title: Stephano Torelli’s ‘Coronation Portrait of Catherine II’: Crowns as a Visual Formula of the Lands of the Russian Empire
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Skvortcova, Ekaterina A.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2020-09-04T09:15:17Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2020-09-04T09:15:17Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2020-06
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Skvortcova, Ekaterina. “Stephano Torelli’s ‘Coronation Portrait of Catherine II’: Crowns as a Visual Formula of the Lands of the Russian Empire”. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts 10, no. 2 (2020): 274–299.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu15.2020.206
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/19179
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: The “Coronation portrait of Catherine II” by Stephano Torelli introduces a new type of iconography of the Russian Empress in which she appears as a bearer of multiple (i. e. four) crowns. Whereas originally such a portrait type in European art served as a representation of the several titles of the ruler and correspondent lands joined in a personal union, it became a representation of the titles of Catherine II as the Russian Empress and tsarina of the conquered tsarstva of Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberia. The theme of titles and lands of the Empire had already developed in 18th-century Russia in other forms (allegorical figures, coats-of-arms) and visual media (decorative painting and sculpture). Circa 10 examples collected here for the first time are set side by side with their European counterparts. Three types of representations of native and conquered territories emerged in which the very choice of particular titles and the place of their symbolic representation in composition accentuated different aspects in the concept of the Russian Empire. But it was only with Torelli’s “Coronation Portrait of Catherine II” that the symbolism of three crowns appeared in Russian portrait painting. Torelli previously worked for the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, some of whose portraits incorporate two crowns. Another important factor seems to be the fact that such iconography gained special popularity with Catherine’s senior peer Maria Theresia. Only the Habsburgs, the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, with which a newly established Russian Empire aspired to rival, possessed more than three crowns. The importance attached to symbolism of multiple crowns by Catherine is illustrated by direct mentioning of it in her “Zapiski”.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: The research was financed by the Grant of the President of Russian Federation for Young PhD candidates (project MK-1510.2019.6 “Female and Children Images in Discourse of Imperial Power: on the Example of Art of Russia in the 18th Century”).
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Arts;Volume 10; Issue 2
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Stephano Torelli
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: coronation portrait
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Catherine II
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: representation of Emperor
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: crowns
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: 18th-century Russian art
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Russian-European artistic links
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Stephano Torelli’s ‘Coronation Portrait of Catherine II’: Crowns as a Visual Formula of the Lands of the Russian Empire
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 274-299.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/19179/1/274-299.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 18,39 MB