Elizabeth of Russia
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Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person dur
Portrait by Vigilius Eriksen, 1757
Young Elizabeth in the 1720s, painted by Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
Portrait of her fiancé, Charles Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp (1706-1727), Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, ca. 1725.
Peter II and Princess Elizabeth Petrovna Riding to Hound by Valentin Serov
Peter the Great
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Peter I, better known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696
Elizabeth of Russia
…on the agnatic line of the Romanovs as her nephew ascended, thus creating the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. The second-eldest daughter of Tsar Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725), Elizabeth lived through the confused successions of her father's descendants following her half-brother Alexei's death in 1718. The…
Portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1717
Peter as a child
Double throne in Kremlin Armoury. A large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, while feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and problems.
Peter's ship, rigged with a sail and a mast with the help of Dutch carpenters