One of the key moments at the royal courts at all times was considered the coronation. The person preparing to enter the throne was to appear in all her splendor and grandeur. This review presents the luxurious coronation dresses of Russian empresses.

The first Russian empress to ascend the throne and rule independently was Catherine I. Her coronation took place on May 7, 1724. Since the second wife of Peter I was not of noble birth, the emperor wished to crown her, taking care of the future of his daughters (they received the title of crown prince only if both parents were crowned).

coronation dress Catherine I Made of red silk, decorated with silver embroidery. The dress was ordered in Berlin. Not a ready-made outfit was brought to Russia, but a “cartridge”, that is, fastened with only a few seams. The tailors were afraid not to guess the size of the Empress. As a result, the dress turned out to be too wide, and three days before the coronation, Russian seamstresses hastily adjusted it to the figure of Catherine. As a result, folds formed on the back of the skirt, and the pockets shifted.

One of the foreign ambassadors described the empress' dress as "a magnificent crimson robe embroidered with silver thread." The skirt was made so long that a shoe with a crimson ribbon peeked out when walking.

Anna Ivanovna

Coronation Anna Ioannovna took place two months after her arrival in Russia from Courland on April 28, 1730. The dress was made from Lyon brocade in Russia, but by a German tailor. If you compare the photo and the portrait, then the different finishes of the dress immediately catches your eye. Most likely this is due to the fact that the outfit was changed several times in accordance with the trends of the then fashion.

Elizaveta Petrovna

coronation dress Elizabeth Petrovna sewn from Russian fabric. The Empress also ordered all the courtiers to appear at the coronation in outfits made by domestic tailors. Elizabeth Petrovna's dress was made of silver brocade (eye). The width of the dress is fully consistent with the then rococo fashion. At that time, ladies could not even sit down in such dresses, so many of them, wanting to relax, lay down directly on the floor in their dresses (of course, not in the presence of the empress). Elizaveta Petrovna herself never went out in the same outfit twice. After her death, 15 thousand dresses remained.

Catherine II

Coronation Catherine II(born Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbst) took place in 1762. The dress of the empress was made of silver brocade, decorated with double-headed eagles. The outfit of Catherine the Great is the only one on which lace has been preserved. The waist of the Empress, unlike her predecessors, was narrow - only 62 cm.
Each empress was not only a trendsetter, but also clearly regulated court etiquette. Sometimes that modern laymen would call such behavior absurd.

Anna Ioannovna (01/28/1693 - 10/17/1740) - Russian Empress (Romanov dynasty), daughter of Ivan V, niece of Peter I. Reign years: 1730-1740, the period was called "Bironovshchina".

Childhood

Anna was born in the Moscow Kremlin, her father was Tsar John V, and her mother was Tsaritsa Praskovya Feodorovna. After the death of the tsar in 1696, the widow with three daughters: Ekaterina, Anna and Praskovya, moved to the Izmailovo estate near Moscow. Two eldest daughters - Maria and Theodosia - died in infancy.

The family had an impressive staff of courtiers. Life in Izmailovo was calm and far from innovation. The residence consisted of two dozen ponds, numerous orchards, vineyards, greenhouses with overseas flowers. Little princesses studied mathematics, geography, German and French, and dances. Praskovya Fedorovna cherished only her eldest daughter, relations with Anna did not work out.

When Peter in 1708 decided to move all members of the royal family to the capital, Anna, with her mother and sisters, arrived in St. Petersburg, where the tsar gave a solemn reception. However, they soon returned to Moscow because of the threat from the Swedish army. The family finally moved to St. Petersburg only after the Battle of Poltava, in the capital a palace was built especially for them.

Marriage

During the Northern War, Peter had to take care of strengthening the influence of his country in the international arena. The Duchy of Courland, to which Russian possessions crept up, was weakened, and after the appearance of the Russian army in Courland, Peter decided to marry a representative of the Russian royal family to the young duke. Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna chose Anna from her daughters.

Despite the fact that in the surviving letter Anna joyfully explains her love to her fiancé, there is a version that the girl opposed this marriage. The people even formed a song about poor Anna, who is given to a foreign land. The marriage was short-lived. After the wedding, which took place at the end of 1710 in St. Petersburg, on the way to Courland, Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm died in January 1711 from excessive alcohol libation. The day before, the young husband competed with the king in the art of drinking. Anna returned to her mother.

Duchess of Courland

In 1712, at the behest of Peter, she nevertheless went to Courland, where, according to the marriage contract, she had to live and be adequately provided for. However, upon arrival in Mitava, the young widow and the diplomat P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin who accompanied her found complete ruin, the castle was completely plundered. Anna was forced to restore the entire environment on her own in order to make it habitable.

Later, rumors reached Russia about the connection of the duchess with her assistant Bestuzhev. Praskovya Fyodorovna was angry and demanded that he be recalled from Courland. The tsarina's brother V. Saltykov set off to sort out the situation, who could not find a compromise with Bestuzhev and only exacerbated the already strained relationship between Anna and her mother.

Then the young duchess was supported and protected by Tsarina Catherine, Peter's wife.

In 1726, Anna received a marriage proposal from the son of the Polish king, Count Moritz, who decided to become the owner of the ducal title. Ambitious and charming Moritz came to her liking, and she agreed. Having also won the Courland nobility to his side, he was going to become a duke. This behavior of the count caused alarm on the part of Russia. Prince A. Menshikov was sent to Courland, who also had a duchy in his plans. Frustrated Anna tried to win the support of the empress, but nothing came of it. Moritz was expelled from Courland, but Menshikov did not achieve the throne either.

Biron - Courland nobleman of low origin, who became the regent of the Russian Empire

This situation worsened the position of the dowager duchess, the angry nobility reduced the already modest expenses for the maintenance of her court. In 1727, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was called from Courland to Russia thanks to the efforts of Prince Menshikov, upset by the failure. Anna was very attached to the assistant, in desperation she wrote more than twenty letters with unsuccessful pleas to leave him.

Soon Ernst Biron appears in her life - a nobleman who serves in the Duchess's office. He completely replaced Bestuzhev. Rumor has it that his youngest son Karl, born in 1928, was Anna's child, but there is no exact information on this issue. It is only known that the duchess was strongly attached to Karl Ernst, brought with her to Russia, and until the age of ten the boy slept in her bedroom.

Coronation of Anna Ioannovna, Assumption Cathedral

Russian empress

In January 1730, Peter II died, who was going to marry Princess Dolgoruky, but did not have time. Relatives of the princess forged the will of the emperor, deciding to elevate her to the throne. But the Supreme Privy Council, which met after the death of Peter, did not believe such a will and approved Anna as Empress. At the same time, the members of the Council wrote the Conditions, which significantly limited the possibilities of the future empress in their favor. Anna signed the documents, but by the time she arrived in Moscow, there was a rumor in society about the undertaking of the Supreme Council. Anna had enough supporters, including the imperial guard.

At the end of February, Prince Cherkassky submitted a petition to the Empress with the signatures of the nobles, who asked to revise the Conditions. In addition, Prince Trubetskoy came with a petition for the restoration of autocracy, and the guards insured the palace and the empress from unrest. As a result, Anna was proclaimed an autocratic empress. However, the position of Anna Ioannovna remained uncertain. She still did not have a strong political support, various noble groups fought for influence over the empress for two years.

Anna Ioannovna breaks the Conditions (I. Charlemagne)

The empress herself made few political decisions. Anna's closest adviser was Vice Chancellor Osterman. Later they were called to the imperial court Biron, Levenvolde, Minich. The Russian aristocracy was unhappy with the "German" influence and wanted to remove Osterman. After a two-year confrontation, the “German Party” prevailed, but internal disagreements prevented it from becoming a single political force. Minich and Levenwolde were sent to Poland, and the favorite of the Empress Biron began to promote representatives of his own entourage to the court.

