Johann Gottfried Tannauer, a German artist, was born and trained in
Saxony. He was one of the first masters, who came to Russia on invitation
of Peter I. Tannauer was highly appreciated
by the Russian nobility. He painted portraits of the tsar’s family and
also the first personas of the country.
Notes
Alexey Petrovich (1690-1718), tsarevich, the
elder son of Peter the Great by his first
wife Evdokia Lopukhina. He opposed all the reforms of his father. In 1716
he ran away to Europe and abdicated. Peter I did not believe that abdication
was sincere. Tsarevich was returned to Russia and put under arrest. According
to one version he died after torture, by the other he was accused of treason
by the Secret Counsel and executed clandestinely.
Apraksin, Feodor Matveevich (1671-1728),
count since 1709, close assistant of Peter I, statesman, general-admiral
of the Russian navy, president of Admiralty, participated in all major
battles of the Northern War, commanded the Russian fleet in the decisive
battle of Gangut, which he won. Since 1726 he is a member of the Supreme
Secret Council.
Menshikova, Maria Alexandrovna
(1711-1729), princess, daughter of Alexander
Menshikov. Since 1727 bride of Emperor Peter II; in 1728 was exiled
with her father in Siberia, where she died of small-pox in 1729.
Bibliography: Russian Art of Peter I the Great Period. Leningrad. 1990.
Paintings of the 18th-early 20th centuries from the Reserves of
the Russian Museum. by K. Mikhailova and G. Smirnov. Leningrad. 1982.
