DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61284#0258
CATHERINE II. AT HOME
129
the doors of the best houses have been shut in his face.” This letter to
Suzette Vigee ends with the following reflection: “It is sad to remark,
as I have too often had to do, that in a foreign country it is only French
people who are capable of trying to injure their compatriots, even in
employing calumny. Everywhere, on the other hand, one sees the English,
the Germans, and the Italians, mutually sustaining and supporting one
another.”
Vigee-Lebrun would not have been herself if she had not changed
her abode whilst at St. Petersburg. She moved from her first lodgings
into a house in the big square of which one side was formed by the Palace
of Catherine II. She had the pleasure, every morning, of seeing the
Empress open a French window and throw bread-crumbs to the birds,
which came regularly to receive their rations. In the evenings, through
the windows of the brightly-lit rooms of the Palace, the Empress could
be seen playing at hide-and-seek with her grandchildren and their
attendants.
Two of these grandchildren, Alexandrina and Helena, both between
twelve and fifteen years old, sat for their portraits, by command of the
Empress, to the French artist, being painted together on the same canvas.
This picture, which is now at Gatschina, is signed, and dated 1796. The
two girls are dressed in their own costumes, but, as first represented, they
were dressed by the artist in costumes which, she says, were “ a little
Greek, but very simple and very modest.” The reason for the alteration
was that Zuboff, the favourite who had succeeded Potemkin in Catherine’s
affections, told Madame Lebrun that the Empress was scandalised. In the
artist’s own opinion the effect of the picture was spoilt by the alteration,
apart from the fact that “ the pretty arms, with which I had done my
very best, could no longer be seen.” She declares that the Empress herself
denied that she had made any complaint, and she charges Zuboff, who
does not seem to have liked her, with inventing the criticism. His enmity,
she suggests, was due to her neglect, during six months, to seek his good
offices by means of a letter of introduction to his sister, which the artist
had with her.
It seems certain, however, that the Empress did not care for the
picture, and she never sat to Madame herself, though she gave her some
other commissions.
The second “ command ” portrait was of the Grand Duchess Elisabeth,
whom we have seen watering her carnations. She was a nice-looking girl,
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129
the doors of the best houses have been shut in his face.” This letter to
Suzette Vigee ends with the following reflection: “It is sad to remark,
as I have too often had to do, that in a foreign country it is only French
people who are capable of trying to injure their compatriots, even in
employing calumny. Everywhere, on the other hand, one sees the English,
the Germans, and the Italians, mutually sustaining and supporting one
another.”
Vigee-Lebrun would not have been herself if she had not changed
her abode whilst at St. Petersburg. She moved from her first lodgings
into a house in the big square of which one side was formed by the Palace
of Catherine II. She had the pleasure, every morning, of seeing the
Empress open a French window and throw bread-crumbs to the birds,
which came regularly to receive their rations. In the evenings, through
the windows of the brightly-lit rooms of the Palace, the Empress could
be seen playing at hide-and-seek with her grandchildren and their
attendants.
Two of these grandchildren, Alexandrina and Helena, both between
twelve and fifteen years old, sat for their portraits, by command of the
Empress, to the French artist, being painted together on the same canvas.
This picture, which is now at Gatschina, is signed, and dated 1796. The
two girls are dressed in their own costumes, but, as first represented, they
were dressed by the artist in costumes which, she says, were “ a little
Greek, but very simple and very modest.” The reason for the alteration
was that Zuboff, the favourite who had succeeded Potemkin in Catherine’s
affections, told Madame Lebrun that the Empress was scandalised. In the
artist’s own opinion the effect of the picture was spoilt by the alteration,
apart from the fact that “ the pretty arms, with which I had done my
very best, could no longer be seen.” She declares that the Empress herself
denied that she had made any complaint, and she charges Zuboff, who
does not seem to have liked her, with inventing the criticism. His enmity,
she suggests, was due to her neglect, during six months, to seek his good
offices by means of a letter of introduction to his sister, which the artist
had with her.
It seems certain, however, that the Empress did not care for the
picture, and she never sat to Madame herself, though she gave her some
other commissions.
The second “ command ” portrait was of the Grand Duchess Elisabeth,
whom we have seen watering her carnations. She was a nice-looking girl,
9