The program of Anna Ioannovna's government included previously unrealized projects and the solution of pressing problems: reforming the army, restoring the power of the Senate, finalizing the Code, reviewing the staff of officials, and reforming the fleet. The Supreme Privy Council was dissolved. In 1730, the Office of Secret Investigations was created, with the aim of preventing conspiracies and coups. As a result of the active work of this body, more than 20 thousand people were sent into exile in Siberia, about a thousand were executed. Grandees who posed a threat to the authorities were also subjected to cruel executions: the princes Dolgoruky, the Cabinet Minister Volynsky.

Jesters at the Court of the Empress (W. Jacobi, 1872)

Perhaps more than affairs of state, Anna loved entertainment, beautiful outfits. She was constantly surrounded by jesters, and the expenses for balls, entertainment events and maintenance of the court were huge. Anna's appearance was pleasant: dark-haired with blue eyes and a large figure. Behavior corresponded to the situation, dignity and solemnity were demonstrated in actions. Contemporaries characterize her as generous, power-hungry and wayward. The Empress died in 1740 from gout, having bequeathed the throne to the grandson of her sister Catherine, Ivan Antonovich, whose mother, Anna Leopoldovna, she treated like her own daughter. Biron was appointed regent.

Jewelry Treasures of the Russian Imperial Court Zimin Igor Viktorovich

Crown Jewels

Crown Jewels

The main symbol of the power of imperial Russia in the XVIII century. became the crown jewels. Their history is bizarre and is directly related to the development of jewelry art in Russia. The coronation celebrations, in which hundreds of thousands of people participated in one way or another, left behind quite a lot of objects and evidence. We will only touch upon the diamond edge of the coronation celebrations.

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Second half of the 15th century became the time of completion of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow and the beginning of the formation of the Muscovite kingdom. Such major political processes required ideological and political formalization. The ideology of the new kingdom resulted in the chased formula of the monk Philotheus: “The first and second Rome fell. Moscow is the third Rome, and there will be no fourth. The tradition of the coronation of Russian sovereigns (Grand Dukes) became a visible embodiment of the unifying political processes. The beginning was laid by the coronation of Ivan III's grandson Dmitry in 1498. This tradition finally took shape by the middle of the 16th century, when in 1547 the coronation of Ivan IV, who entered our history as Ivan the Terrible, took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. It was then that the chrismation ceremony became the core of coronation celebrations that turn an ordinary person into God's anointed one.

Gradually, in the course of subsequent coronations, a complex of royal regalia is formed, used during the coronation celebrations, called the "big outfit". The ideological essence of the coronation celebrations in the holy churches of the Moscow Kremlin was the idea of ​​God's grace, which descended on the sovereigns during the procedure of their chrismation. Actually, this is where the official wording "God's anointed" came from.

Parsuna of Tsar Ivan IV from the collection of the National Museum of Denmark (Copenhagen), end. XVI - early. 17th century

The procedure of coronation celebrations throughout the 17th century. under the first Romanovs, it took on finished forms and did not change until the coronation of 1682, when the half-brothers Peter I and Ivan V were solemnly anointed with the world at the same time. However, the changed political realities of the early 18th century. a lot has changed in Russia. These processes were also affected by coronation traditions.

The complex of coronation things is currently stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin.

When, in 1826, Nicholas I ordered to be presented to him “A list of memorable things that belonged to the Imperial family since the time of Emperor Peter I, stored in various government buildings” (as in the original. - Auth.), then the following exhibits were listed in the report of the Armory:

- “The royal crown, with which the sovereign was crowned, is decorated with diamonds, lalas and emeralds; a large oval spinel is inserted under the cross”;

– “The golden scepter with colored enamel is decorated with diamonds, emeralds and Burmic grains (pearls. – Auth.); on top is a double-headed eagle with a crown and a cross”;

- "Golden orb with a smooth silver cross";

– “A huge throne (double. – Auth.) ... and behind it, a third one was attached with a small hole, which was hung on the outside with a stringed pearl cover and was arranged for the co-ruler of Tsarevna Sophia Alekseevna.

Ivory throne of Ivan IV

Preparations for the coronation in a new way "imperial standard" Peter I begins in 1719. One of the first steps of Peter I in this direction was the decree (December 1719), according to which the Chamber College was created. In paragraph 20 of this document, a list of "State belonging things" was stipulated: "State apple, crown, scepter, key and sword." Further, the place of their storage was indicated - "Tsarskaya Renterey" (treasury. - Auth.), the mode of storage was approved - “in a large chest behind three locks”, the mode of admission to state regalia was established. In 1721, a new decree of the emperor followed, according to which the state regalia were again listed, which were to be kept by the Chamber Collegium: crown, scepter, orb, key, seal and sword.

It should be emphasized that all this was done under Catherine, since Peter I considered the coronation "according to the imperial standard" for himself to be completely unnecessary, rightly believing the divine legitimacy of his power to be completely indisputable.

A casket-ark for storing a letter of approval for the kingdom of Ivan IV. Artist F.G. Solntsev. Russia, F. Chopin factory. 1848–1853 Bronze, casting, gilding, silvering, chasing

HELL. Litovchenko. Ivan the Terrible shows his treasures to the British Ambassador Horsey. Canvas, oil. 1875 Russian Museum

Terminological innovations should also include the appearance of the term " regalia". Before Peter I, this term was not used, and in use were the concepts of " royal rank" or " big outfit". In that " big outfit» included: royal crown, orb, scepter, chains, life-giving cross, barmas. The throne was not part of the concept of "regalia". 19th century explorers numbered 39 items related to the items of the royal rank and the crowning of the kingdom. Of all these items in the list imperial regalia only switched scepter and power.

Speaking of imperial regalia, it must be emphasized that if under the Moscow tsars the main place during the coronation ceremonies was occupied by the so-called life-giving crosses(for example, the "Filofeevsky Cross"), then from the time of Peter I they become studded with diamonds crowns european style, scepter and power. At the same time, at first, the scepter and orb were used old, from the ancient coronation "large outfits" of Moscow tsars, visibly linking the coronation celebrations of Moscow tsars and Russian emperors (empresses).

With all the organizational innovations, Peter I made a fundamental decision not to transfer the coronation celebrations from Moscow to St. Petersburg. For all his tough attitude towards the Orthodox Church, which he consistently turned into a part of an obedient bureaucratic apparatus, he believed that the divine legitimacy of the coronation celebrations could be fully ensured only in the ancient churches of the Moscow Kremlin. At least in the eyes of the people. Pyotr Alekseevich was a pragmatist, perfectly representing the precarious position of his second wife as his possible successor, so he did not neglect such an important detail. As a result, following the example of previous coronations, Ekaterina Alekseevna became empress precisely in the ancient Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, where, starting with Ivan IV, all the kings of the Moscow kingdom were crowned.

Part of the "Big Outfit": the crown of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the scepter and orb of Boris Godunov

Kazan hat and Monomakh hat

Thus, the coronation traditions of Moscow tsars and Russian emperors connected both the regalia (orb and scepter) and the place of the coronation (Assumption Cathedral). And the scenario of the coronation celebrations itself was preserved, including both the key role of the higher Orthodox clergy and the procedure of chrismation itself. The upcoming coronation of Ekaterina Alekseevna was announced in a manifesto on November 15, 1723.

First coronation according to imperial standards, was held in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in May 1724. Two thrones were placed in the cathedral, near which imperial regalia were placed on a special table. It should be noted that until 1724 the royal regalia from the “large outfit” were kept in the Treasury. It was with this new coronation procedure that Peter I found it necessary to strengthen the legitimacy of the position of his second wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, as his possible successor.

Portrait of Catherine I. J.-M. Natya. 1717

The frame of the crown of Catherine I (without decorations) and the crown of Anna Ioannovna

It was not only the first coronation by imperial standards, but also the first coronation of a woman. Moreover, women of low origin, the turbulent stages of whose biography were not a secret to anyone. At the same time, this coronation became a visible demonstration of the power of the young empire, the expression of which was the underlined splendor and richness of the ceremony itself. Peter I deliberately went for it, although in private life he was organically ascetic.

