Son Altesse Impériale Madame la Grande Duchesse Marie Nicolajewna Duchesse de Leuchtenberg.

Title

Son Altesse Impériale Madame la Grande Duchesse Marie Nicolajewna Duchesse de Leuchtenberg.

Description

The lithograph depicts a portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Romanova. Lithographed by D. Haiz, printed by the Th. Kammerer Art Institute, Munich, after a portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler

ca. 1850

Artist

Stieler (1781-1858)

Adolf Stieler ( 1775 - 1836) was a German cartographer who contributed significantly to the development of cartography in Germany. At the Gotha observatory built by Franz Xaver von Zach, the map designs created in Central Europe at that time were examined and evaluated by Zach himself. Zach became aware of the talent of the young Stieler and gave him lessons and suggestions. He also published Stieler's first map illustrations in the Allgemeine Geographische Ephemeriden (General Geographic Ephemerides), published under his direction in Weimar by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747-1822). For the same publisher, Stieler drew maps for the great German hand atlas of the time, the "Allgemeine Hand-Atlas der ganzen Erde" (General Hand Atlas of the Entire Earth), as well as for the "Topographisch-militairische Charte von Teutschland in 204 Sectionen" (Topographic-Military Map of Germany in 204 Sections). Stieler also drew generally recognized maps for other authors, including a map of Germany for a book by E. A. von Hoff. Through this work, contact was made with the publisher Justus Perthes, which was to last a lifetime.

Historical Description

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819–1876) was the eldest daughter of Nicholas I of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna. Through her marriage to Maximilian de Beauharnais, she became Duchess of Leuchtenberg. A prominent patron of the arts and sciences, she directed several cultural institutions in Saint Petersburg, including the Imperial Academy of Arts. As a member of the Romanov dynasty, she played an important role in the cultural life of the Russian Empire.