I continue the publication of portraits from the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace according to the inventory of D. Rovinsky. The list of references used is in the first part. Once again I would like to remind you that all amendments, additions and corrections are welcome.
1 part:
http://baronet65.livejournal.com/56542.html
17. Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich (1690-1718)
Son of Tsar Peter I.
No. 5360 size: 18x13.5
A mid-19th century copy of a lifetime portrait by Tannauer (the original is in the Hermitage).
Gatchina Palace Museum.
18. Princess Charlotte-Sofia (1694-1715)
Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich,
No. 4385 size: 17.75x14.15
Lifetime portrait by an unknown artist. Baron Quesne considered it the work of Tannauer. I give the image from a photograph of Klinder from 1865.
Location unknown.
No. 5359 size: 18x13.5.
A mid-19th century copy of a lifetime portrait by an unknown artist.
19. Princess Anna Petrovna (1708-1728)
Daughter of Tsar Peter I, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp.
No. 4383 size: 15x12
Lifetime portrait, painted around 1716. Currently considered the work of I. Nikitin.
No. 5388 size: 18x14.5
A copy of the mid-19th century from a lifetime portrait by L. Caravaque.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
Princesses Anna Petrovna And Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter of Tsar Peter I.
No. 6690 size: 22x16
Portrait by L. Caravaca.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
20. Tsarevich Petr Petrovich (1715-1719)
Son of Tsar Peter I.
No. 6690 size: 22x16
A copy of N. Tyutryumov’s work from the mid-19th century from a lifetime portrait by L. Caravaque.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
21. Princess Natalya Petrovna (1718-1725)
Daughter of Tsar Peter I.
No. 5358 size: 21.5x16
A copy of a work by V. Bovin from the mid-19th century from a lifetime portrait by L. Caravaque.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
22. Emperor Peter II Alekseevich (1715-1730).
Son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, grandson of Tsar Peter I.
No. 5361 size: 58.75x46
Lifetime portrait by Ludden or Caravaque. Wortman's famous engraving was made from it. I give the image from the book “300 Years of the House of Romanov”, ed. Lapina 1913
Location unknown.
No. 5357 size: 18x14.5
Lifetime portrait by Ludden c. 1728
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
23. Princess Ekaterina Ioannovna (1691-1733).
daughter of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
No. 5345 size: 21.5x16
A copy of the mid-19th century from a lifetime image of the princess.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
24. Princess Praskovya Ioannovna (1794-1731).
daughter of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich
No. 5347 size: 21.6x16.5
A copy of the mid-19th century from an unknown lifetime image of the princess. Rovinsky believed that this portrait depicts Catherine I. I give the image from a photograph of Klinder from 1865.
Location unknown.
25. Empress Anna Ioannovna (1693-1740).
daughter of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, Duchess of Courland.
No. 5346 size: 21.35x16
One of the versions of the portrait of the Empress by Caravaque, or a copy of it. An engraving by Elliger was made from it.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5362 size: 58.75x46
A modified copy of the late 18th century by G. Buchholz from the original lifetime portrait by L. Caravaque. (the original is in the Tretyakov Gallery).
Great Peterhof Palace.
26. Ruler Anna Leopoldovna (1720-1748)
Princess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Princess Ekaterina Ioannovna, granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich.
No. 6865 size: 27.5x22.5
Lifetime portrait (presumably by Caravaque.)
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
27. Emperor Ioann Antonovich(1740-1764).
Son of the ruler Anna Leopoldovna.
No. 5333 size: 17.5x14.5
Portrait of an unknown artist of the 18th century, most likely lifetime.
State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg
28. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-1761)
Daughter of Tsar Peter I.
No. 6192 size: 23x16.
Portrait by an unknown artist (Baron Quesne believed that Elizabeth was 16 years old in the portrait). Rovinsky that in this portrait is Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna (the first wife of Paul I). I give the image from a photograph of Klinder from 1865.
Location unknown.
No. 6244 size: 9x6.25
I was unable to find the exact image. There is only a description of it by Baron Quesne: “the painting presented to His Imperial Majesty by Prince Alexander Lobanov-Rostovsky represents the princess in a dress of silver brocade with gold streaks, in a robe of blue velvet lined with ermine, and with the insignia of the Order of St. Catherine over her shoulder.”
Portraits similar to this description are in the Stockholm Museum (Sweden), the Kadriorg Museum (Estonia) and the Kuskovo Museum (where there were many copies of portraits from the Romanov Gallery). However, these paintings are much larger in size.
The image is a portrait of Princess Elizaveta Petrovna from the Kuskovo Museum.
Location unknown.
No. 4382 size: 15x12.
It has not yet been possible to accurately identify this portrait. There is information that this is a portrait of Elizabeth in a man's suit from 1745, considered to be the work of Caravaque (roughly the same size). There is another version of the same portrait, which is in the State Russian Museum. I would be glad to receive any information on this topic.
State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.
No. 5366 size: 14.5x10.5.
Portrait by the court artist G. Groot, 1748. There is a copy of this portrait, which is in the State Russian Museum.
State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.
No. 5363 size: 59x46.
Portrait by the French artist J. Toquet, 1758
State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg
29. Emperor Peter III Fedorovich(1728-1762).
Son of Princess Anna Petrovna, grandson of Tsar Peter I.
No. 5383 size: 36.25x26.5
Portrait by G. Groot (or its copy), paired with the portrait of Ekaterina Alekseevna (No. 5384). I give the image from the book “Sovereigns from the House of Romanov. 1613 - 1913. Lives of the reigning sovereigns and sketches of their reigns.” Volume 1 M. Sytinsky edition. 1913
Location unknown.
No. 5385 size: 13.5x11.5
Portrait by G. Groot 1748
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5364 size: 58.75x46.
Portrait by A. Antropov, who painted several portraits of the emperor. A copy of this portrait was in the Senate.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
Grand Duke Petr Fedorovich and his wife the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna.
No. 6695 no dimensions available.
Wedding portrait by G. Grot, 1745
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
30. Empress Ekaterina II Alekseevna(1729-1762).
Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, wife of Emperor Peter III.
No. 5384 size: 36.5x26.5
Portrait by G. Groot (or his copy), paired with the portrait of Pyotr Fedorovich (No. 5383).
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5380 no dimensions available.
Equestrian portrait by V. Eriksen in 1762. There are copies of this portrait in the Grand Palace of Peterhof, the State Russian Museum and in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin.
State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5365 size: 58.75x45.5
Portrait by V. Eriksen, 1762. There are two smaller repetitions of this portrait, one in the State Russian Museum, the other in the Chinese Palace (Oranienbaum).
State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5434 size: 16.25x12.25
Portrait by V. Eriksen, 1779. Small copy of the portrait (No. 5365).
