The artist is Lagren
Elizabeth I Petrovna (December 18/29, 1709, Kolomenskoye − December 25, 1761 / January 5, 1762, St. Petersburg) − Russian Empress (from 1741). The illegitimate daughter of Peter I and Martha Skavronskaya, therefore, when official consideration of the question of the throne of 1725−1730 has never been seen as one of the applicants. With the support of the guard, a coup d’etat was carried out, during which Ivan VI managed and ruler Anna Leopoldovna.
Reigned from November 25 / December 6, 1741 to December 25, 1761 / January 5, 1762.
The 400th anniversary of the Romanov house. SPb, 2013. With. 110.
Lagren was invited to Russia not so much by Elizabeth Petrovna as her favorite count and. And. Shuvalov, the patron saint of sciences and arts, with the initiative and support of which the Academy of Arts and Moscow University were founded. For incomplete two years, the artist performed eighteen works. In his notebooks there is a special section: “Tat des Tableaux Faits a Saint-Petersbourg” (“List of paintings performed in St. Petersburg”). This list also mentions the paintings of the Russian Museum received from the Academy of Arts in 1923: “Lot with daughters” and “Empress Elizabeth Petrovna – patroness of art”.
According to the artist, the painting “Russian Empress, patronizing the arts” was written “for my admission to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts”. The picture is saturated with allegories: there is a sculpture here, sculpting the statue of Peter the Great, architecture, unfolding a new project, painting representing the painting before the empress. Interestingly, in this case, the artist depicted a fragment of his composition “Resurrection of Christ”, the whereabouts of which have not yet been established. At the foot of the throne there is a story thoroughly writing down everything that happens. (WITH. M.)
Electronic catalog “Heroes and villains of Russian history”. SPb, 2010. With. 208.
