The artist is unknown
Alexander III Aleksandrovich (February 26 / March 10, 1845, St. Petersburg − October 20 / November 1, 1894, Crimea) − The second son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Before the death of his older brother Nikolai (1865) was not the heir to the throne and was preparing for a military career. He joined the throne in March 1881 after the tragic death of his father killed by terrorists. He pursued a conservative domestic policy, which was determined by his intention, securing the positive results of liberal reforms, to prevent the onset of revolutionary chaos in Russia. Russia’s foreign policy was distinguished by peacefulness and made it a guarantor of international security. Was a passionate collector of works of art. His collections form the basis of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III in St. Petersburg. Reigned from March 1/13, 1881 to October 20 / November 1, 1894.
The 400th anniversary of the Romanov house. SPb, 2013. With. 109.
Alexander III (1845–1894), Russian emperor (1881–1894). The son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Not being born by the heir, he was preparing mainly for military activities. Tsarevich became after the death of his elder brother Nikolai in 1865.
Among the subjects of his hobby were history, painting, music, the emperor belonged to the initiative to create a Russian historical society. The name of Alexander III was assigned to the first state assembly of the domestic fine and applied art – the Russian Museum, founded in 1895 and open to the public in 1898. Many works from the collection of Alexander III were transferred to the Russian Museum.
Love for art developed with the emperor while he was the heir to the throne. A significant role in this was played by his wife, Danish Princess Dagmara (in Orthodox baptism – Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna), and artist Alexei Bogolyubov close to the court. In many respects, under their influence, Alexander was carried away by the collecting of art objects, domestic and Western European.
Traveling a lot in Europe, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich invariably showed great interest in visiting museums and galleries. This respect for the museums was later affected not only in his care for the Hermitage or the Moscow Historical Museum, but also in the creation of his own “museum” in the Anichkov Palace – the St. Petersburg residence of the heir to the throne on Nevsky Prospekt. Of course, this “home museum” was not a museum in the literal sense of the word. Several rooms, densely hung and made by painting, sculpture, objects of applied art, were not available to the general public.
In 1870, the heir acquired from the Moscow merchant Vasily Kokorev his retrospective collection of painting, which mainly included the work of outstanding Russian artists of the late XVIII – the first half of the 19th century, and placed it in his summer residence – the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo.
In the Anichkov Palace, Alexander Alexandrovich sought mainly the work of modern painters, Russian and Western European, guided by the advice of Bogolyubov and his own taste. A significant part of this collection was made up of applied art: bronze, porcelain, furniture. After the revolution, the personal museum of Alexander III was preserved as part of the complex of the “historical rooms of Anichkov Palace”, but in 1927 he was liquidated, and his collections were dispersed between the museums of the country and partly sold from auctions.