No. 5369 size: 16x13.75
Portrait by V. Eriksen 1769
State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5368 size: 16x13.75
Portrait by P. Shibanov, who painted the Empress from life during her stay in Kyiv in 1787, during her trip to Crimea. An engraving by Elliger was made from it.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
No. 5370 size: 13.5x11.25
Portrait by I. Lampi 1793 (sketch of a large portrait from the Hermitage, which was also previously in the Romanov Gallery). Depicted with allegorical figures of Saturn and History.
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
400 years ago Russia chose a king for itself. On February 21 (March 3, new style), 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the first representative of the dynasty that ruled Russia for more than three centuries, to reign. This event put an end to the horrors of the Time of Troubles. But what did the Romanov era itself turn out to be for our country?...
Roots of the family
The Romanov family has ancient origins and descended from the Moscow boyar of the times of Ivan Kalita, Andrei Kobyla. The sons of Andrei Kobyla became the founders of many boyar and noble families, including the Sheremetevs, Konovnitsyns, Kolychevs, Ladygins, Yakovlevs, Boborykins and others.
The Romanovs came from the son of Kobyla, Fyodor Koshka. His descendants were first called Koshkins, then Koshkins-Zakharyins, and then Zakharyins.
Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina was the first wife of Ivan IV the Terrible. She alone knew how to pacify the temper of Ivan the Terrible, and after she was poisoned and died at the age of 30, Ivan the Terrible compared each of his subsequent wives to Anastasia.
Anastasia's brother, boyar Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin began to be called Romanov after his father Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin.
So, the first Russian Tsar from the Romanov family, Mikhail Romanov, was the son of the boyar Fyodor Nikitich Romanov and the noblewoman Ksenia Ivanovna Romanova.
Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (1596-1645) - the first Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty.
Accession of the Romanovs: versions
Since the Romanovs, thanks to Anastasia’s marriage, were related to the Rurik dynasty, they fell into disgrace during the reign of Boris Godunov. Mikhail's father and mother were forcibly tonsured monks. He himself and all his relatives were exiled to Siberia, but were later returned.
After the end of the Time of Troubles in 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich as the new sovereign. He was only 16 years old then. In addition to him, the Polish prince Vladislav (the future Vladislav IV), the Swedish prince Carl Philip, as well as representatives of many noble boyar families, claimed the throne.
At the same time, the Mstislavskys and Kurakins collaborated with the Poles during the Time of Troubles; the Godunovs and Shuiskys were relatives of the recently overthrown rulers. The representative of the Vorotynsky family, member of the “Seven Boyars”, Ivan Vorotynsky, according to the official version, recused himself.
According to one version, the candidacy of Mikhail Romanov was considered a compromise; in addition, the Romanov family did not tarnish itself in the Time of Troubles like other noble families. However, not all historians adhere to this version - they believe that the candidacy of Mikhail Romanov was imposed on the Zemsky Sobor, and the cathedral did not represent all Russian lands at that time, and the Cossack troops had a great influence on the course of the meetings.
However, Mikhail Romanov was elected to the throne and became Mikhail I Fedorovich. He lived for 49 years, during the years of his reign (1613 - 1645) the king managed to overcome the consequences of the Time of Troubles and restore centralized power in the country. New territories were annexed in the east, and peace was concluded with Poland, as a result of which the Polish king ceased to claim the Russian throne.
Figures and facts
Most of the Russian tsars and emperors from the Romanov dynasty lived rather short lives. Only Peter I, Elizaveta I Petrovna, Nicholas I and Nicholas II lived more than 50 years, and Catherine II and Alexander II lived more than 60 years. No one lived to be 70 years old
Peter I the Great.
Catherine II lived the longest life and died at the age of 67. Moreover, she did not belong to the Romanov dynasty by birth, but was German. Peter II lived the shortest of all - he died at the age of 14.
The direct line of succession to the throne of the Romanovs was stopped in the 18th century; all Russian emperors, starting with Peter III, belonged to the Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov dynasty. The Holstein-Gottorps were a German ducal dynasty and at some point in history became related to the Romanovs.
Catherine II ruled the country the longest (34 years), 34 years. Peter III ruled the least - 6 months.
Ivan VI (Ioann Antonovich) was a baby on the throne. He became emperor when he was only 2 months and 5 days old, and his regents ruled in his place.
Most of the impostors pretended to be Peter III. After he was overthrown, he died under unclear circumstances. The most famous impostor is considered to be Emelyan Pugachev, who led the peasant war in 1773-1775.
Of all the rulers, Alexander II carried out the most liberal reforms, and at the same time, he suffered the most assassination attempts. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, the terrorists still managed to kill the Tsar - he died from the explosion of a bomb that Narodnaya Volya members threw at his feet on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg.
The last Emperor Nicholas II, shot by the Bolsheviks, as well as his wife and children were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as passion-bearers.
Romanov dynasty in faces
Mikhail I Fedorovich
The first Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty
Years of life: 1596 – 1645 (49 years)
Reign: 1613 – 1645
overcoming the consequences of the Time of Troubles; restoration of centralized
authorities in the country; annexation of new territories in the east; peace with Poland, in
as a result of which the Polish king ceased to claim the Russian throne.
Alexey I Mikhailovich
Son of Fyodor Mikhailovich. For the absence of major upheavals in the country during his years
reign was called the Quietest
Years of life: 1629 – 1676 (46 years)
Reign: 1645 – 1676
Achievements and government initiatives:
military reform; a new set of laws - the Council Code of 1649; church
reform of Patriarch Nikon, which caused a split in the church.
Fedor III Alekseevich
Son of Alexei Mikhailovich. He had poor health, which is why he died early
Years of life: 1661 – 1682 (20 years)
Reign: 1676 – 1682
Achievements and government initiatives:
census of the country in 1678; abolition of localism - distribution
official places, taking into account the origin and official position of ancestors; introduction
household taxation with direct taxes; fight against schismatics.
Sofya Alekseevna
Regent over Ivan V and Peter I, who were both recognized as tsars. After
displacement became a nun
Years of life: 1657 – 1704 (46 years)
Reign: 1682 – 1689
Achievements and government initiatives:
signing of the “Eternal Peace” with Poland, according to which Kyiv was recognized as part of
Russian kingdom; - fight against schismatics.
Ivan V
The son of Alexei Mikhailovich and the elder brother of Peter I. He had poor health and did not
interested in government affairs
Years of life: 1666 – 1696 (29 years)
Years of reign: 1682 – 1696 (co-ruler Peter I)
Peter I
The last Russian Tsar and the first Emperor of the Russian Empire (since 1721).
One of the most famous rulers of Russia, who radically changed
historical fate of the country
Years of life: 1672 – 1725 (52 years)
Reign: 1682 – 1725
Achievements and government initiatives:
large-scale reforms to radically restructure the state and public
way of life; creation of the Russian Empire; creation of the Senate - the highest body
state power subordinate to the emperor; victory in the Northern War with
Sweden; creation of a navy and a regular army; construction
St. Petersburg and the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg from Moscow; spreading
education, creation of secular schools; publication of the first newspaper in Russia;
annexation of new territories to Russia.
