Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2009.49 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Portrait of Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova |
Artist |
Maximow, Alexei N. |
Date |
2002 |
Description |
Three-quarters length portrait of figure facing to her right with a rosy complexion and grey hair lightly pulled back. Figure wears a white Empire-style dress, a blue jacket ("kuntush") adorned with brown fur, sash, a miniature of Catherine II, and Star of the Order of St. Catherine. Shown with symbols of learning, including two volumes of Russian dictionary she published, figure rests her left arm on a large open book stacked on top of two other books on a table. Below the table rests a white globe. A green backdrop with gold fringe is draped behind the figure. Painting is based off of an early 1790s portrait housed in State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia by an unknown artist. |
Label |
Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, a Russian aristocrat, educational reformer, and intellectual, was the first female member of the APS. In 1762 Dashkova assisted Catherine the Great in overthrowing Peter III as ruler of Russia, receiving the Star and Cross of the Order of St. Catherine as a result. Dashkova introduced Enlightenment ideas to Russian society and promoted the Russian language. An advocate for the British educational system, she educated her son in Scotland. Dashkova met Benjamin Franklin in 1781 in Paris. In 1783, she became director of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of the Russian Language, unprecedented leadership positions for a woman at the time. Franklin nominated Dashkova to the APS in 1789; in turn, he became the first American member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2002, the APS commissioned this portrait, a copy of an 18th-century work by an unknown artist. |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Dimensions |
H-50.75 W-42.875 D-3.5 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society |
Search Terms |
18th century eighteenth century women painting |