s next hobby, became wary when she learned about Mary’s pregnancy. Those around the Tsar seriously said that if she gave birth to a son, then Catherine could repeat the fate of Evdokia Lopukhina... The Tsarina made every effort to ensure that the child was not born (the Greek family doctor Palikula, Mary’s doctor who prepared the potion, was bribed to Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy promised the title of count).
Portrait of Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy
Georg GZELL Johann Gonfried TANNAUER
During the Prut campaign of 1722, on which the entire court, Catherine and the Kantemirov family went, Maria lost her child. The king visited the woman, blackened with grief and suffering, said a few kind words of consolation and was like that...
Maria Cantemir
The last years of his life were not easy for Peter I personally, his youth passed, he was overcome by illness, he entered the age when a person needs close people who would understand him. Having become emperor, Peter I apparently decided to leave the throne to his wife. And that is why in the spring of 1724 he solemnly married Catherine. For the first time in Russian history, the empress was crowned with the imperial crown. Moreover, it is known that Peter personally placed the imperial crown on his wife’s head during the ceremony.
Proclamation of Catherine I as Empress of All Russia
Boris CHORIKOV
Peter I crowns Catherine
NH, from the collection of the Yegoryevsk Museum
Everything seemed to be in order. Ah, no. In the autumn of 1724, this idyll was destroyed by the news that the empress was unfaithful to her husband. She had an affair with Chamberlain Willim Mons. And again, a grimace of history: this is the brother of the same Anna Mons, with whom Peter himself was in love in his youth. Forgetting caution and completely succumbing to her feelings, Catherine brought her favorite as close to her as possible; he accompanied her on all her trips and stayed for a long time in Catherine’s chambers.
Tsar Peter I Alekseevich the Great and Ekaterina Alekseevna
Upon learning of Catherine's infidelity, Peter was furious. For him, the betrayal of his beloved wife was a serious blow. He destroyed the will signed in her name, became gloomy and merciless, practically stopped communicating with Catherine, and from then on access to him became prohibited for her. Mons was arrested, put on trial “for fraud and illegal acts” and interrogated personally by Peter I. Five days after his arrest, he was sentenced to death on charges of bribery. William Mons was executed by beheading on November 16 in St. Petersburg. The body of the chamberlain lay on the scaffold for several days, and his head was preserved in alcohol and kept for a long time in the Kunstkamera.
Portraits of Peter the Great
Trellis. Silk, wool, metal thread, canvas, weaving.
Petersburg Trellis Manufactory
The author of the original painting is J-M. NATIE
And Peter again began to visit Maria Cantemir. But time passed... Maria, apparently, fell in love with Peter as a child and this passion became fatal and the only one, she accepted Peter as he was, but they missed each other a little in time, the emperor’s life was nearing sunset. She did not forgive the repentant doctor and Count Peter Tolstoy, who were guilty of the death of her son. Maria Cantemir devoted the rest of her life to her brothers, participated in political life court and social intrigues, was engaged in charity work and until the end of her life remained faithful to her first and only love - Peter the Great. At the end of her life, the princess, in the presence of the memoirist Jacob von Stehlin, burned everything that connected her with Peter I: his letters, papers, two portraits framed with precious stones (Peter in armor and his own)...
Maria Cantemir
Book illustration
The crown princess's beautiful daughters Anna, Elizabeth and Natalya remained the consolation of Emperor Peter. In November 1924, the emperor agreed to Anna's marriage with Karl Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, who signed a contract for marriage with Anna Petrovna. Daughter Natalya lived longer than Peter’s other children who died in childhood, and only these three girls were alive at the time of the proclamation. Russian Empire in 1721 and accordingly received the title of princess. Natalya Petrovna died in St. Petersburg from measles a little over a month after the death of her father on March 4 (15), 1725.
Portraits of princesses Anna Petrovna and Elizaveta Petrovna
Ivan NIKITIN
Tsesarevna Natalya Petrovna
Louis CARAVACQUE
Portrait of Peter the Great
Sergey KIRILLOV Unknown artist
Peter I never forgave Catherine: after the execution of Mons, he agreed to dine with her only once, at the request of his daughter Elizabeth. Only the death of the emperor in January 1725 reconciled the spouses.
Lifetime portraits of Peter IPETER I
Peter I the Great (1672-1725), founder of the Russian Empire, occupies a unique place in the history of the country. His deeds, both great and terrible, are well known and there is no point in listing them. I wanted to write about the lifetime images of the first emperor, and which of them can be considered reliable.
