A Gilt Bronze Statuette of Czar Peter the Great, ca. 1800

Contact Kollenburg Antiquairs BV

Dealer

Kollenburg Antiquairs BV

Price

Price on request

Status

Available

Period

ca. 1800

Material

gilt and patinated bronze

Description

On a square patinated bronze base stands a gilt-bronze statue of Czar Peter the Great on a cilindrical pedestal. The pedestal is elegantly ornamented with festoons and garlands. The Czar, in battle dress and jackboots, wears an openwork sash around his waist and a plain sash over his right shoulder. In his right hand he carries a sword that rests with the tip near his right foot. The Czar wears no headwear, showing the leonine hairstyle, favoured by sovereigns.

Czar Peter the Great (Moscow 1672-1725 st. Petersburg) was the first Russian ruler to modernize society, making Russia a power to be reckoned with in Europe. He visited a number of countries in Western Europe to be informed on current know-how. In the Dutch Republic he visited Zaandam and Amsterdam to study shipbuilding and the maritime developments. He reformed Russion economy, education and science, the army, the navy and commercial seafaring. He had roads and canals developed and expanded his territory to the north to gain access to the Baltic sea. This way Russia became a serious competitor to European trade. In 1703 he founded the st. Petersburg fortress in the Neva delta and expanded the settlements surrounding it. In 1712 he made the flourishing st. Petersburg the capital of Russia in favour of Moscow. Peter the Great died in 1725 in st. Petersburg.