Portret Catharina de grote, keizerin van Rusland after 1854

Carl Mayer produced this print of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. It presents Catherine as an almost spectral figure, rigidly posed with an intense stare. The print is based on a painting, and it participates in a wider visual culture of Imperial portraiture in Russia, one that aimed at asserting the Romanov dynasty’s legitimacy and power. It’s worth remembering that Catherine was not Russian by birth, and took the throne after the assassination of her husband. So images of her like this one performed real political work. They were circulated widely, and displayed in public buildings to project an image of strength and stability. As historians, we can look at a portrait like this one as a window onto the world of the Russian court. Diaries, letters, and other archival sources help us to understand the image’s historical context, and how it might have been viewed by different audiences at the time.