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Lot Essay
PLATON LEVSHIN
Platon Levshin (1737-1812), Russian divine, was invited by Empress Catherine II to instruct her son Paul in theology. In 1770 he was appointed archbishop of Tver, and in 1787 archbishop of Moscow and Metropolitan. He died in 1812. One of his last acts was to write a letter encouraging Emperor Alexander I regarding the French invasion.
The St. Petersburg tapestry workshop, the only such workshop in Russia, was founded by Peter the Great in November 1716. His weavers came from Gobelins and Beauvais with the permission of the French government and included Philippe Behagle, the son of the director of the Beauvais tapestry atelier. The St. Petersburg workshop remained active until 1858, when the Czar decreed to close it. Among the best-executed tapestries were the copies of paintings, which were woven from the very beginning of the workshop.
Among the 150 or so surviving tapestries by the St. Petersburg manufactory, many more must have been woven, technically closely related tapestries include those of Empress Anna Iovannovna of 1732 and Catherine the Great of 1766 (T.T. Korsunova, Russian Tapestry, Petersbourg Tapestry Factory, St. Petersburg, 1975, figs. 23 and 84, respectively).
Platon Levshin (1737-1812), Russian divine, was invited by Empress Catherine II to instruct her son Paul in theology. In 1770 he was appointed archbishop of Tver, and in 1787 archbishop of Moscow and Metropolitan. He died in 1812. One of his last acts was to write a letter encouraging Emperor Alexander I regarding the French invasion.
The St. Petersburg tapestry workshop, the only such workshop in Russia, was founded by Peter the Great in November 1716. His weavers came from Gobelins and Beauvais with the permission of the French government and included Philippe Behagle, the son of the director of the Beauvais tapestry atelier. The St. Petersburg workshop remained active until 1858, when the Czar decreed to close it. Among the best-executed tapestries were the copies of paintings, which were woven from the very beginning of the workshop.
Among the 150 or so surviving tapestries by the St. Petersburg manufactory, many more must have been woven, technically closely related tapestries include those of Empress Anna Iovannovna of 1732 and Catherine the Great of 1766 (T.T. Korsunova, Russian Tapestry, Petersbourg Tapestry Factory, St. Petersburg, 1975, figs. 23 and 84, respectively).