The first known portrait of Peter I is placed in the so-called. "Tsar's Titular Book" or "The Root of Russian Sovereigns", a richly illustrated manuscript created by the embassy order, as a reference book on history, diplomacy and heraldry and containing many watercolor portraits. Peter is depicted as a child, even before ascending the throne, apparently at the end. 1670s - early 1680s. The history of this portrait and its authenticity are unknown.
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Portraits of Peter I by Western European masters:1685- engraving from an unknown original; created in Paris by Larmessen and depicts Tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich. The original was brought from Moscow by ambassadors - Prince. Ya.F. Dolgoruky and Prince. Myshetsky. The only known reliable image of Peter I before the coup of 1689.
1697- Portrait of work Sir Godfrey Kneller (1648-1723), the court painter of the English king, was undoubtedly painted from life. The portrait is in the English royal collection of paintings, at Hampton Court Palace. The catalog notes that the background of the painting was painted by Wilhelm van de Velde, a marine painter. According to contemporaries, the portrait was very similar; several copies were made from it; the most famous, the work of A. Belli, is in the Hermitage. This portrait served as the basis for the creation of a huge number of very different images of the king (sometimes faintly similar to the original).
OK. 1697- Portrait of work Pieter van der Werff (1665-1718), the history of its writing is unknown, but most likely it happened during Peter’s first stay in Holland. Purchased by Baron Budberg in Berlin and presented as a gift to Emperor Alexander II. Was in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, now in State Hermitage.
OK. 1700-1704 engraving by Adrian Schonebeck from a portrait of the work unknown artist. Original unknown.
1711- Portrait by Johann Kupetsky (1667-1740), painted from life in Carlsbad. According to D. Rovinsky, the original was in the Braunschweig Museum. Vasilchikov writes that the location of the original is unknown. I reproduce the famous engraving from this portrait - the work of Bernard Vogel, 1737.
A reworked version of this type of portrait depicted the king in full height and was in the hall of the General Assembly of the Governing Senate. Now located in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.
1716- portrait of work Benedicta Cofra, court painter of the Danish king. It was most likely written in the summer or autumn of 1716, when the Tsar was on a long visit to Copenhagen. Peter is depicted wearing St. Andrew's ribbon and the Danish Order of the Elephant around his neck. Until 1917 it was in Peter's Palace in the Summer Garden, now in the Peterhof Palace.
1717- portrait of work Carla Moora, who wrote to the king during his stay in The Hague, where he arrived for treatment. From the correspondence of Peter and his wife Catherine, it is known that the Tsar really liked the portrait of Moor and was bought by the prince. B. Kurakin and sent from France to St. Petersburg. I will reproduce the most famous engraving - the work of Jacob Houbraken. According to some reports, Moore's original is now in a private collection in France.
1717- portrait of work Arnold de Gelder (1685-1727), Dutch artist, student of Rembrandt. Written during Peter's stay in Holland, but there is no information that it was painted from life. The original is in the Amsterdam Museum.
1717 - Portrait of the work Jean-Marc Nattier (1686-1766), a famous French artist, was written during Peter’s visit to Paris, undoubtedly from life. It was purchased and sent to St. Petersburg, and later hung in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace. Now it is in the Hermitage, however, there is no complete certainty that this is an original painting and not a copy.
At the same time (in 1717 in Paris), the famous portrait painter Hyacinthe Rigaud painted Peter, but this portrait disappeared without a trace.
Portraits of Peter, painted by his court artists:
Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1680-c1737), Saxon, studied painting in Venice, court artist from 1711. According to entries in the "Jurnal" it is known that Peter posed for him in 1714 and 1722.
1714(?) - The original has not survived, only the engraving made by Wortmann exists.
A very similar portrait was recently discovered in the German city of Bad Pyrmont.
L. Markina writes: “The author of these lines introduced into scientific circulation an image of Peter from the collection of the palace in Bad Pyrmont (Germany), which recalls the visit of this resort town by the Russian emperor. The ceremonial portrait, which bore the features of a natural image, was considered the work of an unknown artist XVIII century. At the same time, the expression of the image, the interpretation of details, and baroque pathos betrayed the hand of a skilled craftsman.