Catherine I
Wife of Peter I. Took little part in government affairs
Years of life: 1684 – 1727 (43 years)
Years of reign: 1725 – 1727
Achievements and government initiatives:
creation of the Supreme Privy Council, with the help of which those close to
the empresses actually ruled the state; opening of the Academy of Sciences, creation
which was conceived under Peter I.
Peter II
Grandson of Peter I, the last direct descendant of the Romanov dynasty in the male line. IN
Due to his young age, he did not take part in government affairs and indulged in
entertainment, his confidants ruled instead of him
Years of life: 1715 - 1730 (14 years)
Years of reign: 1727 - 1730
Anna Ioanovna
Daughter of Ivan V. During her reign, favoritism flourished.
Years of life: 1693 - 1740 (47 years)
Years of reign: 1730 – 1740
Achievements and government initiatives:
dissolution of the Supreme Privy Council and creation of a cabinet of ministers; establishment
Office of Secret Investigation Cases; transformations in the army: restriction of service for
nobles for 25 years, the creation of new guards regiments, the establishment of the Gentry Cadet Corps.
Ivan VI (Ioann Antonovich)
Great-grandson of Ivan V. Was emperor in infancy during the regency of Anna's favorite
Ioannovna Ernst Biron and his mother Anna Leopoldovna, was overthrown, his
spent his childhood and the rest of his life in prisons
Years of life: 1740 - 1764 (23 years)
Years of reign: 1740 – 1741
Elizaveta I Petrovna
Daughter of Peter I, last heir to the throne from the Romanov dynasty
direct female line.
Years of life: 1709 - 1761 (52 years)
Years of reign: 1741 – 1761
Achievements and government initiatives:
abolition of the cabinet of ministers and restoration of the role of the Senate; reform
taxation, elimination of internal customs duties and fees; expansion of the rights of the nobility; creation of the first Russian banks; annexation of new territories in Central Asia to Russia.
Peter III
Grandson of Peter I and son of his eldest daughter Anna Petrovna. Due to unpopular measures
in foreign policy and in the army lost the support of the ruling circles and soon after
accession to the throne was overthrown by his own wife Catherine, who also
was his second cousin
Years of life: 1728 - 1762 (34 years)
Years of reign: 1761 – 1762
Achievements and government initiatives:
abolition of the Secret Chancellery; the beginning of the secularization of church lands; publication of the “Manifesto on the Freedom of the Nobility,” which expanded the privileges of this class; ending the persecution of Old Believers.
Catherine II
Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, daughter
Prussian general-field marshal and wife of Peter III. Overthrew her husband in 6
months after he ascended the throne
Years of life: 1729 - 1796 (67 years)
Reign: 1762 – 1796
Achievements and government initiatives:
provincial reform, which determined the territorial structure of the country until
revolution of 1917; maximum enslavement of the peasantry and its deterioration
provisions; further expansion of the privileges of the nobles (“Charter of Grant
nobility"); annexation of new lands to Russia - Crimea, the Black Sea region,
parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; introduction of paper money - banknotes; development
education and science, including the creation of the Russian Academy; renewal
persecution of Old Believers; secularization of church lands.
Paul I
Son of Peter III and Catherine II. He was killed by officers as a result of a conspiracy, about which
was not known to the general public until the beginning of the twentieth century
Years of life: 1754 - 1801 (46 years)
Years of reign: 1796 – 1801
Achievements and government initiatives:
improving the situation of the peasantry; creation of the State Treasury;
abolition of some of the privileges of the nobility granted by Catherine II military
reform.
Alexander I
Son of Paul I and beloved grandson of Catherine II. It was during his reign that Russia
won the Patriotic War of 1812 with Napoleon
Years of life: 1777 – 1825 (47 years)
Years of reign: 1801 – 1825
Achievements and government initiatives:
restoration of the “Charter of Grant to the Nobility”; establishment
ministries instead of boards; “Decree on free cultivators”, thanks to which
landowners received the right to free the peasants; creation of military settlements for
recruitment of the army; annexation of new territories, including Georgia,
Finland, Poland, etc.
Nicholas I
Brother of Alexander I. Ascended to the throne after the abdication of his second eldest
brother Constantine, at the same time the Decembrist uprising took place
Years of life: 1796 – 1855 (58 years)
Years of reign: 1825 – 1855
Achievements and government initiatives:
suppression of the Decembrist uprising; increased censorship; creation of the Third
departments of the office for political investigation; war in the Caucasus; improvement
the position of the peasants - they were forbidden to be sent to hard labor and sold individually
and without land; annexation of the mouth of the Danube and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus to Russia
and Transcaucasia; unsuccessful Crimean War.
Alexander II
The son of Nicholas I, actively carried out political reforms and was killed as a result
Narodnaya Volya terrorist attack
Years of life: 1818 – 1881 (62 years)
Years of reign: 1855 – 1881
Achievements and government initiatives:
abolition of serfdom in 1861; zemstvo reform - management issues
Zemstvos began to work locally; creation of a unified system of courts; Creation
city councils in cities; military reform and the emergence of new types of weapons; annexation of Central Asia, the North Caucasus, and the Far East to the empire; sale of Alaska to the USA.
Alexander III
Son of Alexander II. After killing his father, he nullified many of his
liberal reforms
Years of life: 1845 – 1894 (49 years)
Years of reign: 1881 – 1894
Achievements and government initiatives:
curtailment of many reforms in the field of local self-government, judicial
systems, education; strengthening supervision over peasants; rapid growth
industry; restriction of factory work of minors and night work
teenagers and women.
Nicholas II
The last Russian emperor, son of Alexander III. During his reign
all three Russian revolutions occurred; after the revolution of 1917, he renounced
throne and was killed by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg along with his family
Years of life: 1868 – 1918 (50 years)
Years of reign: 1894 – 1917
Achievements and government initiatives:
general census of 1897; monetary reform that established gold
ruble standard; the unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War; limitation of working hours on
enterprises; publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, granting the entire population
countries basic civil rights and freedoms; creation of the State Duma;
entry into the First World War.
Facts and myths
The most terrible secret of the Romanovs was the “Russian iron mask” - the failed Russian emperor Ivan Antonovich. According to the will of the childless Anna Ioannovna (died in 1740), her niece’s son was to become her heir. At the age of one, the boy was overthrown from the throne by the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth. Ivan spent his entire life in captivity and was killed by guards in 1764 while trying to be released by the conspirators.
Princess Tarakanova is an impostor who pretended to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. While in Europe, she declared her claim to the throne in 1774. She was kidnapped by order of Catherine II and brought to Russia. During the investigation, she did not admit guilt and did not reveal her origin. She died in custody in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Strictly speaking, the direct branch of the Romanov family was cut short after the death of Elizaveta Petrovna in 1761. Since then, it is more correct to call the dynasty Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. There was practically no Slavic blood among its representatives, which did not prevent some of them from being deeply Russian people.
