Portrait of Empress Catherine I (1684-1727)

This painting is an adapted replica of an original portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier painted in The Hague in early 1717. The Nattier portrait was held in the collection of Count Vorontzov until his death in 1767 and later transferred to the Imperial Academy of Arts and subsequently to the Winter Palace in 1850. The inspiration for numerous copies, this variant is of closer focus and depicts the Empress wearing the order of St Andrew. For further information please see X. Salmon, Jean Marc Nattier: 1685-1766, Paris, 1999, p. 56.