Imperatorscaya Ermitazhnaya Galereya Litographirovannaya Frantsuzscimi Artistami ... Galerie Impériale De L'Ermitage, Lithographiée Par Mm. Dupressoir, Huot, Emile Boillard, Hyppolite Robillard, etc. Artistes Français. Imprimée Par Paul Petit. ouvrage dédié à Sa Majesté L'Impératrice. Sous La Protection Speciale De Sa Majesté L'Empereur. Editeurs:- Gohier Desfontaines et Paul Petit. Premier (Second) Volume
Vol. I: [38] p., frontis. (port.), engr. t.pl., [2] ports., [62] pl. - Vol. II: [32] p., frontis. (port.), [2] ports., [61] pl. There are two copies of pl. [37].
Contents
Vol. I: [Frontis. (port.), t.pl., [2] ports., dedic.] - Imperatorscaya Ermitazhnaya Galereya. Spisoc' Osobam' ... [list of subscribers] - Galerie Imperiale De L'Ermitage. Oglavlenie Pervuii Tom'. 1ya Seriya. Tetrad' Pervaya (- Pyatnadtsataya) / Table du 1er volume. 1e Série 1e (-15e) Livraison; [imprimatur] - [Plates, with text]. - Vol. II: [Frontis. (port.), t.-pl., [2] ports.] - Galerie Imperiale De L'Ermitage. Oglavlenie - Vtoroi Tom'. 4-ya Seriya. Tetrad' Shestnadtsataya (- Tetrad' Tridtsataya) / Table du 2e volume. 4-e Série. 16-e Livraison (- 30e Livraison); [imprimatur] - [Plates, with texts].
Responsibility Note
In Volume I the frontispiece is signed as lithographed by H. Robillard; the other two portraits, by Huot. All three are signed as printed by Paul Petit, and all bear the publishers' imprint of Gohier-Desfontaines and Paul Petit. Only one carries the name of a source artist - 'Krüger'.
The plates of both volumes all give the name of the source-artist. All are signed as printed by Paul Petit; and most as lithographed by E. Robillard, Huot, Victor Dollet, Dupressoir or H. Robillard - five are signed as lithographed by students of the Imperial Academy, Kraousolt, Paul Semetschkin, Motchiloff or Rodolphe Joukovsky.
Each carries the publishers' imprint of Gohier-Desfontaines and Paul Petit.
The work is dedicated by Gohier Desfontaines to 'Sa Majesté L'Impératrice' (that is, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna).
References
V. F. Levinson-Lessing, Istoriya kartinnoy Galerey Ermitazha, 1764-1917 (1985).
On lithography in Russia see G.A. Miroliubov, 'Early Russian lithography' [exhibition catalogue] (1976) [in Russian]; A.F. Korostin, 'Russian lithography in the nineteenth century' (1953) [in Russian]; .E. Gollerbach, 'The history of engraving and lithography in Russia' (1923) [in Russian].
Summary Note
Bound in at the end of the Royal Academy's copy are two blue-paper covers, one carrying the date 1844, the other that of 1847. (On the back of each are printed the 'Conditions De La Souscription').
The text is printed in Russian and French.
The three portraits at the beginning of each volume are of members of the imperial family - in Volume I, the Emperor Nicolas, the 'Grand-Duc Héritier' and the 'Grand-Duc Constantin Nicolaévitch'; in Volume II, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (2 portraits) and the 'Grande-Duchesse Cesarevna'.
The plates show paintings by Caravaggio (2), Wouvermans (6), F. Mieris (2), P. Potter (6), Van Dyck (3), Claude Lorrain (3), Metzu (2), Rubens (4), Leonardo (2), Kuyp (2), A. Carracci (2), Rembrandt (6), Teniers (7), Poussin (3), Veronese, Raphael (3), Terbourg (3), Ruisdael (3), Murillo (6), Guercino (2), Lancret, Van der Neer, Correggio (2), C. Maratti, P. Bordone, Le Bourgignon, Van Ostade (4), F. Bol, Berghem, Titian, Canaletto (2), Perugino, Salvator Rosa (5), Palma vecchio, Guido Reni (2), Le Sueur, Albani, Domenichino (2), Demetri Ivanov, Andrea del Sarto, Giulio Romano, J. Wynantz, Vanloo, G. Dow (3), Fragonard, Watteau, J. Steern, Béga, Jordaens, Dujardin, Velasquez, C. Dolci, Denner, Greuze, Weninx, Bourdon, J. Vernet, Pordenone and Tilborgh.
Provenance
Purchased for RA Library in 1891 (see RA Annual Report for 1891, p. 39).
Binding Note
19th-century half green morocco, green cloth-covered boards, spine lettered 'Galerie Impériale De L'Ermitage', 'R.A.' and 'Saint Petersbourg 1845.'
Paintings, European - History
Collections - Art galleries - Russia - St. Petersburg - 19th century
Pictorial works - Lithographs - Russia - 19th century