It is known that for the coronation of Catherine I, they used the scepter and orb of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the first of the Romanovs. Of the "novelties" for the "Russian Cinderella" Catherine I, they urgently made a special crown (crown) studded with diamonds, which Peter the Great himself placed on her.

The first imperial crown of Russia was made by master Samson Larionov. The idea was based on the drawing of the crown of King Constantine. Only the silver gilded skeleton of the crown of Catherine I, which is currently stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin, has come down to us. This crown weighed 1.8 kg, and it cost the treasury 1.5 million rubles. It was then that a huge ruby-spinel weighing almost 400 carats first appeared on the top of the crown, brought in 1676 by the merchant Spafariy to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from China and estimated in 1725 at 60,000 rubles.

Clarifications are needed here. For a long time it was believed that a huge red was used in the crown. ruby. Sometimes this stone is called spinel. Please note that these are not synonyms. In 1922, during the study of imperial regalia under the guidance of academician Fersman, it was found that the stone of the merchant Spafariy was not a ruby. Subsequently, Spafaria's spinel was crowned with the crown of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II.

In addition, during the coronation of 1724, such a novelty as imperial mantle(or purple) weighing more than 60 kg. A special clasp was made for this mantle, which cost, according to the chamber junker Berholz, 100,000 rubles. This porphyry was laid on his wife by Peter I himself. (If the reader has ever picked up a serious tourist backpack, then he can imagine the weight of the porphyry).

Contemporaries described the new crown as follows: "The imperial crown was composed entirely of diamonds, diamonds, between which there was a great number of amazing size." It was this crown, studded with diamonds, that turned it into the main stone of the 18th century, into the official, award stone of the ruling dynasty.

This demonstration of imperial wealth made a tremendous impression on contemporaries. One of them wrote about the purple of the empress, which was a kind of Western “novelty” for the people of that time, and, of course, they paid attention to it: “She was showered with so many golden double-headed eagles that, together with a crown weighing 4.5 pounds, the empress I had to carry a weight of 150 pounds on a warm, spring day. No matter how strongly Catherine was built ... nevertheless, during the coronation, the Empress more than once had to bow under the weight of her treasures and even sit down during the service. If we translate these figures into the modern metric system, it turns out that the crown of Catherine I weighed 1 kg 800 g, and all her vestments, taking into account the weight of porphyry, ceremonial dress and jewelry, about 65–70 kg. Knightly armor, the severity of which is much written in the literature, was more optimally distributed over the body of a male warrior than the coronation vestments of Catherine I.

After the coronation ceremony, Peter I made another extraordinary move. He ordered all items of the royal rank to be put "behind the glass" in the treasury and to show them to the people whenever possible. In memory of this coronation, a medal with portraits of Peter and Catherine was knocked out for the first time. The main novelty of the coronation was reflected on the medal - the Great Imperial Crown, made according to the European standard. After the coronation, all the regalia were left in Moscow.

Golden coronation medal. 1724

Coronation dress of Catherine I. Germany (?); Russia (?); fabric - France. 1724

Gold medal in memory of the coronation of Peter II. 1728

Ultimately, the inventory of the Armory included the following things related to the coronation of 1724: “A slotted crown, latticed, with diamonds and red yakhonts, divided into two halves by a large free-standing rim, with a diamond cross, under which there is a large Vodoksha lal”; “A coronal dress of purple color, embroidered with silver; lacing, mittens, crimson-colored silk stockings with crowns embroidered on the arrows are kept with it.

After the coronation of the young Peter II, which took place on February 25, 1728, the imperial regalia were again mentioned in a separate decree, which, by special order, were transferred to the storage of the following exotic “risk factors”: from standing horses exposes the royal treasury to considerable danger, because from that a stinking spirit appears, and from that spirit of His Imperial Majesty gold and silver dishes and other treasury expect dangerous harm, why would it not turn black. This is an entry in the journal of the Armory, made on October 25, 1727 by the authorities of the Treasury. Cm.: Bogdanov I. Unitas, or A Brief History of the Toilet. M., 2007. S. 42. to the Master's Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin under the responsibility of Prince Vasily Odoevsky and outward quartermaster Pyotr Moshkov. As follows from this document, the same coronation regalia were used as in 1724. From December 1726, Vasily Odoevsky was instructed to manage the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1727, he made an inventory of all the valuables kept in the Moscow Armory.

Returning to the coronation of 1728, we note that the crown was placed on the head of 13-year-old Peter II by the Archbishop of Novgorod Feofan. It should be recalled that in 1724 Peter I placed the crown on the head of Catherine I. It is clear that all the movements at the coronation were thought out and deeply symbolic. Therefore, the very fact of laying the crown on the head of the young emperor by the archbishop actually meant a course towards the restoration of relations between church and state, that is, a return to relations that existed in pre-Petrine Russia. The fact is that to all Moscow tsars, including the young Peter I in 1682, the patriarch laid the cap of Monomakh. Peter I changed this system of relations, liquidating the institution of the patriarchate and including the structures of the Orthodox Church in the bureaucratic apparatus of power. It is noteworthy that the same archbishop laid the crown on the head of Anna Ioannovna in 1730; at first she also positioned herself as a supporter of pre-Petrine antiquity. Elizaveta Petrovna returned to her father's political course. This was manifested in big and small, including the fact that during her coronation she again placed the imperial crown on herself. After Elizabeth Petrovna, church hierarchs only presented the crown to the emperors, but they placed it on themselves.

On January 19, 1730, 15-year-old Peter II suddenly died on the eve of his wedding. After the Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna promptly put an end to the "invention of the leaders", she no less promptly began preparations for her own coronation. The coronation of Anna Ioannovna took place on April 28, 1730. According to the established tradition, a special table was set up to place the imperial regalia in the Assumption Cathedral: “Somewhat to the right of the imperial chairs, a table covered with rich gold brocade was placed, for the position of the imperial regalia on it.” In the description of the coronation of the Empress, it is indicated that Prince Cherkassky carried the orb on a pillow to the Assumption Cathedral, the scepter was carried by Count Osterman, and the crown was carried by Prince Trubetskoy.

Portrait of Peter II. Unknown artist

Coronation camisole of Peter II. France (?). 1728

L. Caravak. Portrait of Empress Anna Ioannovna. 1730

Coronation dress of Anna Ioannovna. Brocade, silk, lace, gold embroidery. 1730

Gold token in memory of the coronation of Anna Ioannovna. 1730

The imperial regalia - the mantle and the crown - were placed on her by Archbishop Feofan. The orb and scepter were used old, from the "big outfit" of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.

For this coronation, in a very short time, the jeweler Gottfried Wilhelm Dunkel made a new crown, on the top of which, as on the crown of Catherine I, was the same Spafaria spinel. To decorate the crown, the jeweler used 2579 diamonds and brilliants, in addition to 28 large semi-precious stones.

Of the coronation jewelry novelties, one can also mention a diamond agraph, made, as for Catherine I, as a clasp for porphyry.

Also, during the coronation of Anna Ioannovna, for the first time, a diamond chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called was placed on her over the porphyry.

Large imperial crown of Anna Ioannovna. 1730

Crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna

Scepter, mantle and orb of Anna Ioannovna. 1730

Small imperial crown and stash of the mantle. 1730

Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. 1730

Coronation of Anna Ioannovna in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. 1730

I. Vishnyakov. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. 1743

Coronation dress of Elizabeth Petrovna. Silver eyelet, silk, gold braid. Mantle length 5 m 18 cm, weight 5 kg. 1742

Gold token in memory of the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna. 1742

State Sword. 1742

In addition to the "Big" crown for Anna Ioannovna, they made small crown for ceremonial occasions. Also, for the first time, a special prayer was introduced into the coronation rite, proclaimed by the sovereign kneeling in purple.