The most counterfeited “brand” in the history of the Romanovs is Emperor Peter III, overthrown in 1762. More than 40 impostors are known to hide behind his name. The most famous false Peter is Emelyan Pugachev.
According to legend, Alexander I did not die in 1825 in Taganrog, but faked his death and lived in Siberia for another half a century under the name of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich. Whether this is true or not is unknown.
By the way…
After the revolution of 1917, the Russian Imperial House lost political power, but retained its role as a historical institution.
“The status of the current Russian Imperial House is recognized by all modern royal houses. Its head is the Empress Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (b. 1953), great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II.
Her grandfather Kirill was a cousin of Nicholas II and led the dynasty after the death of the tsar, his son Alexei and his brother Mikhail, said Kirill Nemirovich-Danchenko, adviser to the Chancellery of H.I.H. on interaction with public organizations and government bodies of the Russian Federation. - The second member of the House is the heir Tsarevich and Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich (b. 1981), her son.
All other descendants of members of the dynasty, in accordance with dynastic laws, do not have rights to the throne and do not belong to the Imperial House (the supremacy of Maria Vladimirovna is disputed by Nikolai Romanov, the son of the prince of the imperial blood Roman Petrovich. He is the president of the organization “Union of the Romanov Family.” - Ed.) . The total number of people in whose veins the blood of the Romanovs flows is more than 100 throughout the world. Those who rightfully bear this surname are about 15.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich
Maria Vladimirovna lives in Spain. Since 2003, the dynasty has been represented in its homeland by the Chancellery of the Russian Imperial House, the purpose of which is to promote the integration of the House into the public life of Russia. Maria Vladimirovna has visited Russia several times and has known Vladimir Putin personally since 1992. After his election to the presidency, there were brief meetings, but no detailed conversation yet.
The Grand Duchess and her son are citizens of the Russian Federation, declare their complete loyalty to the Constitution and the existing government, firmly oppose restitution and believe that the development of cooperation between the Imperial House and the modern state has prospects.”
In 1856, the National Portrait Gallery opened in London, inspiring Pavel Sergeevich Tretyakov to create a portrait gallery of great people of Russia within his already existing collection of Russian fine art. In 2013, Russia marks the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty's accession to the throne, and to mark the occasion, the State Historical Museum organized an exhibition featuring portraits of members of the Romanov family from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The significance of the exhibition “The Romanovs. Portrait of a Dynasty,” in my opinion, can be compared with the value of P. S. Tretyakov’s collection of portraits of famous people.
Before visiting this exhibition, I had not thought about the possibility of creating a gallery of portraits of Russian tsars, and how interesting such a gallery could be. Despite the fact that there is little left unrevealed in the field of study of these portraits, it is nevertheless interesting to trace the evolution of the royal portrait in one exhibition. Since the 18th century, a special type of portrait genre began to develop in Russia - the “ceremonial” or “representative” portrait. This portrait genre is characterized by its specifics; the stages of development of this direction do not entirely coincide with the stages of development of both the Russian and European schools of fine art. There is a dependence between the change of artistic styles and the change of government. It is still too early to talk about the formation of the national character of the Russian school of fine arts.
Until the 18th century in Russia we can only talk about applied art. It was not customary to portray people. Only the faces of saints were depicted, that is, the icon dominated.
The first images, closest in size and status to saints, were images of kings and heirs to the throne. The king was God's representative on earth. The crowning ceremony took place in the temple and had, in addition to the secular, a deep sacred meaning.
Among the first attempts to depict kings, it is worth noting the work of Simon Ushakov “Our Lady of Vladimir. Tree of the Moscow State" (1668), which is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery. The work can be classified as an icon with features of a secular worldview. On the one hand, in the center we see the familiar image of the Mother of God. On the other hand, the icon is replete with details from the real world - the wall and towers of the Kremlin, specific historical figures, among them - the figure of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and opposite him - his wife Maria Ilyinichna and children Ivan and Sofia, a family tree, patriarchs, kings and holy fools. The floating figure of Jesus handing over the robe to the archangels symbolizes the divine will of electing the viceroy of the king of heaven on earth.
Using the example of this work, it is difficult to talk about any kind of portrait resemblance, since the figures are small and very conventional. But the very appearance of a historical figure in addition to the holy face on the icon is already a big breakthrough. For a long time, artists will be reluctant to deviate from the accepted style, and images of kings will be similar to images of the faces of saints. It must be borne in mind that the first artists can be characterized rather as people with a deep inner world than artists in the full sense of the word, since they did not study anatomy, the peculiarities of transmitting light and shadow, two-dimensional space, which was reflected in their works.
This is not a portrait yet, but it is also difficult to classify such works as icons. A kind of bridge from icons to portraits appeared, and parsuna became this transitional genre, that is, when the pictorial means characteristic of the icon were used in the creation of the first primitive secular portraits. This can be seen in the portrait of Alexei Mikhailovich from 1670, presented at the exhibition.
In the painting by an unknown artist, the figures of Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich already bear individual features, but still very conventional. An attempt to depict kings on horseback rather refers us to the image of St. George the Victorious rather than a commander or military commander.
The equestrian portrait of Nicholas I and Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, 1843, are already completely secular portraits of commanders. But such a style of depiction will not come soon.
The exhibition of dynasty portraits allows us to take a completely different look at the personalities of the monarchs. But to do this, we will have to uncover several layers of the image, as well as look into the details and compare several works with each other. As a rule, a ceremonial portrait of an autocrat is an ideal image, an image not always seen through the eyes of the artist, but the image that was most endearing to the model herself. There were strict regulations that the artist was obliged to follow.
A regulation or a special iconographic type was necessary at that time, since adherence to this regulation made it possible to make the image of the monarch recognizable. To provide public places with portraits of the emperor, the image of the monarch was replicated. For these purposes, an iconographic image that the model especially liked was chosen.
Portraits of princesses were painted to be sent abroad in order to find suitable suitors. As fashion changed, the model's dress could be rewritten, distinctive signs characterizing the era were added and disappeared. For example, with the next innovation by Paul I in the military uniform, all the details were immediately reflected in new copies of the emperor’s portrait.
This was done not only with portraits. For example, Catherine II prepared for her coronation very thoroughly and when ordering a new crown from the court jeweler I. Pozier, she ordered: “to check the government items and ordered to break everything that was not in modern taste, using it for the new crown that she wanted to have for the coronation.” .
In the portraits of women, it is noticeable how the place of women in society has changed in different eras. The portrait of the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Feodorovna, and the mother of Peter I, Natalya Kirillovna, from the first half of the 18th century, presented at the exhibition, are strikingly different from the portrait of the second wife of Peter I, Catherine I. The woman was not allowed to show her hair, so the first wife and mother of Peter I are depicted wearing a headdress. attire. Clothing completely covers the body, the poses, although peaceful, are constrained. Such was the life of a woman, literally confined within the walls of a tower, powerless and vulnerable, completely dependent on the will of her family, then her husband and immediate circle. The reforms of Peter I concerning social life and fashion gave more freedom to women. Catherine I is depicted in a dress with a deep neckline, her hair is gathered in ringlets, decorated with a string of pearls.