Peter I spent June 1716 undergoing hydrotherapy in Bad Pyrmont, which had a beneficial effect on his health. As a token of gratitude, the Russian Tsar presented Prince Anton Ulrich Waldeck-Pyrmont with his portrait, which had been in private possession for a long time. Therefore, the work was not known to Russian specialists. Documentary evidence detailing all the important meetings during the treatment of Peter I in Bad Pyrmont did not mention the fact of his posing for any local or visiting painter. The Russian Tsar's retinue numbered 23 people and was quite representative. However, in the list of persons accompanying Peter, where the confessor and cook were indicated, the Hofmaler was not listed. It is logical to assume that Peter brought with him a finished image that he liked and reflected his idea of the ideal monarch. Comparison of engravings by H.A. Wortman, which was based on the original brush by I.G. Tannauer 1714, allowed us to attribute the portrait from Bad Pyrmont to this German artist. Our attribution was accepted by our German colleagues, and the portrait of Peter the Great as the work of I. G. Tannauer was included in the exhibition catalogue."
1716- The history of creation is unknown. By order of Nicholas I, it was sent from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1835, and was kept rolled up for a long time. A fragment of Tannauer's signature has survived. Located in the Moscow Kremlin Museum.
1710s Profile portrait, previously mistakenly considered to be the work of Kupetsky. The portrait is damaged unsuccessful attempt eye renewal. Located in the State Hermitage.
1724(?), Equestrian portrait, called "Peter I in Battle of Poltava", purchased in the 1860s by Prince A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky from the family of a deceased chamber-fourier in disrepair. After cleaning, Tannauer's signature was discovered. Now located in the State Russian Museum.
Louis Caravaque (1684-1754), a Frenchman, studied painting in Marseille, became a court painter in 1716. According to contemporaries, his portraits were very similar. According to the entries in the "Journal", Peter painted from life in 1716 and in 1723. Unfortunately, the indisputable original portraits of Peter painted by Caravaque have not survived; only copies and engravings from his works have reached us.
1716- According to some information, it was written during Peter’s stay in Prussia. The original has not survived, but there is an engraving by Afanasyev, from a drawing by F. Kinel.
A not very successful (added by ships of the allied fleet) copy from this portrait, created by an unknown person. artist, is now in the collection of the Central Naval Museum of St. Petersburg. (D. Rovinsky considered this painting to be original).
A version of the same portrait, which came to the Hermitage in 1880 from the Velika Remeta monastery in Croatia, probably created by an unknown German artist. The king's face is very similar to that painted by Caravaque, but the costume and pose are different. The origin of this portrait is unknown.
1723- the original has not survived, only an engraving by Soubeyran exists. According to "Jurnal", written during the stay of Peter I in Astrakhan. The last lifetime portrait of the Tsar.
This portrait of Caravacca served as the basis for a painting by Jacopo Amiconi (1675-1758), written around 1733 for the prince. Antioch Cantemir, which is located in the Peter's throne room of the Winter Palace.
* * *
Ivan Nikitich Nikitin (1680-1742), the first Russian portrait painter, studied in Florence, became the tsar's court artist around 1715. There is still no complete certainty about which portraits of Peter were painted by Nikitin. From "Jurnale" it is known that the tsar posed for Nikitin at least twice - in 1715 and 1721.
S. Moiseeva writes: “There was a special order from Peter, which ordered persons from the royal entourage to have his portrait by Ivan Nikitin in their house, and to charge the artist one hundred rubles for the execution of the portrait. However, royal portraits that could be compared with the creative handwriting I. Nikitin, almost did not survive. On April 30, 1715, the following was written in the “Journal of Peter”: “Ivan Nikitin painted His Majesty’s half persona. Based on this, art historians were looking for a half-length portrait of Peter I. In the end, it was suggested that this was the case.” The portrait should be considered “Portrait of Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle” (Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve). For a long time, this work was attributed to either Caravaque or Tannauer. When studying the portrait, A. M. Kuchumov found out that the canvas has three later bindings - two on top and one on the bottom, thanks to which the portrait became generational. A. M. Kuchumov cited the surviving account of the painter I. Ya. Vishnyakov about the addition to the portrait of His Imperial Majesty “against the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty.” Apparently, in the middle of the 18th century, the need arose to rehang the portraits, and I.Ya. Vishnyakov was given the task of increasing the size of the portrait of Peter I in accordance with the size of the portrait of Catherine. “Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of a naval battle” is stylistically very close - here we can already talk about the iconographic type of I. N. Nikitin - the relatively recently discovered portrait of Peter from a Florentine private collection, painted in 1717. Peter is depicted in the same pose; noteworthy is the similarity in the writing of the folds and the landscape background."
Unfortunately, I could not find a good reproduction of “Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle” from Tsarskoe Selo (before 1917 in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace). I will reproduce what I managed to get. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the work of Tannauer.
1717 - Portrait attributed to I. Nikitin and located in the collection of the Financial Department of Florence, Italy.
Portrait presented to Emperor Nicholas I c. S.S. Uvarov, who inherited it from his father-in-law, Gr. A.K. Razumovsky. Vasilchikov writes: “The legend of the Razumovsky family said that while Peter was in Paris, he went into the studio of Rigaud, who was painting a portrait of him, did not find him at home, saw his unfinished portrait, cut out his head from a large canvas with a knife and took it with him. gave it to his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna, and she, in turn, presented it to Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky. Some researchers consider this portrait to be the work of I. Nikitin. Until 1917 it was kept in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace; now in the Russian Museum.
Received from the Strogonov collection. In the Hermitage catalogs compiled in the mid-19th century, the authorship of this portrait is attributed to A.M. Matveev (1701-1739), however, he returned to Russia only in 1727 and could not paint Peter from life and, most likely, only made a copy from Moore's original for bar.S.G. Stroganov. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be Moor’s original. This is contradicted by the fact that according to all surviving engravings from Moora, Peter is depicted in armor. Rovinsky considered this portrait to be Rigaud’s missing work.
Used literature:
V. Stasov "Gallery of Peter the Great" St. Petersburg 1903
Lifetime portraits of Peter I
D. Rovinsky "Detailed dictionary of Russian engraved portraits" vol. 3 St. Petersburg, 1888
D. Rovinsky “Materials for Russian iconography” vol.1.
A. Vasilchikov "On portraits of Peter the Great" M 1872
S. Moiseev "On the history of the iconography of Peter I" (article).
L.Markin "RUSSIA of Peter's time" (article)PETER I
Peter I the Great (1672-1725), founder of the Russian Empire, occupies a unique place in the history of the country. His deeds, both great and terrible, are well known and there is no point in listing them. I wanted to write about the lifetime images of the first emperor, and which of them can be considered reliable.
The first known portrait of Peter I is placed in the so-called. "Tsar's Titular Book" or "The Root of Russian Sovereigns", a richly illustrated manuscript created by the embassy order as a reference book on history, diplomacy and heraldry and containing many watercolor portraits. Peter is depicted as a child, even before ascending the throne, apparently at the end. 1670s - early 1680s. The history of this portrait and its authenticity are unknown.
Portraits of Peter I by Western European masters:1685- engraving from an unknown original; created in Paris by Larmessen and depicts Tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich. The original was brought from Moscow by ambassadors - Prince. Ya.F. Dolgoruky and Prince. Myshetsky. The only known reliable image of Peter I before the coup of 1689.
1697- Portrait of work Sir Godfrey Kneller (1648-1723), the court painter of the English king, was undoubtedly painted from life. The portrait is in the English royal collection of paintings, at Hampton Court Palace. The catalog notes that the background of the painting was painted by Wilhelm van de Velde, a marine painter. According to contemporaries, the portrait was very similar; several copies were made from it; the most famous, the work of A. Belli, is in the Hermitage. This portrait served as the basis for the creation of a huge number of very different images of the king (sometimes faintly similar to the original).
OK. 1697- Portrait of work Pieter van der Werff (1665-1718), the history of its writing is unknown, but most likely it happened during Peter’s first stay in Holland. Purchased by Baron Budberg in Berlin and presented as a gift to Emperor Alexander II. It was located in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, now in the State Hermitage.
OK. 1700-1704 engraving by Adrian Schonebeck from a portrait by an unknown artist. Original unknown.
1711- Portrait by Johann Kupetsky (1667-1740), painted from life in Carlsbad. According to D. Rovinsky, the original was in the Braunschweig Museum. Vasilchikov writes that the location of the original is unknown. I reproduce the famous engraving from this portrait - the work of Bernard Vogel, 1737.
A converted version of a portrait of this type depicted the king in full growth and was located in the hall of the General Assembly of the Governing Senate. Now located in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.
