Signed and dated at bottom right: zichy 1857 cardboard; watercolor, gouache, whitewash. 527 x 700 provenance: post, in 1954 from the state museum of fine arts inv. No. Err-5431 literature: aleshina 1975, p. 193; description 1856, p. 33-35 depicts one of the episodes of the coronation rite – the crowning of the “empress by the emperor”. The coronation ceremony in russia is a major state holiday, signifying the consecration by the church of the monarch’s power over the country. Since the time of ivan iv the terrible, it has taken place in the assumption cathedral of the moscow kremlin. The solemn rite of coronation, established under ivan the terrible, has not changed in the following centuries. In the center of the cathedral, a special platform with a ceremonial canopy was erected, with velvet-covered steps leading to the platform. There were thrones on the platform. There were three of them during the coronation of alexander ii. In the center was the throne of the grand duke of moscow ivan iii – for the emperor, on the right was the throne of tsar mikhail fyodorovich – for the young empress, and on the left was the throne of tsar alexei mikhailovich – for the dowager empress alexandra fyodorovna, mother of alexander ii. The coronation took place according to a specific ritual: after reading the prayers, the metropolitan presented the emperor with a purple robe and a crown, which the emperor put on himself, and then accepted the scepter from the metropolitan. The ritual also included the coronation of the empress, who knelt before the emperor, who placed a small crown on her head. This moment was captured in a watercolor by m. Zichy. Behind the imperial couple stand their assistants – the grand dukes and adjutant generals. On the platform below are members of the royal family, representatives of european courts, and on the right below are the hierarchs of the orthodox church. The dating of the watercolour to 1857 means that zichy repeated it at the request of one of his high-ranking customers. Object Type: painting. Date: 1857. Dimensions: height: 527 mm (20.74 in); width: 700 mm (27.55 in). Medium: cardboard, gouache, watercolour. Collection: Hermitage Museum. Mihály Zichy - Coronation of Alexander II (1857, Hermitage)
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