There were also nuances. So, at coronations during the chrismation, the anointing of the shoulders was also supposed. For female empresses, clad in corsets, this was a problem. Therefore, during the coronation of Anna Ioannovna, anointing occurred only on one shoulder. This tradition of anointing the shoulders of the empresses was canceled at the coronation of Paul I.

The palace coup, which elevated “daughter Petrova” to the Russian imperial throne, took place on November 24, 1741. Exactly five months later, on April 25, 1742, the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna took place.

Special chief marshal and chief master of ceremonies were appointed to arrange the celebration. When developing the scenario for the coronation celebrations, among other things, changes were made to the list of imperial regalia. For the first time since 1724, this list appeared State Sword.

For the coronation of Elizabeth, they also made another, already the third in a row, new imperial crown which has not reached us. Jeweler I. Pozier, who then worked at the Imperial Court, mentions that “the crown of Empress Elizabeth, which is extremely expensive, consists, like all her attire, of semi-precious stones: rubies, sapphires, emeralds. All these stones are incomparable in their size and beauty.” Unfortunately, in all coronation portraits, Elizaveta Petrovna is depicted wearing the Small Imperial Crown. The image of the Great Imperial Crown was preserved only in the drawing in the coronation album. It should be noted that a light mantle made of Spanish lace embroidered with flowers was worn with the Small Imperial Crown.

It is curious that one hundred and sixty years later, in 1905, which was alarming for the tsarist government, the search for the crown of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna began. This story began at the end of August 1905, when the head of the Peterhof Palace Administration in one of the reports addressed to the Minister of the Court V.B. Frederiksa mentioned that in the Crown Room of the Grand Peterhof Palace "according to legend" the "Crown of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna" was kept. In turn, Fredericks mentioned this in one of his reports to Emperor Nicholas II. As a result, "His Imperial Majesty was pleased to express a desire to have accurate information about the aforementioned crown." A well-functioning bureaucratic machine immediately started working and corresponding requests were sent. Tellingly, this whole story developed in the autumn-winter of 1905, when a general strike began in Russia (October), when Nicholas II was forced to make concessions by signing the famous manifesto on October 17, 1905, when the tsar began to hastily withdraw personal capital from Russia, calculating the probability of flight from the country (November), when an armed uprising began in Moscow (December).

Scepter, Great Imperial Crown of Elizabeth Petrovna, Orb. 1742

Matia and zapon of the mantle. 1742

Small imperial crown. 1742

Coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. 1742

Specialists of the Armory, who served in the Moscow Palace Administration, reported (September 13, 1905) that “... among the crowns of the 18th century stored in the Armory, there is one very large gold crown strewn with diamonds, with a very large ruby ​​( Vodoksha lal), bought by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Beijing, in 1676. This crown entered the Chamber in 1741, but without indicating its name, which is why the inventory of the Armory Chamber simply says “Imperial”. In the absence of any information about the crown of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna, who was in the Imperial Grand Peterhof Palace, it seems difficult, according to the custodian of the Chamber of State Councilor Trutovsky, to consider this crown as the desired one, as well as denying this possibility, since the year the crown entered the Chamber (1741 .) coincides with the year of accession to the throne of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. There are no crowns with an exact indication of their belonging to Empress Elisaveta Petrovna in the Chamber, nor is there any information about their transfer to Moscow.

Officials of the Cameral Department of the Cabinet of E.I.V. also conducted their research, but their answer (October 14, 1905) did not add clarity to this matter: Elisaveta Petrovna, kept, according to legend, in the Imperial Grand Peterhof Palace. At the same time, officials of the Cameral Department asked their colleagues from Peterhof to look for documents on this legendary crown, but even there “no information or instructions regarding ... the crown ... were found.”

Along with this unfavorable response, the officials of the Cameral Department of the Cabinet prepared a certificate for the Minister of the Court about the imperial coronation crowns. For us, this text is indicative, first of all, of the level of knowledge of professional officials in this subject at the beginning of the 20th century: “The first European-style crown was made in 1724, for the coronation of Catherine the 1st. Peter II was crowned with this crown. He ordered the arc dividing the crown to be decorated with a large ruby, bought by decree of Alexei Mikhailovich in Beijing, from the Chinese Bogdykhan, Ambassador Nikolai Spafarii; a diamond cross was attached to the top of it. For the coronation of Anna Ioannovna, a crown was ordered according to the same model, but even more luxurious and larger; the number of stones decorating it reaches 2605 pieces. A ruby ​​taken from the crown of Peter II is placed on the arc. Since 1856, this crown has been called the Polish one and is placed on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland in the state emblem. Elisaveta Petrovna was crowned with the same crown, slightly altered. The empresses put on at some ceremonies the so-called small or holiday crowns; they were the private property of the Empress and after their death were destroyed, and the stones were distributed according to the will. As we know today, a new crown was made for Elizabeth Petrovna, and she did not use the crown of Anna Ioannovna, as experts at the beginning of the 20th century believed.

They also searched for the crown of Elizabeth Petrovna in the Imperial Hermitage. However, its specialists categorically stated (November 9, 1905) that “there is no information about the crown of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna in the Hermitage; probably, the crown with the Vodoksha lal, which entered the Moscow Armory in 1741, is the very one about which His Imperial Majesty is pleased to have accurate information. For the director, senior keeper Somov. This was reported to Nicholas II.

Returning to the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna, we note that the imperial regalia were brought to the Assumption Cathedral: a mantle on two pillows - Prince Kurakin and Baron von Minich; power - Lieutenant Colonel of the Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment Ushakov; scepter - general-in-chief and senator Chernyshov; crown - Chancellor Prince Cherkassky. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna placed the mantle and crown on herself.

Just like after the coronation of Catherine I, the Imperial regalia were put on public display. For a week and a half from May 7 to May 19, 1742, a huge number of people watched them: “100 nobles, 136,158 other ranks, except for vile ones, and a total of 136,258 people.” Despite the accuracy, the official figures given are not only surprising, but also doubtful. The fact that it was a round-the-clock and continuous flow of people is obvious. The fact that the regalia were protected and the flow of people was regulated is also obvious. The Brockhaus encyclopedia indicates that in 1812 the total number of inhabitants of the capital was 251,131 people. At the same time, in 1742, 136,258 people examined the regalia in 12 days. Undoubtedly, the interest of all segments of the population in the imperial regalia, as visible symbols of the power and wealth of Russia, was enormous. However, as it already happened, after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the crown was dismantled, the metal was melted down, and the stones were put on the big crown of Catherine II.

At the end of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, another jewelry rarity appeared, which later became an indispensable element of the coronation attire of Russian empresses. This is a diamond agraph buckle, which cleaved off the stole of Elizabeth. Similar agraphs were used at the coronations of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna in 1742.

The precious "gown clip" was probably made in 1757-1760. jewelers J.-A. Dubulon and M.I. Ratetsev. 20 g of gold, 319.34 g of silver and 805 diamonds, with a total weight of 475.44 carats, went to this "link". The size of "zapona" 25? 11 cm. Beginning with Catherine II, this massive “diamond stole”, which can withstand a significant weight of the stole, was used to fasten the ends of a heavy mantle worn during coronations or ceremonial exits of empresses. This agraph (zapona) has been preserved and is exhibited in the historical hall of the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin.

All the "new" coronation regalia were literally strewn with diamonds, and over time, the fashion for diamonds, as stones, symbolizing power and proximity to power, strengthened, reaching its climax under Catherine II. It was then that diamonds appeared on nobles in the most unexpected places and combinations. Orders for diamond buttons on clothes and diamond-studded snuffboxes became commonplace. Even in a card game, piles of diamonds or rough diamonds sometimes lay next to stacks of gold coins.

Agraph of the mantle of Elizabeth Petrovna

Agraf. Fragments

Thus, by the middle of the XVIII century. a new coronation practice developed, the scenario of which, on the one hand, was associated with the traditions of the Muscovite kingdom, and, on the other hand, by this time new traditions of coronation celebrations according to “imperial standards” had been established. An important part of these new standards was the Large and Small Imperial Crowns, which were made for each of the described coronations. Speaking of imperial regalia, it should also be emphasized that jewelry collections of this kind do not arise at once. As a rule, they have their own history. It can be argued that a relatively well-established set of coronation regalia was formed by 1742, in preparation for the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The completion of this process can be attributed to the beginning of the 1760s, when hasty preparations began for the coronation of Catherine II, which took place in September 1762.

The basis of the list of coronation regalia of Catherine II was the items hastily created by court jewelers specifically for her coronation: the Great Imperial Crown, orb and scepter. The dates speak of the haste of the work: the coup that brought the empress to the throne took place on June 28, 1762, and the coronation took place in Moscow on September 22 of the same year. At the same time, Empress Catherine II announced her intention to be crowned four days after her accession to the throne, promulgating the corresponding manifesto. In fact, the court jewelers had only two and a half months at their disposal, during which time they had to not only “give birth” to the idea of ​​new crown jewels, but also to embody it in metal and stones. The main task of the jewelers was to create the Great Imperial Crown.

F.S. Rokotov. Portrait of Catherine II

Coronation dress of Catherine II. Brocade, decorative sewing on appliqué, lace. 1762

In his notes, the jeweler I. Pozier, describing the moment of “placement of the order”, did not even mention that Georg Friedrich Eckart worked with him on the creation of a new crown: “... Since the Empress told me that she wanted this crown to remain in the same form after the coronation, then I selected all the largest stones that were not suitable for fashionable decoration, partly diamonds, partly colored, which amounted to the richest thing that exists in Europe. Actually, this phrase exhausts the description of the process of working on the crown. From previous episodes of I. Pozier's memoirs, it is known that before starting work in metal, the jeweler made a wax copy of the frame of the thing and pressed real diamonds into it, achieving the most advantageous jewelry compositional combinations. For Russia in the middle of the XVIII century. this is certainly an innovative technique, which was successfully used in the work on the Great Imperial Crown. At the same time, the artistic side of working on a unique product that we admire so much today was for the jeweler only a part of the production process, which, in turn, was provided by the presence of “big stones”.

One way or another, but the jewelers Jeremiah Pozier and Georg Friedrich Eckart managed to solve the main jewelry task in a short time - to create Big imperial crown which all Russian monarchs were crowned from 1762 to 1896. If we talk about the specific contribution to the idea of ​​the crown of each of the jewelers, then, oddly enough, mutual hostility and overt rivalry brought brilliant results. So, the sketch of the crown was made by Pozier, the idea of ​​the slotted frame belonged to Eckart, he selected and fixed the stones on the frame of Pozier, etc.

The gems that adorn the Great Imperial Crown amaze with their splendor and luxury. In total, 75 pearls and 4936 diamonds (58 large and 4878 small, totaling 2858 5/32 carats) are fixed on the crown. The top of the crown is decorated with a magnificent dark red spinel of 398.72 carats. A huge spinel and 75 pearls (weighing 745 carats) weighed about 800 g, and together with the metal, the crown was almost 2 kg (1993.80 g). In total, the crown was decorated with 5012 precious stones weighing 2992 11/32 carats. At the same time, 1 pound of gold and 20 pounds of silver were initially allocated to the crown. The length of the lower circumference of the crown is 64 cm, the height with the cross is 27.5 cm.

Apparently, Catherine II, giving jewelers carte blanche to use any stones and materials in the manufacture of the crown, expressed some pragmatic wishes. This is evidenced by the phrase in the notes of I. Pozier that he tried to make the crown as light as possible: “Despite all the precautions I took to make the crown light and use only the most necessary materials to hold the stones, it turned out to be five pounds of weight."

Coronation of Catherine II. 1762

Fragments of the coronation of Catherine II. 1762

Coronation meal in the Palace of Facets

Nevertheless, the master managed to please the customer, she received a magnificent thing and in a very short time. The court jeweler I. Pozier personally “tried on the crown to Her Majesty”, and Catherine II was “very pleased with her”, saying that “for four or five hours during the ceremony she would somehow hold this weight”. It is clear that Catherine II in this hot time was only interested in pragmatic considerations. It is noteworthy that subsequently, before each coronation, jewelers adjusted this crown on the head of each of the monarchs.

It is also noteworthy that if Pozier writes about “production affairs” in one or two phrases, then he pays much more attention to money issues. Thus, when handing over the Great Imperial Crown to Empress Catherine II, the jeweler Pozier “forged while it was hot”. In the notes, he conveys his dialogue with the empress upon delivery of the order as follows: “... I ask her to reassure me that the emperor owes me (meaning the murdered Peter III. - Auth.), as this amounts to a very considerable amount in my means, and my friends who have given me credit are persecuting me, demanding payment. “Do you have the bill?” she asked. I filed it because I had it in my pocket. She said: “This sum is quite large, and there is very little money in the Cabinet, and I also need money for the expenses of the coronation. I see that there are items on this bill that are not yet finished, which I do not need, and which I will return to you. As for what remains of this amount, you will talk with Olsufiev, the Cabinet Secretary, and he will arrange it so that he will pay you off.

G.-F. Eckart, I. Pozier, Orote, I. Estifeev. Large imperial crown. July-September 1762

Fragments of the Great Imperial Crown

But even this direct order from the empress did not mean that the money would be paid to Pozier, especially since it was about 50,000 rubles. In order to get his money, the jeweler used two factors. First - he was at that moment, the Empress really needed him. The second - in terms of the terminology of the 1990s, and, probably, even today, since this tradition is very stable in Russia, Pozier proposed a "rollback" from 50,000 rubles. in the amount of 2000 rubles. (only 4%) to Cabinet Secretary Olsufiev, “so that he can sort things out for me.”

State and its fragments. 1762

In addition to the Great Imperial Crown by the jeweler Georg Friedrich Eckart, for the coronation in 1762, imperial power. I must say that a lot of effort and nerves were spent on the state. The fact is that initially it was supposed to use the orb with which Catherine I was married to the kingdom in 1724. She was from the ancient “big outfit” of the Moscow tsars. But to the horror of the organizers of the coronation, it turned out that shortly after the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1742, precious stones were broken out of the state by order of the empress, and then gold was also used in business. As a result, the ancient coronation power of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was destroyed. This story came to light only on September 7, 1762, and the coronation was scheduled for September 22. The jeweler had only two weeks to make a new orb. And, nevertheless, Eckart not only met the deadline, but also produced an item that was impeccable in terms of composition, which served at eight coronations: in 1762, 1797, 1801, 1826, 1829 (the coronation of Nicholas I in Warsaw), 1856, 1883, 1896

It should be added that changes were made to the appearance of the power of the sample of 1762 during subsequent coronations. The most fundamental ones were at the coronation of Paul I in 1797. Then a huge sapphire under a cross and a triangular diamond on a girdle appeared on the orb, purchased from Ivan Ambelikov and for a long time being the second largest in Russia after the famous Orlov diamond.

465.11 g of gold and 305.07 g of silver were used to make the state. 1370 diamonds with a total weight of 221.34 carats and rose-cut diamonds (25 pieces weighing 45.10 carats) became the diamond background of the state. But the main decorations, of course, were a magnificent sapphire weighing 195 carats and a diamond weighing 45 carats. The height of the orb with a cross is 24 cm, diameter 48 cm.

As in the case of the Great Imperial Crown, I. Pozier very vaguely mentions the manufacture of other gift items: “... Before leaving, the Empress gave me a few things to finish for the coronation.” When Pozier appeared in Moscow a few days before the coronation, he was immediately taken to Catherine II, who, according to Pozier, was “very glad to see me, that she was very afraid that I would get stuck on the road in puddles, with all the things that I gave it to her."

