As tensions mounted, a plan to overthrow Peter took root. She later was handed over to a close adviser of Peter I. and privacy policy, Enter your email address below and we’ll send you a link to reset your password, I agree to the Art UK terms and conditions 1792–1796. On May 18 (May 7), 1724, she was crowned empress-consort of Russia. 1. Catherine II the Legislatress in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice Elizabeth died in January 1762, and her nephew succeeded to the throne as Peter III, with Catherine as his consort. Catherine saw herself as an enlightened ruler. By the end of the eighteenth century, smallpox had killed hundreds of thousands of people across all over Europe. Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684–1745) (studio of) In 1779, Catherine famously snapped up the collection of Britain's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, whose vast collection of over 200 paintings had to be sold off when his descendants found themselves in debt. National Trust for Scotland, Brodie Castle, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun: from Rococo to Revolution, Queen Anne in 'The Favourite': gout, scandal and sabotage, Napoleon Bonaparte at 250: the most extraordinary character, Henry Raeburn: portraitist of the Scottish Enlightenment, Peter Paul Rubens: prince of painters and painter of princes, Love is contagious: how sexual diseases contaminated art history, The return of the power brooch: coded jewellery in art history, Gloriana and the Virgin Queen: portraits of Elizabeth I, Dead pretty: the perils of Georgian beauty regimes, Mary, Queen of Scots in art and literature, Uncovering paintings of Europe's monarchs of colour, The most painted royal in history? When Catherine gave birth to a son, Paul, in 1754, gossips murmured that Saltykov—not Peter—had fathered him. 1762–1770 [Go to accessibility information]. Some claimed that the all-powerful ruler had died while on the toilet. 1792–1796 She was also an enlightened visionary, one who tried to become a new kind of liberal and merciful ruler. The legitimate heir, the son of Alexis, Peter, was thus put aside. Though her enemies would have hoped for a scandalous end, the simple truth is that Catherine suffered a stroke and died quietly in her bed the following day. What a delight must the Imperial stride afford to the curious inhabitants of the intermediate countries.'. Fearful of contracting the disease, she invited the English physician Thomas Dimsdale to Russia to inoculate both herself and her son. Others took their lurid storytelling even further, perpetuating a myth that has endured for centuries: that Catherine, whose lustful life was an open secret, had died while engaging in a sex act with an animal, usually believed to be a horse. Being Catherine the Great’s lover came with huge rewards. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. On July 9, just six months after becoming czar, Peter abdicated, and Catherine was proclaimed sole ruler. Enlightenment philosophy had swept across Europe by the time Catherine took power. 7. Many believe Catherine was highly promiscuous. Always parting on good terms, she bestowed upon them titles, land, palaces and even people—gifting one former paramour with more than 1,000 serfs, or indentured servants. While many historians regard Catherine as an enlightened 'hypocrite' and a megalomaniacal despot, others highlight the sexist double standards that were used to discredit her. A short time later she and the tsar became lovers. Orphaned at the age of three, Marta Skowronska was raised by a Lutheran pastor in Marienburg (modern Alūksne, Latvia). She reportedly said: 'My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger. A woman without a biological claim to the throne, she legitimised her autocracy through cunning and sometimes ruthless strategies, often involving outwitting her enemies and by using sex as a political weapon. Her legacy as a 'Great' leader was unfortunately sullied by misogynistic rumours about her personal life, which included speculations that she died while having sex with a horse and that she was a nymphomaniac. After she lost interest in Orlov, Catherine began a relationship with lieutenant-general Grigory Potemkin, a war hero who had been present at the 1762 coup. Though he was fascinated by Russia, Voltaire never voyaged there, nor met Catherine. But perhaps nobody reaped the bounties of her favor more than Stanislaw Poniatowski, one of her earliest lovers and the father of one of her children. Relations between the two grew so bad that Paul was at times convinced his mother was actively plotting his death. All Rights Reserved. Adam Gopnik, 'Voltaire's Garden: The philosopher as a campaigner for human rights', The New Yorker, 7th March 2005, Isabel de Madariaga, Catherine the Great: a Short History, Yale University Press, 1990, Roderick Conway Morris, 'A Magnificent Collection Comes Back to England', The New York Times, 20th May 2013, Larry Wolff, '"If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian": Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars', The