Portrait of Peter I's mother Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina and portrait of Catherine I (XVIII century) 
The male image has also changed over the centuries. For example, during the reign of Peter I, the monarch always appears before us in plate and armor, although there have never been knightly tournaments in Russia. But this is exactly how the image of the head of state was seen, this is how he was perceived. During the time of Alexander I, it was customary to appear in a foreign military uniform in portraits intended to be sent abroad in order to show respect for this country and strengthen friendly relations. While in a later period - during the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II, on the contrary, the emphasis was on national character, which was directly reflected in the portraits of top officials.
Thus, the portrait of a monarch is a story within a story. This is not just an image of a historical figure, but also a source for researchers.
If you carefully examine a fragmentary copy of A. Roslen's portrait of Catherine II from 1776, made by an unknown artist, your attention is drawn to the buckle fastening the ermine robe on the Empress's chest. This buckle is very reminiscent of the large imperial agraph buckle kept in the Diamond Fund.
Description of the buckle from the catalog compiled in 1925 - 1926 under the leadership of A. S. Fersman during the first inventory of nationalized treasures Page. 36 Issue 1: “Agraf buckle, or rather a whole plastron made of solid solid silver with 2 large needles for pinning and rings for sewing on a dress. The general arrangement of the pattern of intertwining branches, the amazingly skillful interpretation of the highly heterogeneous material of the diamonds, the harmonious combination of randomly scattered white and yellow diamonds - all this reveals a great master of jewelry of the Elizabethan era; according to S.N. Troinitsky, it could be the famous Pozier. Dimensions: total length - 25 cm; width from 8 to 11 cm. Diamonds are old stones of various qualities and values; Along with first-class Indian stones, there are many completely worthless yellow or spotted stones from Brazil. The frame is massive in silver, the diamonds on the carcass are in silver. Work around 1750."
An extraordinary feeling arises when a well-known object can be seen on its owner. This cannot be compared with the sensations you experience when you see the same object in a museum window.
Or, let's look at the portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich by an unknown artist from the late 1770s, who repeated the iconographic type of J. L. Voile.
The baby is holding a rattle, which is also kept in the Diamond Fund. We will also find a description of this rattle in Fersman's inventory: A golden rattle with an openwork pattern in the form of flowers and leaves with applied decorations also in the form of flowers; white and yellow diamonds in silver and high-grade gold. There is an ivory tip at one end and a whistle and lanyard wheel at the other. Length 17.7 cm; the width of the ball is 4.8 cm. The frame is in the style of Louis XV.”
Before I saw this portrait, the rattle seemed to me only a curiosity of a bizarre shape, an incomprehensible and implausible trinket. In the hands of a baby she found her meaning.
In portraits, as in the personal lives of Russian monarchs, one can get confused. The image was invented, agreed with the customer, often, as in the case of Catherine II, the head was taken from the iconographic image of one artist, the dress and details - from another, then all this was rewritten either by unknown artists or by famous ones, copies were replicated and scattered to all corners of Russia.
Portrait of Catherine II by Lampi and repetition of the iconographic image of Lampi by Levitsky. 
An example of replicating an image: an engraving by N. I. Utkin (presented at the exhibition), made from the original by V. L. Borovikovsky (State Tretyakov Gallery). 
The exhibition “Portrait of a Dynasty” introduces us not only to the works of well-known artists such as Levitsky, Rokotov, Borovikovsky, but also to little-known names of Western European artists who, commissioned by the imperial court, worked in Russia in the 18th - 1st half. XIX century Western European artists came from different European countries and brought traditions of various national schools. These include Jean Louis Voile, Johann Lampi (the Elder), Louis Caravaque, Stefano Torelli and others.
It happened that numerous copies of portraits led to a devaluation of artistry, but this was not always the case. Each artist, wittingly or unwittingly, put something of his experience or inexperience into the next copy. Sometimes a copy is difficult to distinguish from the original, and sometimes when the original is lost, only a copy could serve as the only evidence of the existence of the lost original.
In case of loss of artistry in execution, the portrait testified more about the material world than about the author's style, which disappeared under the brushes of numerous copyists. In the case of unsuccessful or mediocre copies, copies created by unfamous artists, the names of the latter have not even survived to this day. In such works we see “unknown artist” instead of the author’s name; in other cases, as in the works of Levitsky, the repetition of the iconographic image was not only no worse, but also a very worthy artistic interpretation of the original version.
Despite the fact that the exhibition presents paintings of undeniable high artistic performance, it does not aim to show the artistic qualities of portrait painters.
The artistic skill of portrait painters, restrained by regulations and traditions, nevertheless could not help but improve. And so chamber portraits appeared, where the material world is gradually replaced by the inner world of the hero. Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1806 - 1808).
A detailed interior and landscape appear, which makes the place where the portrait is painted significant. Portrait of Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna against the backdrop of the Cameron Gallery in Tsarskoye Selo Park.
The appearance of animals in portraits.
With the invention of photography, an even more intimate world of the monarch opens up to us. You no longer need to waste time painting a portrait and posing. The whole family can be captured at any time. The interior or landscape is no longer conventional, not invented by the artist, but quite concrete and real.
National character appeared in portraits from time to time if there was a need to raise the national spirit in society. This technique has remained relevant throughout the centuries. Catherine II resorts to such techniques when she appears in the portrait of S. Torelli in Russian national costume, “reflecting the national line in her politics.”
Or Alexander III and Nicholas II against the background of a traditional dacha - a socio-cultural phenomenon of Russian life.
Photographs can convey even more - the interior of the office, the smallest details, but this is a completely different era.
Photography is also a huge illusion. For example, I was surprised at how small the photograph of Nicholas II and Alex in fancy dress is, one of which can still be seen today in the collection of the State Armory Chamber. But this very image was used for the catalog and posters for the exhibition.
The print of Charles Bergamasco, a photographer of the Russian and English aristocracy, will not escape the eyes of those who are interested in photography. Charles Bergamasco came to St. Petersburg in the 1840s. He began his career in the French troupe of the St. Petersburg Theater, became interested in daguerreotype, went to study photography in Paris, and upon his return opened his own studio in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, Charles gained fame both in Russia and in Europe and won awards. In 1877 he visited Great Britain, where he was invited to take several photographs of Queen Victoria and members of her family. And these photographs are now kept in the National Gallery in London. Several photographs of members of the Romanov family are presented at the exhibition.
There are also favorite portraits from the exhibition. I was completely amazed by the expressiveness of the historical portrait of Peter I’s brother Ivan V in the first half of the 18th century. and a portrait of the wife of Alexander I, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna (1820s (?))
Absolutely Shakespearean images.
It is obvious that within the framework of a short article it is impossible to cover all the portraits and characterize their features. And the presented material does not pretend to be a deep and comprehensive study of the subject, but is only limited to a description and general characteristics of the exhibition, which is certainly worthy of attention and repeated visits.
