Portrait of Empress Catherine I on horseback

Unknown artist after Georg Christoph Grooth (1716–1749). Mid-18th c

Oil on canvas

Georg Christoph Grooth from Stuttgart is considered to be a pioneer of the rococo portrait tradition in Russia. In 1743, Grooth was appointed a court painter (Hofmaler) at the Russian tsar’s court; sometime later he became the keeper of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna’s collection of paintings. His best known work in Russia is the portrait of the graceful empress on horseback: Elizaveta Petrovna is depicted in the uniform of the Preobrazhensky cavalry guard, and she is accompanied by a black page-boy on foot. This portrait was the central piece in a triplet of portraits; the other two depicted the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pyotr Fyodorovich (the future Peter III), and his wife, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alexeyevna (the future Catherine II), on horseback. Dozens of copies and variations of these paintings were made, and the portrait of Elizaveta Petrovna was even used as a model for a porcelain figurine designed by the famous sculptor J. J. Kändler at the Meissen porcelain manufactory. The painting at the Kadriorg Art Museum is a skilful variation of that portrait; attempts to identify the author have so far failed. Instead of the blonde Elizaveta, the portrait depicts her mother Catherine I on the back of a white Arab horse.