Entwurf für ein Denkmal der Kaiserin Katharina II. von Russland

Art Historical Context

In the grand tradition of 18th-century monumental sculpture, Karl Georg Merville *Entwurf für ein Denkmal der Kaiser Katharina II. vonland* (Design for a Monument to Empress Catherine of Russia), circa 1788, the neoclassical admiration for enlightened rulers. This lead model, standing 45 cm tall at its figure, served as a preparatory sketch for a larger public monument honoring Catherine the Great, Russia's formidable empress from 1762 1796. Housed in Vienna's Bel Collection, it reflects the cross-cultural artistic exchanges between the Habsburg and Romanov courts during the Enlightenment era....