CATHERINE I. 1684-1727 First Empress of the Russian Empire. Marta Skavronskaya is from a Livonian peasant family. At baptism into Orthodoxy she was named Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. Since 1721 empress, second wife of Emperor Peter I, since 1725 - as ruling empress. She gave birth to two daughters, Elizabeth and Anna, and a son, Peter, who died in infancy.
ANNA IOANNOVNA, 1693-1740 Second Empress of the Russian Empire from 1730. Second daughter of Tsar Ivan Y, brother and co-ruler of Peter I, widow of the Duke of Courland. During her reign, power in the country belonged to Chancellor Osterman and her favorite Ernst Biron. She bequeathed the throne to her nephew Ivan Antonovich, the grandson of her sister Catherine. Portrait
brushes by Louis Caravacca
Anna Leopoldovna, 1718-1746 Regent-ruler for minors son Ivan YI (1740-1764) Anna Leopoldovna is the daughter of the deceased Ekaterina Ivanovna, the eldest daughter of Tsar Ivan Y, who, at one time, was married to Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On the night of November 25, 1741 was overthrown as a result of a palace coup and was imprisoned with her son in the Shlisselburg fortress, where she died. Portrait by Louis Caravacca.
ELIZAVETA PETROVNA. 1709-1761 Third Empress of the Russian Empire, reigned from 1742 to 1761. She came to power as a result of a palace coup, raising the Guards Company and the Preobrazhensky Regiment with the call “Guys, you know whose daughter I am!! Serve me as you served my father, Emperor Peter!” She was smart, kind but frivolous and wayward, a real Russian lady. She abolished the death penalty. She was in a church but secret marriage with Razumovsky Alexei Grigorievich. She summoned Karl's nephew Peter Ulrich, grandson of Peter 1, son of Anna Petrovna, sister of Elizabeth, from Holstein. Portrait by Georg Groot.
Vigilius Eriksen. Portrait of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna
The Empress declared her nephew heir to the throne, baptized him, making him Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, forcing him to study the Russian language and the Orthodox catechism. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke was an absolute ignoramus and amazed everyone with his ignorance. Elizaveta Petrovna married him to Princess Sophia Frederica of Angelt-Zerbtskaya, who converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna. Artist Georg Groot.
CATHERINE II THE GREAT, 1729-1796 The fourth empress of the Russian Empire, the wife of Peter III, came to power as a result of a military coup, overthrowing her husband, who was soon killed. In July 1762 in the Kazan Cathedral she was proclaimed autocratic empress. The period of her reign was considered golden, she continued the initiatives of Peter the Great, Russia gained access to the Black Sea and increased the lands of the empire. She gave birth to a son, the future Emperor Paul. Under her, favoritism flourished in Russia, she was loving, the number of official favorites reached 23. Portrait by I.P. Argunov.
Portrait of Empress Catherine II. Artist F.S. Rokotov, 1763.
Maria Fedorovna, 1759-1828 The fifth empress, wife of Emperor Paul 1 of the Russian Empire, was crowned in 1797, before her marriage she was Princess Dorothea of Württemberg. She gave birth to 10 children, two of whom, Alexander 1 and Nicholas 1, were emperors of Russia. Artist Vigée Lebrun.
Empress Maria Feodorovna, from 1801 Dowager Empress, mother of Emperor Alexander 1. Artist A. Roslin
Elizaveta Alekseevna, 1779-1825 The sixth empress, wife of Emperor Alexander 1, before her marriage, Princess Louise Maria Augusta of Baden, married the heir to the throne at the age of 14, Alexander was 16 years old. She had two daughters who died in infancy. The family life of the crowned family did not work out, Alexander took a mistress - Maria Naryshkina, the empress was considered a “straw widow”, it is known about her two affairs with Adam Czartoryski
and Alexey Okhotnikov. After the mysterious death of Alexander 1, she died suddenly in Belevo, accompanying her husband’s coffin. But she is identified with the recluse Vera the Silent, who died in 1861 in the Novgorod monastery. There is an opinion that Alexander 1 did not die, but took the schema - elder Fyodor Kuzmich and died in 1863. In Tomsk. Portrait of the Empress by Jean Laurent Monnier, 1807.
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Alexandra Fedorovna, 1798-1860 The seventh empress, the wife of Emperor Nicholas 1, was crowned with her husband in 1825, and reigned until 1855, then the dowager empress. Before her marriage, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm S. A fragile, irresponsible and graceful creature. Nicholas 1 had a passionate and despotic adoration for her. She immediately came to court, Emperor Alexander 1 
he loved to open balls with her, she loved to dance until she dropped. Young Pushkin was captivated by her and she repaid him with great affection. “The genius of pure beauty” - V.A. Zhukovsky said about her, and A.S. Pushkin repeated this phrase in a different context. One of the beautiful and noble women of the first half of the 19th century, was a creative person, painted portraits, poems, had many fans, encrypted their names under the names of flowers, thus collecting a whole herbarium. Each of her moves or departures on vacation was equal in cost to Russia to crop failures and river floods... She gave birth to 9 children, her son is Emperor Alexander II. 1) Portrait in a Red Dress, by Christina Robertson. 2) Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Artist Karl Reichel
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Artist F. Winterhalter
Maria Alexandrovna, 1824-1880. Eighth Empress, wife of Emperor Alexander II, reigned from 1855 to 1880. Traveling through Europe in 1838 the heir to the throne fell in love with 14-year-old Maria of Hesse and married her in 1841, although he knew about the secret of her origin. The princess was the illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine of Baden and her chamberlain Baron de Grancy, but Mary was recognized by her “father” as Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and entered into the dynastic list. She was an extremely sincere soul, deeply religious and devoted her life to charity, cared about women's education, and opened women's gymnasiums. She took part in the fate of the teacher Ushinsky. At court they did not like her because of her severity. She gave birth to 8 children, her son was the future Emperor Alexander Sh. She suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1880. At the end of her life she suffered because of the pranks of her husband, who started a second family with Princess Ekaterina Dolgoruka. E. Dolgorukaya lived with her children from Alexander P in the same Winter Palace.
Maria Alexandrovna, Empress. Artist Christina Robertson, 1850
The Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and the Mariinsky Palace in Kiev were named in honor of the empress.
Artist V. Makovsky
Maria Feodorovna, 1848-1928 Ninth Empress, wife of Emperor Alexander III, reign 1883-1894. after the death of her husband in 1894, she became the Dowager Empress. The daughter of the Danish king Christian 9, was the bride of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, after his death in 1865. She married his brother Alexander and bore him six children. She was friendly and cheerful, the marriage was successful, and throughout their entire life together the couple maintained sincere affection. Something about her. She was against the marriage of her son Nicholas to the Princess of Hesse. She didn’t like EVERYTHING about her new daughter-in-law, including the furniture she chose for the Winter Palace. Maria Fedorovna saw how strong the influence of her daughter-in-law was on the weak-willed Nikolai and how destructively this affected the authorities.
