Vigée Le Brun arrived in Saint Petersburg, beginning years of painting the Russian imperial family and aristocracy under Catherine the Great.
On 12 January 1795, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun arrived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, continuing her long exile from Revolutionary France in search of new patrons among Europe's remaining royal courts. Her arrival came during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great, whose court was renowned for its opulence and its embrace of Western European culture and artists.
During her years in Russia, Vigée Le Brun painted numerous members of the imperial family and Russian aristocracy, including portraits associated with Catherine the Great's granddaughters and prominent noble families. Her technical mastery and her established reputation from the French court made her highly sought after among Russian elites eager to be immortalized in the fashionable French portrait style.
Her time in Saint Petersburg represented one of the most professionally successful phases of her exile, providing both substantial income and further international acclaim. This period would culminate in her being made an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in 1805, formalizing the esteem in which she was held by Russian artistic institutions. Her extended stay in Russia, lasting roughly six years, exemplifies the remarkable adaptability and enduring demand for her work even as she moved from court to court across a Europe convulsed by revolution and war, never losing her standing as one of the era's preeminent portraitists.