In Moscow, during the days of the coronation, the jeweler Pozier had a hard time. And although, according to him, “the empress bought from me a lot of things that she needed for gifts, and since I was paid quite regularly on her orders, I got the opportunity to send money to my Dutch correspondents,” but at the same time “from the nobles I could not get a penny, and forcibly fought off their requests to lend them as much as they liked ... they demanded things in the name of Her Majesty, and when they received things, they asked not to tell her, promising to pay. Under the "nobles" Pozier, of course, meant the new environment of the Empress, the same Orlov brothers. They already wanted to shine, but did not yet have the material opportunities that they would have later. The jeweler tried to complain to Catherine II about the harassment of nobles from her inner circle, to which the empress replied: “I know, I know ... but I can’t do without these people.”

The literature indicates that for all the jewelry made for this coronation, the jeweler Pozier received 50,000 rubles. It is difficult to say whether the debt of the Imperial Court of Peter III (the same 50,000 rubles) was included in this amount, but one way or another, this amount is quite comparable with the entire budget for the coronation celebrations of 1762. In total, 86,000 rubles were spent on jewelry work for the coronation .

In addition to the Great Imperial Crown and orb at the coronation in 1762, they used " Big bouquet”, made for Elizabeth Petrovna in 1757–1760. The bouquet was made up of diamonds and emeralds. Multi-colored foil placed under the diamonds (a common technique used by jewelers in the past) created the effect of a multicolored “live” bouquet. Only the lilac-pink 15-carat diamond has a natural color. It served as an adornment of the bodice of the ceremonial coronation dress of Catherine II.

Somewhat later, a new one was made for Catherine II. Imperial scepter, adorned with a diamond "Orlov" weighing 189.62 carats. This diamond was presented to the Empress by G.G. Orlov November 24, 1773. After some time, the diamond was inserted into the scepter already prepared for it. The famous jeweler of the time of Catherine II L. Pfisterer made the scepter. 395.56 g of gold and 60 g of silver went to work. The frame of the famous "Orlov" was 196 diamonds weighing 53.20 carats. The length of the scepter with a pommel in the form of a double-headed eagle is 59.5 cm. Since that time (1773), the three main coronation regalia (crown, scepter and orb) have not changed. Under Paul I, the new scepter was first used during the coronation, and thus it officially became one of the imperial regalia.

Scepter and its fragments. 1773

The last coronation of the XVIII century. was the coronation of Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna on April 5, 1797. It was this coronation that finally fixed the order of coronation celebrations that were reproduced throughout the 19th century. First, it was the first joint coronation of an emperor and an empress. Secondly, Paul I laid the foundation for the tradition: before the solemn entry into Moscow, stop at the Petrovsky Palace, built by Catherine II. Thirdly, during the coronation, on April 5, 1797 (on the first day of Easter), Emperor Paul I laid on himself a dalmatic, and only then purple. Fourthly, during the coronation procedure itself, Paul I first sat on the throne and, putting the regalia on the pillows, called the Empress Maria Feodorovna to her, who knelt before him. Taking off the crown, Pavel Petrovich touched it to the head of the empress and then again put the crown on himself. Then a small diamond crown was presented, which the emperor placed on the head of the empress. It was this procedure that was repeated during the coronations of Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. After the completion of the chrismation ceremony right in the Assumption Cathedral, Paul I publicly read the Act of Succession to the Throne.

Coronation of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. 1797

At the coronation of Paul I, they used the Great Imperial Crown, made for the coronation of Catherine II in 1762. On the eve of the coronation, it was adjusted to the head of Paul I, making it somewhat wider. In addition, 75 pearls were replaced by 54 larger pearls.

As for the Small Diamond Crown, placed by Paul I on the head of Empress Maria Feodorovna, Catherine II ordered it from the jeweler Jean-Francois Loubier at the end of 1895. The jeweler finished work on the crown after the death of the Empress, just in time for the start of preparations for a new coronation. Then this Small coronation crown until 1828 it was kept in the rooms of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

After the death of Maria Feodorovna in November 1828, her crown entered the Diamond Room of the Winter Palace, where it was valued at 48,750 rubles. The crown was kept until the early 1840s, until, at the direction of Nicholas I, it was used to make a diamond dress for Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (daughter of Nicholas I).

V.L. Borovikovsky. Portrait of Paul I. 1800, Russian Museum

It should be noted that, having become emperor, Paul I changed the legal status of the crown imperial regalia. It was under Paul I that they ceased to be consumable inventory and acquired the status of hereditary. From that time on, the complex of imperial regalia ceased to be radically updated from coronation to coronation, but began to be inherited, increasing in number. This was also facilitated by the factor of dynastic stability, provided both by the decree on succession to the throne in 1797, and by a sufficient number of legitimate male heirs.

Therefore, on the eve of each subsequent coronation, the court jewelers not only sorted and cleaned the stones of the crown, but also adjusted the lower rim of the Big and Small imperial crowns on the head of the monarchs who were crowned to the kingdom. For fitting the Great Imperial Crown of Paul I, his court jeweler Jacob Duval on February 19, 1797 received 10,000 rubles.

Nevertheless, for the slender Paul I, the Great Imperial Crown was even outwardly too big. This is especially noticeable in the ceremonial portrait by V.L. Borovikovsky, kept in the exposition of the Russian Museum. Contemporaries who closely followed the emperor noted that he was breathing heavily after a long ceremony and the exhausting weight of his coronation attire. After a ceremonial dinner in the Faceted Chamber, the emperor complained to his eldest son Alexander: “No matter what Duval says, this crown is very heavy.”

It is noteworthy that even during the coronation, the monarchs were united in their desire to discipline not only the courtiers, but also the people closest to them, not allowing the slightest deviation from the established rules. Countess V.N. Golovina recalled: “Everyone was in full dress: for the first time, court dresses appeared, replacing the national costume adopted under Catherine II. The Grand Duchess Elisaveta, next to the diamond brooch that was on her chest, pinned several wonderful fresh roses. When, before the beginning of the ceremony, she entered the Empress, she measured her with her eyes from head to toe and, without saying a word, roughly tore the bouquet from her dress and threw it on the ground. “It doesn’t fit in front toilets,” she said. In this episode, both the features of the character of Maria Feodorovna and the features of her relationship with her daughter-in-law were clearly manifested. When, in 1817, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was married, the story with the flower repeated itself, but in this situation, Maria Feodorovna kept silent.

OK. Pfanzelt. Portrait of Emperor Peter III Fedorovich. 1761

Speaking about the short reign of Paul I, one can also mention a very colorful episode in which the imperial regalia were used. The fact is that Peter III, who was killed shortly after the accession of Catherine II to the throne, was not crowned. After his death, the “tender” wife buried Peter III not in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where he was supposed to lie “by status”, but on the outskirts - in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

In December 1796, after the death of Catherine II, Paul I ordered to open the grave of his father and posthumously "crowned" him, touching the Great Imperial Crown to the skull of Peter III. Of course, it was nothing more than a symbolic coronation. Then the funeral procession with the body of Peter III went to the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the participants in the coup of 1762 accompanied the funeral chariot. As a result, Catherine II and Peter III were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral at the same time.

As you know, the reign of Paul I was short, since he was killed in March 1801 during a palace coup. During the funeral of Paul I, state regalia were carried on pillows after the coffin of the emperor. Count Rumyantsev, later chancellor, and at that time chamberlain, was assigned the duty to carry the scepter. He dropped it and noticed it only after walking twenty paces. The incident gave rise to many superstitious interpretations. It's hard to believe, but the Orlov diamond, embedded in the scepter, was lying on the ground.

The coronation of Alexander I, who became emperor on the tragic night of March 11-12, 1801, took place on September 15, 1801. This coronation was a one-to-one copy of the coronation of Paul I. No changes were made to either the coronation ceremony itself or the list of crown jewels. It was. However, according to tradition, a new crown was made for the Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. It was made by the leading jewelers of the turn of the century, the Duvali brothers (according to another version, Jean-Francois Loubier). During the coronation of Alexander I in his hands was “a golden scepter with three belts, which are sprinkled with small diamonds and yahonts; on the top is an enamel double-headed eagle, on whose chest is the name of the Sovereign Emperor Paul I under a crown.