Artist K. Makovsky
Since 1915, Maria Feodorovna moved to Kyiv, her residence was the royal Mariinsky Palace. She learned about her son's abdication of the throne in Kyiv, left for Crimea, and from there in 1919 she was taken to Great Britain on an English military ship. Then she moved to Denmark, where she lived until her death in 1928. Until the end of her life, she did not want to believe in the death of her sons, grandchildren and those loved ones who died at the hands of the Red Terror. September 26, 2006 The ashes of Maria Feodorovna were transported to Russia and buried with honors in the tomb of the Russian tsars.
“It’s all God’s grace that the future is hidden from us and we don’t know in advance about the terrible trials and misfortunes that fate has in store for us,” she wrote in her diary.
Artist I.T.Galkin eksandra Fedorovna, 1872-1918 Tenth Empress, wife of the last Emperor of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II, reign 1894-1917. Daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse Louis IV and Duchess Anne, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. We met and became interested in each other at her sister’s wedding with Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The heir's parents were against the marriage, but then gave in. The wedding took place less than a week after the funeral of Alexander III, the honeymoon took place in an atmosphere of funeral services and mourning visits. The most deliberate dramatization could not have invented a more suitable prologue for the historical tragedy of the last Russian Tsar. Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, Count Witte S.Yu. wrote “he married a pretty woman, a woman who was not entirely normal, who took him into her arms, which was not difficult given his lack of will.... the empress, with her behavior, aggravated Nika’s shortcomings and her abnormalities began to be reflected in the abnormality of some of the actions of her august husband.” Nicholas II abdicated the throne in 1917, on the night of July 17, 1818. The royal family was shot in Yekaterinburg.
In 1981 All members of the royal family were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. In August 2000 - by the Russian Orthodox Church. The remains of the family of the last Russian Tsar are buried in the family tomb of the Tsars in St. Petersburg.
Alekseeva O.N.
Some sources say that they come from Prussia, others that their roots come from Novgorod. The first known ancestor is a Moscow boyar from the time of Ivan Kalita - Andrei Kobyla. His sons became the founders of many boyar and noble families. Among them are the Sheremetevs, Konovnitsyns, Kolychevs, Ladygins, Yakovlevs, Boborykins and many others. The Romanov family descended from the son of Kobyla - Fyodor Koshka. His descendants first called themselves Koshkins, then Koshkins-Zakharyins, and then simply Zakharyins.
The first wife of Ivan VI “the Terrible” was Anna Romanova-Zakharyina. This is where the “kinship” with the Rurikovichs and, consequently, the right to the throne can be traced.
This article tells how ordinary boyars, with a fortunate combination of circumstances and good business acumen, became the most significant family for more than three centuries, until the Great October Revolution of 1917.
Family tree of the Romanov royal dynasty in full: with reign dates and photos
Mikhail Fedorovich (1613 - 1645)
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, not a single blood heir of the Rurik family remained, but a new dynasty was born - the Romanovs. The cousin of John IV’s wife, Anastasia Zakharyina, Mikhail, demanded his rights to the throne. With the support of the ordinary Moscow people and the Cossacks, he took the reins of power into his own hands and began a new era in the history of Russia.
Alexey Mikhailovich “The Quietest” (1645 - 1676)
Following Mikhail, his son, Alexei, sat on the throne. He had a gentle character, for which he received his nickname. Boyar Boris Morozov had a strong influence on him. The consequence of this was the Salt Riot, the uprising of Stepan Razin and other major unrest.
Feodor III Alekseevich (1676 - 1682)
The eldest son of Tsar Alexei. After the death of his father, he legally took the throne. First of all, he elevated his associates - the bed-keeper Yazykov and the room steward Likhachev. They were not from the nobility, but throughout their lives they helped in the formation of Feodor III.
Under him, an attempt was made to mitigate punishments for criminal offenses and amputation of limbs as an execution was abolished.
The decree of 1862 on the destruction of localism became important in the reign of the tsar.
Ivan V (1682 - 1696)
At the time of the death of his elder brother, Fedor III, Ivan V was 15 years old. His entourage believed that he did not have the skills inherent in a tsar and the throne should be inherited by his younger brother, 10-year-old Peter I. As a result, the rule was given to both at once, and their older sister Sophia was made their regent. Ivan V was weak, almost blind and weak-minded. During his reign, he did not make any decisions. Decrees were signed in his name, and he himself was used as a ceremonial king. In fact, the country was led by Princess Sophia.
Peter I "The Great" (1682 - 1725)
Like his older brother, Peter took the place of the Tsar in 1682, but due to his youth he could not make any decisions. He devoted a lot of time to studying military affairs while his older sister Sophia ruled the country. But in 1689, after the princess decided to single-handedly lead Russia, Peter I brutally dealt with her supporters, and she herself was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. She spent the rest of her days within its walls and died in 1704.
Two tsars remained on the throne - Ivan V and Peter I. But Ivan himself gave his brother all the powers and remained the ruler only formally.
Having gained power, Peter carried out a number of reforms: the creation of the Senate, the subordination of the church to the state, and also built a new capital - St. Petersburg. Under him, Russia won the status of a great power and the recognition of Western European countries. The state was also renamed the Russian Empire, and the tsar became the first emperor.
Catherine I (1725 - 1727)
After the death of her husband, Peter I, with the support of the guard, she took the throne. The new ruler did not have the skills to conduct foreign and domestic policy, she did not want this herself, so in fact the country was ruled by her favorite, Count Menshikov.
Peter II (1727 - 1730)
After the death of Catherine I, the rights to the throne were transferred to the grandson of Peter “the Great” - Peter II. The boy was only 11 years old at that time. And after 3 years he died suddenly from smallpox.
Peter II paid attention not to the country, but only to hunting and pleasure. All decisions were made for him by the same Menshikov. After the overthrow of the count, the young emperor found himself under the influence of the Dolgorukov family.
Anna Ioannovna (1730 - 1740)
After the death of Peter II, the Supreme Privy Council invited Ivan V's daughter Anna to the throne. The condition for her ascension to the throne was the acceptance of a number of restrictions - “Conditions”. They stated that the newly-crowned empress does not have the right, by unilateral decision, to declare war, make peace, get married and appoint an heir to the throne, as well as some other regulations.
After gaining power, Anna found support from the nobility, destroyed the prepared rules and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council.
The Empress was not distinguished by either intelligence or success in education. Her favorite, Ernst Biron, had a huge influence on her and the country. After her death, it was he who was appointed regent to the infant Ivan VI.
The reign of Anna Ioannovna is a dark page in the history of the Russian Empire. Under her, political terror and disregard for Russian traditions reigned.
Ivan VI Antonovich (1740 - 1741)
According to the will of Empress Anna, Ivan VI ascended the throne. He was a baby, and therefore the first year of his “reign” was spent under the leadership of Ernst Biron. Afterwards, power passed to Ivan’s mother, Anna Leopoldovna. But in fact, the government was in the hands of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The emperor himself spent his entire life in prison. And at the age of 23 he was killed by prison guards.
Elizaveta Petrovna (1741 - 1761)
As a result of a palace coup with the support of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the illegitimate daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine came to power. She continued the foreign policy of her father and marked the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment, opening the Lomonosov State University.
Peter III Fedorovich (1761 - 1762)
Elizaveta Petrovna left no direct heirs in the male line. But back in 1742, she made sure that the line of Romanov rule did not end, and appointed her nephew, the son of her sister Anna, Peter III, as her heir.
The newly-crowned emperor ruled the country for only six months, after which he was killed as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, Catherine.
Catherine II "The Great" (1762 - 1796)
After the death of her husband Peter III, she began to rule the empire alone. She did not make either a loving wife or mother. She devoted all her strength to strengthening the position of the autocracy. Under her rule, the borders of Russia were expanded. Her reign also influenced the development of science and education. Catherine carried out reforms and divided the country's territory into provinces. Under her, six departments were established in the Senate, and the Russian Empire received the proud title of one of the most developed powers.
Paul I (1796 - 1801)
The mother's dislike had a strong influence on the new emperor. His entire policy was aimed at erasing everything that she had done during the years of her reign. He tried to concentrate all power in his hands and minimize self-government.
An important step in his policy is the decree banning the succession to the throne by women. This order lasted until 1917, when the reign of the Romanov family came to an end.
The policies of Paul I contributed to a slight improvement in the lives of the peasants, but the position of the nobility was greatly reduced. As a result, already in the first years of his reign, a conspiracy began to be prepared against him. Dissatisfaction with the emperor grew in various strata of society. The result was death in his own room during the coup.
Alexander I (1801 - 1825)
He took the throne after the death of his father, Paul I. It was he who took part in the conspiracy, but knew nothing about the impending murder and suffered from guilt all his life.
During his reign, several important laws saw the light of day:
- The decree on “free cultivators”, according to which peasants received the right to redeem themselves with the land by agreement with the landowner.
- A decree on educational reform, after which representatives of all classes could undergo training.
The emperor promised the people the adoption of a constitution, but the project remained unfinished. Despite liberal policies, large-scale changes in the life of the country have not occurred.
In 1825, Alexander caught a cold and died. There are legends that the emperor faked his death and became a hermit.
Nicholas I (1825 - 1855)
As a result of the death of Alexander I, the reins of power were supposed to pass into the hands of his younger brother Constantine, but he voluntarily renounced the title of emperor. So the throne was taken by the third son of Paul I, Nicholas I.
The strongest influence on him was his upbringing, which was based on severe suppression of the individual. He could not count on the throne. The child grew up in oppression and suffered physical punishment.
Study travels largely influenced the views of the future emperor - conservative, with a pronounced anti-liberal orientation. After the death of Alexander I, Nicholas showed all his determination and political abilities and, despite a lot of disagreements, ascended the throne.
An important stage in the development of the ruler’s personality was the Decembrist uprising. It was brutally suppressed, order was restored, and Russia swore allegiance to the new monarch.
Throughout his life, the emperor considered his goal to be the suppression of the revolutionary movement. The policies of Nicholas I led to the largest foreign policy defeat during the Crimean War of 1853 - 1856. The failure undermined the emperor's health. In 1955, an accidental cold took his life.
Alexander II (1855 - 1881)
The birth of Alexander II attracted enormous public attention. At this time, his father did not even imagine him in the place of ruler, but young Sasha was already destined for the role of heir, since none of Nicholas I’s older brothers had male children.
The young man received a good education. He mastered five languages and had a perfect knowledge of history, geography, statistics, mathematics, natural science, logic and philosophy. Special courses were conducted for him under the guidance of influential figures and ministers.
During his reign, Alexander carried out many reforms:
- university;
- judicial;
- military and others.
But the most important is rightfully considered the abolition of serfdom. For this move he was nicknamed the Tsar Liberator.
Nevertheless, despite the innovations, the emperor remained faithful to the autocracy. This policy did not contribute to the adoption of the constitution. The emperor's reluctance to choose a new path of development caused an intensification of revolutionary activity. As a result, a series of assassination attempts led to the death of the sovereign.
Alexander III (1881 - 1894)
Alexander III was the second son of Alexander II. Since he was not initially the heir to the throne, he did not consider it necessary to receive a proper education. Only at a conscious age did the future ruler begin to prepare for his reign at an accelerated pace.
As a result of the tragic death of his father, power passed to a new emperor - tougher, but fair.
A distinctive feature of the reign of Alexander III was the absence of wars. For this he was nicknamed the “peacemaker king.”
He died in 1894. The cause of death was nephritis - inflammation of the kidneys. The cause of the disease is considered to be both the crash of the imperial train at Borki station and the emperor’s addiction to alcohol.
Here is practically the entire family genealogical tree of the Romanov family with years of reign and portraits. Special attention should be paid to the last monarch.
Nicholas II (1894 - 1917)
Son of Alexander III. He ascended the throne as a result of the sudden death of his father.
He received a good education aimed at military education, studied under the leadership of the current Tsar, and his teachers were outstanding Russian scientists.
Nicholas II quickly became comfortable on the throne and began to promote an independent policy, which caused discontent among some of his circle. The main goal of his reign was to establish the internal unity of the empire.
Opinions about Alexander's son are very scattered and contradictory. Many consider him too soft and weak-willed. But his strong attachment to his family is also noted. He did not part with his wife and children until the last seconds of his life.
Nicholas II played a big role in the church life of Russia. Frequent pilgrimages brought him closer to the indigenous population. The number of churches during his reign increased from 774 to 1005. Later, the last emperor and his family were canonized by the Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR).
On the night of July 16-17, 1918, after the October Revolution of 1917, the royal family was shot in the basement of Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg. It is believed that the order was given by Sverdlov and Lenin.
On this tragic note, the reign of the royal family ends, which lasted for more than three centuries (from 1613 to 1917). This dynasty left a huge mark on the development of Russia. It is to her that we owe what we have now. Only thanks to the rule of representatives of this family, serfdom was abolished in our country, educational, judicial, military and many other reforms were launched.
A diagram of a complete family tree with the years of reign of the first and last monarchs from the Romanov family clearly shows how from an ordinary boyar family a great family of rulers emerged who glorified the royal dynasty. But even now you can trace the formation of the successors of the family. At the moment, the descendants of the imperial family who could lay claim to the throne are alive and well. There is no longer any “pure blood” left, but the fact remains. If Russia again switches to a form of government such as a monarchy, then the successor of the ancient family may become the new king.
It is worth noting that most Russian rulers lived relatively short lives. After fifty, only Peter I, Elizaveta I Petrovna, Nicholas I and Nicholas II died. And the threshold of 60 years was overcome by Catherine II and Alexander II. All the rest died at a fairly early age due to illness or a coup d'etat.
