Treasures of Catherine the Great - Professor Mikhail B. Piotrovski

Catherine the Great was one of the greatest and most astute art collectors of all time. During her reign she amassed an astonishing collection, now kept in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia's foremost museum and one of the world's great encyclopaedic collections of art. This catalogue is tied to the year-long exhibition running at the first 'foreign branch' of the State Hermitage, opening this year at Somerset House in London. Reproduced here are some of the finest holdings in Catherine II's cache of treasures, including a cornucopia of engraved gems and cameos from her personal collection; the magnificent jewel cabinets that she ordered from Germany and England; figures from a porcelain service given to Catherine by Frederick the Great of Russia; Catherine's wig, made entirely of fine silver thread-the first time this has ever been exhibited in public; and many notable Old Masters, among them Moses Striking the Rock by Nicholas Poussin. Each item is accompanied by a brief explanatory essay and details of provenance.