In this text the reader is introduced to the world of pre-revolutionary Russia, where the decorative arts flourished. Since Peter the Great's time, Russian artists and craftsmen had looked westwards for their inspiration but the European styles were transmuted and transformed by the Russian sensibility, producing a style of its own. This book describes that process over two centuries, covering fashion, jewellery, icons, furniture, objects d'art, decorative paintings, porcelain, tableware and the style of life which went with them.

Showcases a unique exhibition, held in the Mississippi Arts Pavilion: March 1-August 31, 1996, of the imperial palaces in the environs of St. Petersburg, includingsome interiors of palaces lovingly recreated, with culturally significant artifacts that were transported half way aroung the world to grace this exhibition.

Showcases a unique exhibition, held in the Mississippi Arts Pavilion: March 1-August 31, 1996, of the imperial palaces in the environs of St. Petersburg, includingsome interiors of palaces lovingly recreated, with culturally significant artifacts that were transported half way aroung the world to grace this exhibition.

Focusing on the Tsarist and Soviet empires of Russia, Lieven reveals the nature and meaning of all empires throughout history. He examines factors that mold the shape of the empires, including geography and culture, and compares the Russian empires with other imperial states, from ancient China and Rome to the present-day United States. Illustrations.

A stunning volume showcasing the magnificent court dress of the Russian Empire, culled from the authoritative collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, photographed with the Winter Palace as a backdrop. Prerevolutionary Russia was renowned for the glamorous and luxurious lifestyles of the nobility, with their opulent palaces and glittering social life. Now, this lavish volume reveals the incredible clothing they wore, from everyday dress and ceremonial attire (traditional holidays outfits and military uniforms) to dress for special occasions, including elaborate evening wear for theater and musical events and fancy masquerade balls. Celebrated for luxurious materials and impeccable craftsmanship, the dress of the Russian nobility was haute couture at its finest. With beautiful photography and details highlighting the hand-spun silks and lace and jeweled embroideries, Russian Splendor highlights the glamour of this gilded age and offers a fascinating window into a vanished world. Essays by Hermitage Museum curators, alongside historic Russian paintings and photographs, place the clothing in a historical context, revealing the rich cultural layers and artistic influences of czarist Russia.

Modern Russian identity and historical experience has been largely shaped by Russia's imperial past: an empire that was founded in the early modern era and endures in large part today. The Russian Empire 1450-1801 surveys how the areas that made up the empire were conquered and how they were governed. It considers the Russian empire a 'Eurasian empire', characterized by a 'politics of difference': the rulers and their elites at the center defined the state's needs minimally - with control over defense, criminal law, taxation, and mobilization of resources - and otherwise tolerated local religions, languages, cultures, elites, and institutions. The center related to communities and religions vertically, according each a modicum of rights and autonomies, but didn't allow horizontal connections across nobilities, townsmen, or other groups potentially with common interests to coalesce. Thus, the Russian empire was multi-ethnic and multi-religious; Nancy Kollmann gives detailed attention to the major ethnic and religious groups, and surveys the government's strategies of governance - centralized bureaucracy, military reform, and a changed judicial system. The volume pays particular attention to the dissemination of a supranational ideology of political legitimacy in a variety of media - written sources and primarily public ritual, painting, and particularly architecture. Beginning with foundational features, such as geography, climate, demography, and geopolitical situation, The Russian Empire 1450-1801 explores the empire's primarily agrarian economy, serfdom, towns and trade, as well as the many religious groups - primarily Orthodoxy, Islam, and Buddhism. It tracks the emergence of an 'Imperial nobility' and a national self-consciousness that was, by the end of the eighteenth century, distinctly imperial, embracing the diversity of the empire's many peoples and cultures.

"From the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums."

How the status of Russian writers as members of the nobility, and their careers in service to the imperial state, shaped the course of Russian literature from Sumarokov and Derzhavin through Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky.