IMG 3195 Panorama

The portrait of Catherine II entered the museum in 1927 from the State Museum Fund. Previously, he was in the collection of the princes of Baryatinsky (the estate of Maryino, Kursk province). In 1905, the portrait was exhibited at the Taurida Historical and Art Exhibition in St. Petersburg. The ceremonial portrait created by Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky can rightfully be considered a genuine historical painting. In the 1780s, Russia made huge strides in the international arena. In 1783, after long Russo-Turkish wars and diplomatic negotiations, the official ceremony of joining Crimea to Russia took place. And already in 1787, the Turkish government sought to restore its dominance over the Crimea. It was then, in the summer of 1787, that the empress, accompanied by the Austrian emperor Joseph, set off on a journey down the Dnieper to the Crimea to the newly founded fortress of Sevastopol. “On the route of the empress,” historians write, “Potemkin arranged parades of troops and maneuvers of the fleet. This demonstrated Russia's readiness to defend new acquisitions on the Black Sea coast and expand them. The same goals - to strengthen the international prestige of Russia, to glorify its foreign policy - the picture of Levitsky also served. The program of the painting, saturated with allegories and symbolism, is deciphered as an apology for a victorious power, headed by an enlightened and peaceful empress. In accordance with the traditions of classicism, Catherine is likened to Athena, the militant goddess of wisdom. The short satin tunic is reminiscent of the clothing of the Amazon. But the black and orange ribbon of the Order of St. George, established by the Empress for the glory of military prowess, returns to the realities of the time, the armor of defeated enemies thrown at the feet of the Empress. In the right hand of the royal warrior is a sword entwined with a laurel branch and sheathed, with which she points to the land of Crimea.