Moscow: Splendor of the Romanovs

A lavishly illustrated survey of the Romanovs' era which symbolizes almost three centuries of Russian artistic riches. "The Romanov dynasty reigned over Russia for three hundred years. Every sovereign was crowned in the cathedral of the Kremlin. The coronation ceremonies were used to return the former capital to the lustre it had lost to Saint Petersburg. This exhibition catalogue rediscovers a Moscow that is frequently overlooked by visitors and, through the works of art embodying the dynasty, reveals the reign of the Romanovs." --Brigitte de Montclos. Between 1820 and 1860, Moscow saw the blossoming of Russian literature, music, painting, architecture, and the minor arts, leading to the famous pan-Russian exhibition of 1882. During these years the imperial family, and subsequently the grand families surrounding the Tsar, commissioned works from such celebrated manufacturers as Baccarat, Cartier, and Faberg . The beauty and soul of the objects presented here re-create a genuine Russian atmosphere evoking the ceremony of the Orthodox liturgy, the splendors of court life, the magnificence of the interiors of the palaces in which the imperial family resided, and the international influence of Moscow, which became a hub of modern art and Constructivism in the first years of the twentieth century. The extraordinary photographic archive belonging to the Mus e de l'Elys e in Lausanne and the film archive from the Russian Federation at Krasnogorsk plunge the reader into the intimate circle of Tsar Nicolas II, the last of the Romanovs, and his family.

Brigitte de Montclos is a curator and author of fine art books.