Portrait of Countess Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova (1739–1792)

Imperial Russian Tapestry Manufactory, Saint Petersburg|Jean Baptiste Rondet

1762 · Wool, silk (22-24 warps per inch, 10 per cm.) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

In 1716, Tzar Peter the Great founded a tapestry-weaving workshop in his new capital city, Saint Petersburg. Although many of the tapestries made in the workshop took Old Master paintings by the likes of Rembrandt and van Dyck as their models, some were more unusual. Exceptional is this portrait of the scandalous mistress of Tzar Peter III. Only aged twenty-three at the time of weaving, the soft blush of her cheeks, and sumptuous materials of her gown have been admirably captured by the Gobelins-trained weaver.

Artist

Imperial Russian Tapestry Manufactory, Saint Petersburg|Jean Baptiste Rondet

Date

1762

Medium

Wool, silk (22-24 warps per inch, 10 per cm.)

Culture

Russian, St. Petersburg

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Alice E. Van Orden, 1962