Tsarskoe Selo received a fragment of Allegory of Catherine I's Reign, an 18th-century oil-on-canvas portrait made during the empress' life.

The painting was purchased specially for our museum from a Russian private collection by Gerofarm, a Russian top 20 pharmaceutical company from St Petersburg. The company chose to celebrate its 20th anniversary by providing financial support for this otherwise impossible acquisition.

The 62.8 x 45.4 cm fragment with a semicircular top shows Catherine I wearing the imperial crown and an ermine mantle and holding a scepter and orb, with a battle scene and military trophies in the background.

According to experts from the Russian Museum, the fragment dates back to the second quarter of the 18th century. Its author is unknown, but the paint pigments of the scepter contain gold and silver which were most likely available to court painters of the time.

The experts think the fragment is part of a larger painting that commemorated Catherine I's coronation. Its composition repeats that of the central part of Alexei Zubov's engraving of 1725, which was presented to the empress by the  Most Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Sometimes coloured, prints of the engraving are preserved in many museums across Russia. They have the empress full-sized, surrounded by 59 roundels with portraits of Russia's tsars from Rurik to Peter the Great. It is assumed that the engraving was preceded by the similar painting, a typical practice in the 18th century.  

This fragment is the third lifetime portrait of the founder of the Tsarskoe Selo residence in our collection, the other two being by Louis Caravaque and Ivan Adolsky. After restoration, the painting will join the Catherine Palace display as an artifact from the early years of Tsarskoe Selo.