1716- portrait of work Benedicta Cofra, court painter of the Danish king. It was most likely written in the summer or autumn of 1716, when the Tsar was on a long visit to Copenhagen. Peter is depicted wearing St. Andrew's ribbon and the Danish Order of the Elephant around his neck. Until 1917 it was in Peter's Palace in the Summer Garden, now in the Peterhof Palace.
1717- portrait of work Carla Moora, who wrote to the king during his stay in The Hague, where he arrived for treatment. From the correspondence of Peter and his wife Catherine, it is known that the Tsar really liked the portrait of Moor and was bought by the prince. B. Kurakin and sent from France to St. Petersburg. I will reproduce the most famous engraving - the work of Jacob Houbraken. According to some reports, Moore's original is now in a private collection in France.
1717- portrait of work Arnold de Gelder (1685-1727), Dutch artist, student of Rembrandt. Written during Peter's stay in Holland, but there is no information that it was painted from life. The original is in the Amsterdam Museum.
1717 - Portrait of the work Jean-Marc Nattier (1686-1766), a famous French artist, was written during Peter’s visit to Paris, undoubtedly from life. It was purchased and sent to St. Petersburg, and later hung in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace. Now it is in the Hermitage, however, there is no complete certainty that this is an original painting and not a copy.
At the same time (in 1717 in Paris), the famous portrait painter Hyacinthe Rigaud painted Peter, but this portrait disappeared without a trace.
Portraits of Peter, painted by his court artists:
Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1680-c1737), Saxon, studied painting in Venice, court artist from 1711. According to entries in the "Jurnal" it is known that Peter posed for him in 1714 and 1722.
1714(?) - The original has not survived, only the engraving made by Wortmann exists.
A very similar portrait was recently discovered in the German city of Bad Pyrmont.
L. Markina writes: “The author of these lines introduced into scientific circulation an image of Peter from the collection of the palace in Bad Pyrmont (Germany), which recalls the visit of this resort town by the Russian emperor. The ceremonial portrait, which bore the features of a natural image, was considered the work of an unknown artist XVIII century. At the same time, the expression of the image, the interpretation of details, and baroque pathos betrayed the hand of a skilled craftsman.
Peter I spent June 1716 undergoing hydrotherapy in Bad Pyrmont, which had a beneficial effect on his health. As a token of gratitude, the Russian Tsar presented Prince Anton Ulrich Waldeck-Pyrmont with his portrait, which had been in private possession for a long time. Therefore, the work was not known to Russian specialists. Documentary evidence detailing all the important meetings during the treatment of Peter I in Bad Pyrmont did not mention the fact of his posing for any local or visiting painter. The Russian Tsar's retinue numbered 23 people and was quite representative. However, in the list of persons accompanying Peter, where the confessor and cook were indicated, the Hofmaler was not listed. It is logical to assume that Peter brought with him a finished image that he liked and reflected his idea of the ideal monarch. Comparison of engravings by H.A. Wortman, which was based on the original brush by I.G. Tannauer 1714, allowed us to attribute the portrait from Bad Pyrmont to this German artist. Our attribution was accepted by our German colleagues, and the portrait of Peter the Great as the work of I. G. Tannauer was included in the exhibition catalogue."
1716- The history of creation is unknown. By order of Nicholas I, it was sent from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1835, and was kept rolled up for a long time. A fragment of Tannauer's signature has survived. Located in the Moscow Kremlin Museum.
1710s Profile portrait, previously mistakenly considered to be the work of Kupetsky. The portrait was damaged by an unsuccessful attempt to renew the eyes. Located in the State Hermitage.
1724(?), Equestrian portrait, called "Peter I in the Battle of Poltava", bought in the 1860s by Prince. A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky from the family of the deceased chamber-fourier in a neglected state. After cleaning, Tannauer's signature was discovered. Now located in the State Russian Museum.
Louis Caravaque (1684-1754), a Frenchman, studied painting in Marseille, became a court painter in 1716. According to contemporaries, his portraits were very similar. According to the entries in the "Journal", Peter painted from life in 1716 and in 1723. Unfortunately, the indisputable original portraits of Peter painted by Caravaque have not survived; only copies and engravings from his works have reached us.
1716- According to some information, it was written during Peter’s stay in Prussia. The original has not survived, but there is an engraving by Afanasyev, from a drawing by F. Kinel.
