Cleveland Museum of Art

Imperial Framed Miniature of Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna

Johannes Zehngraf

Date

1896

Medium

jade, gold, rubies, gouache, ivory, glass

Culture

Russia, St. Petersburg

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The giving of miniatures had long been a common practice among wealthy and aristocratic families by the time Faberge began combining portraits with his richly decorated frames. The Russian imperial family delighted in having these personal mementos and commissioned many different miniatures to place around their private apartments, providing a warm family atmosphere in an otherwise highly formal existence. This painted miniature is one of two miniatures that were personal gifts from the tsar and tsarina to one another in 1896, a year after the birth of their firstborn child, Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna. The tsar gave the miniature of himself to the tsarina, and she gave the one of the child to the tsar.

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