Mikhail Makhayev’s St Petersburg

The sketches and drawings of Mikhail Makhayev (1717–1770), the great Russian 18th-century veduta master, are the only way we have of appreciating St Petersburg’s stately appearance during the mid-18th century. Drawn en plein air, Makhayev’s cityscapes were transformed into large-format engravings by some of the Russian capital’s best engravers. It was a national political priority to have views of St Petersburg appear in engraved form. These engravings perpetuated an idealized image of St Petersburg, the Russian Empire’s new capital, a “perfect city” built on lands conquered by Peter the Great in the first quarter of the 18th century and elegantly augmented and refined by his sovereign daughter Elizabeth.

The exhibition features approximately 100 works from the holdings of the Russian Museum: Mikhail Makhayev’s drawings, engravings, and paintings made from his drawings by Russian and Western European artists, as well as the engraved copper plates used to print St Petersburg city views in the mid-18th century.