“The Empress of Art” by Susan Jaques is an art-focused biography of Catherine the Great, Russia’s most famous female ruler. Turns out, Catherine was a boss. Originally a German princess, she was married off to the crappy future Russian Tzar Peter III. When Peter rapidly began running Russia into the ground (he was wildly unpopular and treated her poorly) she stormed their palace with the help of the royal guards and took over the throne. Later Peter conveniently dies, many believe she had him killed.
Though Peter the Great gets a lot of credit for his “Window to the West” vision of Russia, Catherine did a lot of the work in modernizing the country. One way she accomplished that was through heavy art and literature collecting, as a way of illustrating how sophisticated and intellectual Russia was. She also threw lavish parties to demonstrate wealth and etiquette.
Whereas a male leader might have used war tactics to show Russia’s dominance, Catherine used clothing, entertaining, and art. Not to say she was never at war. She acquired more territory for Russia than any other leader.
Most people only know of Catherine because of her many lovers. But what’s fascinating about her love life is that she was an openly sexually liberated woman in the 18th century. In fact, she was kind of a freak. At this time women were still being put to death for even a hint of impropriety but she was so powerful she could take lovers freely with only rumors as repercussions.
Though I’ve been mostly reading authors of color this year, I made an exception for this piece. I’m headed to Moscow and Saint Petersburg in July so a little Russia research feels justified. If you’re fond of Russian history, art, or powerful women, this book is a great read.