New York Times, 13th November 1994. In 1754, she gave birth to her first child, a son, Paul – who later became Paul I. She was famously in correspondence with the French philosopher Voltaire, whose ideas and wit she greatly admired. Catherine II of Russia in Life Guard Uniform on the Horse 'Brillante' She was an enlightened ruler who published ideas about liberal governance. According to her memoirs, this was because of her husband's impotence. What was once a strong bond between the two former lovers soon soured, with Catherine forcing Poniatowski to abdicate and Russia leading the effort to break up and dissolve the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Queen Victoria in portraits, Lady Mary Montagu: unsung pioneer of vaccination, Femininity weaponised: a history of women and swords in art, Louis-Léopold Boilly: French painter of the risqué, the humorous and everyday life, Mary Tudor: a reassessment of 'Bloody Mary', Dead Famous, part two: a cultural history of celebrity, Dr John Rogerson (1741–1823), Physician and Adviser to Catherine the Great, The Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (1729–1796), Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (1676–1745), Prime Minister. What was once a strong bond between the two former lovers soon soured, with Catherine forcing Poniatowski to abdicate and Russia leading the effort to … The boy had been removed from his mother’s care shortly after his birth and raised largely by the former czarina, Elizabeth, and a series of tutors. We want to know what you think about Art UK. Between 1768 and 1774 she staged a Russo-Turkish war against the Ottoman Empire, and in 1783 she annexed Crimea, an event that led to the concept of Potemkin villages (when Potemkin created fake portable villages to impress the Empress upon her visit to Crimea in 1787). Contrary to popular myth, Catherine died a fairly mundane, uneventful death. Catherine II of Russia had not a drop of Russian blood. National Trust, The Argory, François-Marie-Arouet Voltaire (1694–1778). In 1763, long after their relationship had ended and a year after she had come to power, Catherine successfully threw her support (both military and financial) behind Poniatowski in his effort to become king of Poland. The Russian throne, as Voltaire said, became “not hereditary and not elective, but. Catherine I, Russian in full Yekaterina Alekseyevna, original name Marta Skowronska, (born April 15 [April 5, Old Style], 1684—died May 17 [May 6], 1727, St. Petersburg, Russia), peasant woman of Baltic (probably Lithuanian) birth who became the second wife of Peter I the Great (reigned 1682–1725) and empress of Russia (1725–27). Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Catherine’s eldest son—and heir—may have been illegitimate. Catherine hoped her Instruction would modernise Russia, but also strengthen the monarchy. 1783, oil on canvas by Dmitry Levitsky (1735–1822), Catherine II the Legislatress in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice, 1783, oil on canvas by Dmitry Levitsky (1735–1822). In return, Peter was indifferent to Catherine and repeatedly humiliated her in public. In fact, it is believed that Catherine intended to make this official in late 1796 but died before she was able to do so. The Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (1729–1796) Peter III and Catherine II of Russia She was also a champion of the arts, keeping up a lifelong correspondence with Voltaire and other prominent minds of the era, creating one of the world’s most impressive art collections in St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace (now home to the famed Hermitage Museum) and even trying her hand at composing opera. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. This satirical print found in the British Museum derives from a sexist joke that was originally published in The Bon Ton Magazine in 1791: 'The Empress of Russia is said to intend placing one foot upon Petersburgh, and the other upon Constantinople. 18th C Now, her remarkable story is being brought to the screen in Sky Atlantic's production Catherine the Great starring the most majestic of all British actresses, Helen Mirren. The survey should take no longer than ten minutes to complete. Johann Battista Lampi I (1751–1830) When the conspiracy was uncovered in July 1762, Catherine moved quickly, gaining the support of the country’s most powerful military regiment and arranging for her husband’s arrest. Of the various uprisings that threatened Catherine’s rule, the most dangerous came in 1773, when a group of armed Cossacks and peasants led by Emelyan Pugachev rebelled against the harsh socioeconomic conditions of Russia’s lowest class, the serfs. She supported introduced inoculation to Russia. While historians today believe that Catherine’s claims were simply an attempt to discredit Peter and that he was indeed Paul’s father, there is little debate over the paternity of Catherine’s three additional children: It’s believed that none of them were fathered by Peter.

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