Exuberance of Meaning: The Art Patronage of Catherine the Great (1762 – 1796)

This exhibition featured more than 60 works of art and books, most of which Catherine the Great commissioned for her own use or for the courtiers who received them as gifts. Other objects in the exhibition served as examples of historic precedents for the empress’ choices or represent major currents in the history of Russian art of the 17th and 18th centuries. The exhibition presented a comparison of dazzling and masterful objects that exemplify both medieval Byzantine culture, of which Russia was the successor and guardian, and the Western, neoclassical style that was the hallmark of the Enlightenment. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue (published by the museum) contributed to the current knowledge of patronage in 18th-century Russia and to an understanding of the role of Byzantine culture in Russia’s history up to the era of neoclassicism.