A not very successful (added by ships of the allied fleet) copy from this portrait, created by an unknown person. artist, is now in the collection of the Central Naval Museum of St. Petersburg. (D. Rovinsky considered this painting to be original).
A version of the same portrait, which came to the Hermitage in 1880 from the Velika Remeta monastery in Croatia, probably created by an unknown German artist. The king's face is very similar to that painted by Caravaque, but the costume and pose are different. The origin of this portrait is unknown.
1723- the original has not survived, only an engraving by Soubeyran exists. According to "Jurnal", written during the stay of Peter I in Astrakhan. The last lifetime portrait of the Tsar.
This portrait of Caravacca served as the basis for a painting by Jacopo Amiconi (1675-1758), written around 1733 for the prince. Antioch Cantemir, which is located in the Peter's throne room of the Winter Palace.
* * *
Ivan Nikitich Nikitin (1680-1742), the first Russian portrait painter, studied in Florence, became the tsar's court artist around 1715. There is still no complete certainty about which portraits of Peter were painted by Nikitin. From "Jurnale" it is known that the tsar posed for Nikitin at least twice - in 1715 and 1721.
S. Moiseeva writes: “There was a special order from Peter, which ordered persons from the royal entourage to have his portrait by Ivan Nikitin in their house, and to charge the artist one hundred rubles for the execution of the portrait. However, royal portraits that could be compared with the creative handwriting I. Nikitin, almost did not survive. On April 30, 1715, the following was written in the “Journal of Peter”: “Ivan Nikitin painted His Majesty’s half persona. Based on this, art historians were looking for a half-length portrait of Peter I. In the end, it was suggested that this was the case.” The portrait should be considered “Portrait of Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle” (Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve). For a long time, this work was attributed to either Caravaque or Tannauer. When studying the portrait, A. M. Kuchumov found out that the canvas has three later bindings - two on top and one on the bottom, thanks to which the portrait became generational. A. M. Kuchumov cited the surviving account of the painter I. Ya. Vishnyakov about the addition to the portrait of His Imperial Majesty “against the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty.” Apparently, in the middle of the 18th century, the need arose to rehang the portraits, and I.Ya. Vishnyakov was given the task of increasing the size of the portrait of Peter I in accordance with the size of the portrait of Catherine. “Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of a naval battle” is stylistically very close - here we can already talk about the iconographic type of I. N. Nikitin - the relatively recently discovered portrait of Peter from a Florentine private collection, painted in 1717. Peter is depicted in the same pose; noteworthy is the similarity in the writing of the folds and the landscape background."
Unfortunately, I could not find a good reproduction of “Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle” from Tsarskoe Selo (before 1917 in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace). I will reproduce what I managed to get. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the work of Tannauer.
1717 - Portrait attributed to I. Nikitin and located in the collection of the Financial Department of Florence, Italy.
Portrait presented to Emperor Nicholas I c. S.S. Uvarov, who inherited it from his father-in-law, Gr. A.K. Razumovsky. Vasilchikov writes: “The legend of the Razumovsky family said that while Peter was in Paris, he went into the studio of Rigaud, who was painting a portrait of him, did not find him at home, saw his unfinished portrait, cut out his head from a large canvas with a knife and took it with him. gave it to his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna, and she, in turn, presented it to Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky. Some researchers consider this portrait to be the work of I. Nikitin. Until 1917 it was kept in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace; now in the Russian Museum.
Received from the Strogonov collection. In the Hermitage catalogs compiled in the mid-19th century, the authorship of this portrait is attributed to A.M. Matveev (1701-1739), however, he returned to Russia only in 1727 and could not paint Peter from life and, most likely, only made a copy from Moore's original for bar.S.G. Stroganov. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be Moor’s original. This is contradicted by the fact that according to all surviving engravings from Moora, Peter is depicted in armor. Rovinsky considered this portrait to be Rigaud’s missing work.
Used literature:
V. Stasov "Gallery of Peter the Great" St. Petersburg 1903
D. Rovinsky "Detailed dictionary of Russian engraved portraits" vol. 3 St. Petersburg, 1888
D. Rovinsky “Materials for Russian iconography” vol.1.
A. Vasilchikov "On portraits of Peter the Great" M 1872
S. Moiseev "On the history of the iconography of Peter I" (article).
L.Markin "RUSSIA of Peter's time" (article)