Imperial regalia and crown diamonds after October 1917 The events of October 1917 affected the fate of royal valuables in Petrograd and Moscow in different ways. During the storming of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks on the night of October 25-26, 1917, losses were inevitable. Should

From the author's book

Imperial regalia and symbols The imperial title, state symbols and imperial regalia were not just state symbols, but also an integral part of the etiquette (public) part of court life. In Russia, the imperial regalia were the coat of arms,

The niece of Peter I, the daughter of his brother Ivan Alekseevich and Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova, Anna Ioannovna, in 1710, at the age of seventeen, was married to the Duke of Courland Friedrich-Wilhelm. After the sudden death of her husband, which followed two months after the wedding, she lived for some time in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and in 1717 she settled in Mitava, where she was caught by the proposal of the Supreme Privy Council to take the Russian throne. Anna Ioannovna was not the only heiress to the throne, which was empty after the death of Peter II, but the "supreme leaders" headed by Prince D.M. Golitsyn, who hoped to limit autocratic power in this way, risked offering her the role of a controlled empress. However, some time after accession to the throne, relying on the support of the nobility, she broke the previously signed "conditions" and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council. By the time of the coronation, scheduled for April 28, 1730, Anna Ioannovna was finally freed from the shy guardianship of the "supreme leaders" and became the sole sovereign.

Before her coronation, Anna Ioannovna published a manifesto, from which the coronation collection began: “When, by the will of Almighty God, Her Imperial Majesty, to the general joy of the people, having arrived safely in Moscow on the Ancestral All-Russian Throne, mercifully deigned to enter, then for some time, I deigned to announce my intention, so that, according to the custom of the ancestors of Her Majesty and other Christian potentates, Coronation and Holy anointing to perceive, which was published through the issued Manifesto on March 16th. Coronation celebrations in Moscow lasted a week. In general, following the traditions laid down by Peter the Great, the organizers of the coronation of Anna Ioannovna introduced some innovations, among which was a celebration in the Golovin estate located in the German settlement, and the solemn return of the empress to the Kremlin: “To the German in which settlement all foreign ministers and noble inhabitants had great illuminations against the houses with various symbols and emblems of various colors in honor of Her Imperial Majesty and the State of Russia, between which the greatest of the Caesar Plenipotentiary Minister, against his house, and at Gishpan across the street the Triumphal Gate, at which, during the procession of Her Majesty, they played the trumpets, and those ministers themselves, standing in front of their apartments. Her Majesty bow and congratulations repaired.

Traditional festive events included throwing gold and silver tokens among the crowd, as well as a treat for the common people arranged in the Kremlin: fried, stuffed with birds of various kinds, and on the sides of those bulls, red and white wine was poured from two fountains made, which, at the end of Her Majesty's table, was given to the people for free use.

V. N. Tatishchev oversaw the publication of the coronation collection, in his childhood he often saw the future empress. In 1693, when Anna Ioannovna was born, seven-year-old Vasily Tatishchev, together with his brother Ivan, were granted stewardship to the court of Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna. Apparently, the kinship of the Tatishchevs and the Saltykovs played an important role in this appointment. In particular, the grandfather of Anna Ioannovna Fyodor Saltykov was married to a second marriage to a representative of the Tatishchev family, Anna Mikhailovna Tatishcheva. In 1730, Tatishchev served as a member of the Moscow Coin Office, which belonged to the Palace Department. It was no coincidence that he was entrusted with supervising the publication of the collection. During the coronation itself, he, being in the rank of state councilor, served as chief master of ceremonies. With the traditional distribution of awards and ranks at the coronation, Tatishchev received the rank of real state councilor.

Work on the coronation collection lasted about six months, and at the end of October 1730 it went out of print. Compared to the description of the coronation of Catherine I, prepared by a person with a clear literary talent, the collection dedicated to Anna Ioannovna was noticeably inferior in the beauties of style and completeness of information. Its content is more like an official account of the ceremonies and festivities that took place. But on the other hand, the “Description of the Coronation of Anna Ioannovna” can hardly be overestimated in terms of prepared illustrations. Here, the coronation in the Assumption Cathedral, and the dinner in the Faceted Chamber, and the fireworks that accompanied the festive celebrations are captured. The front list of the publication was decorated with a wonderful portrait of the Empress, engraved by H. A. Wortman from the original by L. Caravaque. This folio is also important as the ancestor of illustrated coronation collections, the tradition of publishing which ended only with the Russian Empire.

Description of the coronation of Her Majesty the Empress and Autocrat of All Russia, Anna Ioannovna, solemnly sent in the reigning city of Moscow, April 28, 1730. Moscow: Published at the Senate, October 31, 1730. 1 l. frontispiece - engraving by H. A. Wortman from the original by L. Caravaca, , 46 pp., 11 sheets. illustrations, 2 sheets. - plans (all - engravings on copper). In full-leather binding of the time of publication. On the spine is a gold-embossed floral ornament. At the top of the spine is a brown leather label with an embossed title. 32x21 cm. One of the most difficult to find "coronations".

Placed under the cross, it weighs one hundred grams. In the manufacture of the crown, techniques such as casting, chasing, carving and gilding were used. Crown height 31.3 cm.

Story

The meeting of the coronation commission on March 12 of the year decided to create two new crowns for Empress Anna Ioannovna: the Large Imperial (for coronation), and the Small (for other ceremonies). Their images can be seen in the coronation album, published in the same year. . In the tenth of March, soldiers are sent to the Moscow settlements to collect "for the cause of the crown of Her Imperial Majesty, goldsmiths of silversmiths and chasers." Diamond maker Ivan Shmit, goldsmith Samson Larionov (he also created the first Russian imperial crown of Catherine I), Nikita Milyukov and Kalina Afanasiev, silversmith Pyotr Semenov, goldsmith Luka Fedorov and bookbinders Ivan Matfeev and Vadim participated in the work on these crowns. Alekseev.

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Notes

1. Crownings and coronations in the Moscow Kremlin. Part 2. XVIII-XIX centuries. - M., 2013. - S. 190.
2. Bykova Yu. I. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // Peter's time in faces - 2013. To the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (1613-2013). Proceedings of the State Hermitage. T. LXX. - St. Petersburg, 2013. - S. 105.
3. Bykova Yu. I. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // Peter's time in faces - 2013. To the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (1613-2013). Proceedings of the State Hermitage. T. LXX. - St. Petersburg, 2013. - S. 102–114.
4. Troinitsky S. N. Crown Jewels // Diamond Fund. - M., 1925. Issue. 2. - S. 11.
5. Bykova Yu. I.. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // Peter's time in faces - 2013. To the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (1613-2013). Proceedings of the State Hermitage. T. LXX. - St. Petersburg, 2013. - S. 102–114; Bykova Yu. I.. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // The Moscow Kremlin in the state life of Russia. Abstracts of reports. Anniversary scientific conference Moscow Kremlin Museums, October 31 - November 01, 2013. - M., 2013. - S. 17–19.
6. Bykova Yu. I. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // Peter's time in faces - 2013. Collection of articles. State. Hermitage. - St. Petersburg, 2013. - S. 107.
7. Description of the coronation of Her Majesty the Empress and Autocrat of All Russia Anna Ioannovna solemnly sent in the reigning city of Moscow on April 28, 1730. - M., 1730.
8. Kuznetsova L.K. On the "Vodoksha lala" under the cross of the Great Crown of Anna Ioannovna // Examination and attribution of works of fine arts. Materials 2001. - M., 2003. - S. 175–182; Kuznetsova L.K. Petersburg jewelers. The eighteenth century, diamond ... - St. Petersburg, 2009. - P. 93.
9. Jerzy Gutkowski.. Radio Poland (October 9, 2012).

