Magazine issue:
#1 2011 (30)
The coronation album of the Russian Empress Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Petrovna may appear to the general public as something that is both well-known and properly studied. However, this is not quite so. Since the end of the 19th century, when Dmitry Rovinsky published a full listing of the engravings printed in the catalogue, with brief comments, we have learned little new. It took a long time to prepare the album: the work started in the autumn of 1742 and continued until the end of 1744. Over that entire period, active correspondence went on between Moscow, where the court continued to celebrate the coronation, and St. Petersburg, the seat of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, as the parties concerned tried to resolve numerous problems relating to the work. Their correspondence was published as part of “Materials for the History of the Imperial Academy of Sciences”. In the late 20th century, this body of documents increased significantly due to the addition of new papers published in the collected volume on the history of the Engraving Chamber.
The coronation album of the Russian Empress Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Petrovna may appear to the general public as something that is both well-known and properly studied. However, this is not quite so. Since the end of the 19th century, when Dmitry Rovinsky published a full listing of the engravings printed in the catalogue, with brief comments1, we have learned little new. It took a long time to prepare the album: the work started in the autumn of 1742 and continued until the end of 1744.
