Empress Catherine II

Empress Catherine II of Russia or Catherine the Great, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (1729-96). Daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Selected as a bride for the future Tsar Peter III by his aunt, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna; their disastrous marriage ended with Peter’s death in 1762, shortly after Catherine deposed him and became Empress regnant. Expanded her empire by 200,000 square miles, founded new towns and further modernized Russia, but her ambitious projects relied on the forced labour of serfs, whom she had earlier wanted to emancipate. Succeeded by Paul I, her son by Peter III, whom she had excluded from affairs of government during her reign.

Figure 1.1. Johann-Baptist Lampi the Elder (Austrian-Italian), Portrait of Empress Catherine the Great, née Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (1729-1796), 1794, oil on canvas, 230 x 162 cm, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, ЭРЖ-2021, source: Hermitage.

1740s

Wedding gown, 1745

Figure 1.2. Silver brocade dress worn by Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna (later Empress Catherine II) on the occasion of her marriage to Tsar Peter III in 1745. Collection of Moscow Kremlin Museums (images via Twitter. More about Catherine the Great’s wedding dress→

1760s

Coronation dress, 1762

Figure 1.3. Left, Catherine II, Empress of Russia, by Vigilius Eriksen, c. 1765, Royal Collection; right, coronation dress worn by Empress Catherine II, Russia, lace – France, Alencon (?), 1762, collection of Moscow Kremlin Museums, via Instagram.

1770s–90s

Uniform dresses

a

b

c

d

e

Figure 1.4. Catherine the Great’s uniform dresses consisted of various components that could be mixed and matched: a & b, uniform dress, 1772 (over-dress) & 1773 (under-dress); c, uniform over-dress, 1783; d, uniform dress (shown with tunic and petticoat), 1790; e, uniform over-dress, 1771. Collection of Pavlovsk State Museum (images via Yablor).

Figure 1.5. Left: King Gustavus III and Catherine II of Russia in Fredrikshamn 1783 (detail), by Cornelius Hoeyer, 1784, collection of Nationalmuseum, via Wikimedia Commons. Right: Catherine II’s Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment uniform dress, Russia, 1770-80s (outer uniform dress); 1779 (under uniform dress), collection of The State Hermitage Museum.

Figure 1.6. Catherine the Great’s infantry uniform dresses, dating from 1784 (left, collection of Pavlovsk State Museum) and 1772 (right, collection of The State Hermitage Museum).

a

b

c

Figure 1.7. a & b, Catherine II’s uniform dress, 1786 (over-dress) & 1784 (under-dress), collection of Pavlovsk State Museum (image via Yablor); c, Catherine II’s dress, based on a Russian admiral’s uniform, Court workshop, 1783-85, collection of The State Hermitage Museum.

a

b

c

Figure 1.8. Catherine the Great’s Horse Guard Regiment uniform dresses: a & b, Uniform dress, Russia, 1786 (outer uniform dress) & 1770-80s (under uniform dress), collection of The State Hermitage Museum; c, uniform dress, Russia, 1776, collection of The State Hermitage Museum. Her military outfits incorporated long, dangling false sleeves, an important feature of traditional Russian dress; the sleeves of the under-garment were inserted through the armholes of the outer dress.

Figure 1.9. Catherine II’s Horse Guard Regiment uniform dress, 1786-89. Collection of The State Hermitage Museum, via The New York Times.

PREV: House of Romanov

NEXT: House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov

←Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg→