History of Russia: The portrait exhibition of the members of the Russian Imperial House in Petergof

"Their entire lives are meant to serve Russia..." exhibition, representing the portraits of members of the Russian Imperial House, opens on January 29, 2015, at the Museum of the Benois Family (Petergof). This is the second exhibition in a unique exhibition project, implemented by the Peterhof State National Park and Museum on the basis of museum’s own funds. The first one entitled "The Image, that his Highness Ratified" was arranged in the halls of the Museum of the Benois Family in 2013-2014.

Current exhibition offers the portraits of the Grand Dukes. The objective of the exhibition (and the project overall) is to show and compare the official portraits of the offspring of the imperial couple and the best popular works, printed for mass distribution. There were lots of such the portraits for sale; people use to bye, collect, and look over the images of those, whose achievements have made a great impression on them. Interest in the first persons of the state has not changed to the present day - besides the great deeds, the public is always curious on the leaders’ personal life, spouses and children.

The exhibition presents the portraits, depicting the parents and children together in the artist or photographer studios, during their walks and travels abroad. Among the exhibits are the engravings and lithographs wedding portraits of Grand Dukes.

The separate hall gathers the official portraits of the Grand Dukes and their spouses, shown the way demanded by the ideology of the imperial court, and in artless interpretation, just like the ordinary people imagined them.

The exhibition also shows how the print graphics were used in the education of the Grand Dukes, what kind of prints they purchased for their private collections and for the interiors of their palaces.