PRESS RELEASE

August 2018

Russia: Royalty & the Romanovs

The Queen’s Gallery, 9 November 2018 – 28 April 2019

For more than 300 years Britain has been linked to Russia through exploration and discovery, diplomatic alliances and, latterly, by familial and dynastic ties. Russia: Royalty & the Romanovs, opening on 9 November 2018, explores the relationship between the two countries and their royal families through works of art in the , many of which were acquired through the personal exchange of gifts.

In 1698 Peter I, known as , arrived in . The first Russian ruler to set foot on English soil, he stayed for three months as part of a 'Grand Embassy', a diplomatic and fact-finding tour of Western Europe that included meetings with the British , William III. On his departure Peter presented the King with his portrait, painted by Godfrey Kneller. Kneller depicts the Tsar Laurits Regner Tuxen, The Marriage as a young and vibrant ruler, looking to the West and of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 26th hoping to establish a new, 'open' Russia. November 1894, 1896

During the reign of the Empress Catherine II () Russia's borders expanded to the south and west, and the country was established as one of the great powers in Europe. The Empress's portrait by Vigilius Eriksen, c.1765–9, is thought to have been given to George III and is recorded as hanging in the Privy Chamber at in 1813. George III never visited Russia, yet his interest in the country is evident from the books in his library. These included the accounts of European merchants and the first description of Russia in the French language by the mercenary soldier Jacques Margeret.

The year 1815 saw final victory in the Napoleonic wars by the allied forces, including those of Great Britain and Russia. George IV commissioned Sir to paint portraits of the central figures in the defeat of for the Waterloo Chamber at , a room created to celebrate the achievement. Paintings of Matvei Ivanovitch, Platov, commander of the Cossack cavalry, and of General Fedor Petrovitch Uvarov, Alexander I's Aide-de-Camp at the Congress of Vienna, recognised Russia's important contribution to the defeat of Napoleon.

A steady stream of Russian , empresses, grand and grand duchesses were entertained in Britain in the following years. The future Emperor Nicholas I visited in 1816–17, when he attended a banquet of more than 100 courses, hosted by the at his seaside residence, Brighton Pavilion, in the company of Frederick, of York and the Duke of Clarence, later William IV. In gratitude for the hospitality shown to the

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk

future Emperor, his mother, Empress Maria sent the 's daughter, Charlotte, the insignia of the Order of St Catherine. The Order had been instituted in 1714 by Peter I on the occasion of his marriage to Catherine I and was the most prestigious award for women in Imperial Russia. The Princess is shown wearing the badge on a Russian-style dress in a portrait of c.1817.

Queen Victoria's eldest son, Albert Edward, (later King Edward VII), married Princess Alexandra of in 1863. Three years later, Alexandra's sister, Princess Dagmar, married Alexander, later becoming Empress Maria Feodorovna and linking the English, Russian and Danish royal houses. In 1874, 's second son Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, married Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, daughter of Emperor Alexander II, as recorded in Nicholas Chevalier's painting of the ceremony. This first direct dynastic marriage between the two families was followed by the marriage of two of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, the Elizabeth and Alix of Hesse, to Sergei, son of Alexander II, and the future Nicholas II respectively.

The English, Russian and Danish royal families regularly visited one another and marked these occasions in paintings and photographs, and through the exchange of gifts. The Danish artist Laurits Regner Tuxen was commissioned to record significant family events, including The Marriage of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 26th November 1894 and The Family of Queen Victoria in 1887, celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee that year. A great number of works by Carl Fabergé entered the Royal Collection as a result of the close relationship and shared tastes of the sisters Queen Alexandra and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Among them are a framed portrait miniature of the Empress and a gold cigarette case, given to King Edward VII as a 40th wedding anniversary present in 1903.

Nicholas II and his family made their last visit to England in August 1909. They attended the annual regatta at Cowes on the , and the royal families dined together on each other's yachts. A local photographer was commissioned to record the occasion and produced a double portrait of the Prince of Wales (later King ) and his cousin Emperor Nicholas, which shows the strong family resemblance. During the visit the (later Queen Mary) was given a diamond-set Fabergé brooch made from a Siberian amethyst, a stone famous for its intense purple hue. Following the deaths of the Imperial Family in 1918, King George V and Queen Mary assembled a collection of works of art that had belonged to their Russian relations as poignant reminders of happier times.

In 1923 the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The ) commissioned a portrait of herself from the Russian artist Savely Sorine. Twenty-five years later she commissioned Sorine to paint a portrait of her daughter Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, the future Queen Elizabeth II. During an official visit in 1956, First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and Premier Nikolai Bulganin presented Her Majesty The Queen with a number of gifts, including the oil painting A Winter's Day by the prominent painter, publisher and art historian Igor Grabar.

Ends

Russia: Royalty & the Romanovs is at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 9 November 2018 – 28 April 2019, with Shadows of War: Roger Fenton's Photographs of the Crimea, 1855.

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk

The accompanying publication, Russia: Art, Royalty & the Romanovs, is published by Royal Collection Trust, price £29.95 from Royal Collection Trust shops.

Visitor information and tickets for The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace: www.royalcollection.org.uk, T. +44 (0)30 3123 7301.

A selection of images is available from www.picselect.com. For further information and photographs, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected]

Notes to Editors

Royal Collection Trust, a department of the Royal Household, is responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen. Income generated from admissions and from associated commercial activities contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programmes. Royal Collection Trust’s work is undertaken without public funding of any kind.

The Royal Collection is among the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. It comprises almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, and is spread among some 15 royal residences and former residences across the UK, most of which are regularly open to the public. The Royal Collection is held in trust by the Sovereign for her successors and the nation, and is not owned by The Queen as a private individual.

Admission to The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace is managed by The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity in England and Wales (1016972) and in Scotland (SCO39772).

Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk