Russian school; XVIII century.

Russian school; XVIII century.
"Portrait of Empress Elizabeth of Russia".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves frame of the eighteenth century.
Measurements: 80 x 64 cm; 118 x 83 cm (frame).
The 18th century was a prosperous period and a time of intense cultural opening of Russia towards Western Europe, especially towards France. The canvas follows directly the model established by Louis Tocqué, whose version of the sovereign, preserved in the Hermitage Museum, established an iconographic prototype widely spread in the Russian imperial court.
The composition corresponds to the scheme of the portrait of apparatus: the empress appears in long or three-quarter length bust, richly attired in ceremonial robes, sumptuous embroidery and royal attributes that underline her imperial status. The pose, inherited from Tocqué's model, combines sumptuousness and authority. The neutral or barely suggested background allows to concentrate the attention on the figure and on the richness of the textiles. From the stylistic point of view, the work reflects the assimilation of the French rococo taste in the Russian context, visible in the delicacy of the modeling, the softness of the lighting and the refinement in the representation of the surfaces. The brushwork is careful and polished, oriented towards an idealized verisimilitude that exalts both the beauty and majesty of the sovereign. This type of portrait is evidence of Russia's role as an active recipient of European artistic currents, adapted to its own needs of political representation.
The figure depicted is Elizabeth I of Russia (1709-1762), daughter of Peter the Great, who ruled the Russian Empire between 1741 and 1762. Her reign was characterized by the consolidation of autocratic power and by a determined impulse to the westernization of the arts and court culture, favoring the importation of foreign artists and the adoption of French stylistic models. In this context, the official portrait became an essential instrument for the representation of power and dynastic affirmation.