Lot 199: Theodore Joseph Napoleon Jacques, 1804-1876 , Tsar Peter I and Empress Catherine II bronze, dark brown patina, on tapering marble and bronze mounted bases, one inscribed: Peter I / Founder of Kronstadt , the other: Catherine II / Unifier of the

signed N. Jacques bronze, dark brown patina, on tapering marble and bronze mounted bases, one inscribed: Peter I / Founder of Kronstadt , the other: Catherine II / Unifier of the Crimea Quantity: 2

height: 105cm., 41¼in

This majestic pair of bronze figures was cast by the French sculptor Theodore Joseph Napoleon Jacques (1804-1876), who began his career at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the tuition of Pierre Cartellier and Jean-Pierre Cortot. In 1836 Jacques moved to Russia where he spent twenty five years; on return to Paris he was highly acclaimed at the Salon and buried at Père Lachaise cemetery. Among the most famous surviving works in Russia are two large porphyry caryatids in the main vestibule of the Hermitage and the large statue of Peter I erected in Kronstadt on the island of Kotlin in 1842, of which this statue is a reduced version. In 1703 Kotlin was captured by Peter from the Swedes, whose flag lies trampled under his right jackboot. This small island near the head of the Gulf of Finland was immediately fortified by Peter in order to provide crucial protection for his new capital, St Petersburg. It is traditionally the base of the Russian Baltic fleet. Peter's military victories were matched by his programs of reform. Having travelled widely in Western Europe, he imported foreign experts in numerous fields - scientific, artistic, military and civic - and implemented fundamental changes to the administrative structure of the state such as the introduction of a table of ranks for the nobility, in order to counter claims that Russia was a backward country. In many respects this giant of a man was as barbaric as his predecessors, yet the sheer strength of will by which he transformed the country captured the attention of Europe. When Catherine II seized the throne in 1762 almost forty years had passed since Peter's death, yet unlike the intervening rulers, Catherine embarked on bold military campaigns to extend Russian borders and began such widespread reforms of the legal system that the two monarchs formed a natural pair. Comparisons in both art and literature were actively encouraged by Catherine who often dressed in military attire and saw herself as an enlightened ruler and Peter's natural successor. Falconet's famous statue of Peter bears the dedication Petro Primo Catharina Secunda, her coronation odes emphasise the reliance of his legacy on the new Empress and it was during her reign that Voltaire's biography of Peter would be completed. If Peter I paved the way for the Russian monarchy to be considered as equal to those of Europe, it was Catherine II who legitimised his claim. A correspondent of Diderot and reader of Montesquieu, whose personal collection formed the basis for the Hermitage Museum, Catherine's presumption to model herself as the heir to the first great Russian Westerniser was not unfounded. Similar models of these bronzes are held in the collections of The Imperial Academy and The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.