Sources

1. Troinitsky S. N. Coronation Jewels // Diamond Fund. M., 1925. Issue. 2.
2. Description of the coronation of Her Majesty the Empress and Autocrat of All Russia Anna Ioannovna solemnly sent in the reigning city of Moscow on April 28, 1730. M., 1730.
3. Kuznetsova L.K. On the “Vodoksha lala” under the cross of the Great Crown of Anna Ioannovna // Examination and attribution of works of fine arts. Materials 2001. M., 2003. S. 175–182.
4. Kuznetsova L.K. Petersburg jewelers. Eighteenth century, diamond ... St. Petersburg, 2009.
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6. Bykova Yu. I. On the issue of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // The Moscow Kremlin in the state life of Russia. Abstracts of reports. Anniversary scientific conference Moscow Kremlin Museums, October 31 - November 01, 2013. M., 2013. S. 17–19.
7. Crownings and coronations in the Moscow Kremlin. Part 2. XVIII-XIX centuries. M., 2013.

An excerpt characterizing the Crown of Anna Ioannovna

Berg had been the bridegroom for more than a month and only a week remained before the wedding, and the count had not yet decided with himself the question of dowry and did not talk about it with his wife. The count either wanted to separate Vera from the Ryazan estate, then he wanted to sell the forest, then he wanted to borrow money against a bill. A few days before the wedding, Berg entered the count's office early in the morning and, with a pleasant smile, respectfully asked the future father-in-law to tell him what would be given for Countess Vera. The count was so embarrassed at this long-anticipated question that he said without thinking the first thing that came into his head.
- I love that I took care, I love you, you will be satisfied ...
And he patted Berg on the shoulder and stood up, wanting to end the conversation. But Berg, smiling pleasantly, explained that if he did not know correctly what would be given for Vera, and did not receive in advance at least a part of what was assigned to her, then he would be forced to refuse.
“Because judge, Count, if I now allowed myself to marry, without having certain means to support my wife, I would act vilely ...
The conversation ended with the count, wishing to be generous and not be subjected to new requests, said that he was issuing a bill of 80 thousand. Berg smiled meekly, kissed the count on the shoulder and said that he was very grateful, but now he could not get settled in his new life without receiving 30 thousand in clean money. “At least 20 thousand, Count,” he added; - And then the bill was only 60 thousand.
- Yes, yes, good, - the count spoke quickly, - just excuse me, my friend, I will give 20 thousand, and the bill is also for 80 thousand ladies. So, kiss me.

Natasha was 16 years old, and it was 1809, the same year until which, four years ago, she counted on her fingers with Boris after she kissed him. Since then, she has never seen Boris. In front of Sonya and with her mother, when the conversation turned to Boris, she spoke quite freely, as if it were a settled matter, that everything that had happened before was childish, about which it was not worth even talking about, and which had long been forgotten. But in the most secret depths of her soul, the question of whether the commitment to Boris was a joke or an important, binding promise tormented her.
Ever since Boris left Moscow for the army in 1805, he had not seen the Rostovs. Several times he visited Moscow, passing not far from Otradnoye, but he never visited the Rostovs.
It sometimes occurred to Natasha that he did not want to see her, and her guesses were confirmed by the sad tone in which the elders used to say about him:
“In this century, old friends are not remembered,” the countess said after the mention of Boris.
Anna Mikhailovna, who had lately visited the Rostovs less frequently, also behaved herself in a particularly dignified manner, and each time spoke enthusiastically and gratefully about the merits of her son and about the brilliant career in which he was. When the Rostovs arrived in St. Petersburg, Boris came to visit them.
He rode towards them not without emotion. The memory of Natasha was the most poetic memory of Boris. But at the same time, he rode with the firm intention of making it clear to her and her family that the childish relationship between him and Natasha could not be an obligation either for her or for him. He had a brilliant position in society, thanks to intimacy with Countess Bezukhova, a brilliant position in the service, thanks to the patronage of an important person, whose trust he fully enjoyed, and he had nascent plans for marrying one of the richest brides in St. Petersburg, which could very easily come true. . When Boris entered the Rostovs' living room, Natasha was in her room. Upon learning of his arrival, she flushed almost ran into the living room, beaming with more than an affectionate smile.
Boris remembered that Natasha in a short dress, with black eyes shining from under her curls and with a desperate, childish laugh, whom he knew 4 years ago, and therefore, when a completely different Natasha entered, he was embarrassed, and his face expressed enthusiastic surprise. This expression on his face delighted Natasha.
“What, do you recognize your little friend as a minx?” said the Countess. Boris kissed Natasha's hand and said that he was surprised at the change that had taken place in her.
- How you have improved!
“Sure!” answered Natasha's laughing eyes.
- Is your father old? she asked. Natasha sat down and, without entering into a conversation between Boris and the countess, silently examined her children's fiancé to the smallest detail. He felt the weight of that stubborn, affectionate look on himself, and from time to time glanced at her.
Uniform, spurs, tie, Boris's hairstyle, all this was the most fashionable and comme il faut [quite decently]. Natasha noticed this now. He was sitting a little sideways on an armchair near the countess, adjusting with his right hand the cleanest, drenched glove on his left, he spoke with a special, refined pursing of his lips about the amusements of the highest Petersburg society and with gentle mockery recalled the old Moscow times and Moscow acquaintances. Not accidentally, as Natasha felt it, he mentioned, naming the highest aristocracy, about the ball of the envoy, which he was at, about invitations to NN and to SS.
Natasha sat all the time in silence, looking at him from under her brows. This look more and more disturbed and embarrassed Boris. He often looked back at Natasha and interrupted his stories. He sat for no more than 10 minutes and stood up, bowing. All the same curious, defiant and somewhat mocking eyes looked at him. After his first visit, Boris told himself that Natasha was just as attractive to him as before, but that he should not give in to this feeling, because marrying her - a girl with almost no fortune - would be the death of his career, and resuming the old relationship without the purpose of marriage would be an ignoble act. Boris decided on his own to avoid meeting Natasha, but, despite this decision, he arrived a few days later and began to travel often and spend whole days with the Rostovs. It seemed to him that he needed to explain himself to Natasha, to tell her that everything old should be forgotten, that, despite everything ... she cannot be his wife, that he has no fortune, and she will never be given for him. But he did not succeed in everything and it was embarrassing to start this explanation. Every day he became more and more confused. Natasha, according to the remark of her mother and Sonya, seemed to be in love with Boris in the old way. She sang his favorite songs to him, showed him her album, forced him to write in it, did not allow him to remember the old, letting him know how wonderful the new was; and every day he left in a fog, without saying what he intended to say, not knowing himself what he was doing and why he came, and how it would end. Boris stopped visiting Helen, received daily reproachful notes from her, and yet spent whole days with the Rostovs.

One evening, when the old countess, sighing and groaning, in a night cap and blouse, without overhead letters, and with one poor tuft of hair protruding from under a white calico cap, was laying prostrations of the evening prayer on the rug, her door creaked, and in shoes on her bare feet, also in a blouse and hairpins, Natasha ran in. The Countess looked back and frowned. She was finishing her last prayer: “Will this coffin be my bed?” Her prayer mood was destroyed. Natasha, red and animated, seeing her mother at prayer, suddenly stopped in her run, sat down and involuntarily stuck out her tongue, threatening herself. Noticing that her mother was continuing her prayer, she ran on tiptoe to the bed, quickly sliding one small foot against the other, kicked off her shoes and jumped onto that bed, for which the countess was afraid that he would not be her coffin. This bed was high, feather-bed, with five ever-decreasing pillows. Natasha jumped up, drowned in a feather bed, rolled over to the wall and began to fiddle under the covers, laying down, bending her knees to her chin, kicking her legs and laughing a little audibly, now covering her head, then looking at her mother. The countess finished her prayer and with a stern face went up to the bed; but, seeing that Natasha was covered with her head, she smiled her kind, weak smile.