Nikolai Yusupov
Encyclopedia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
and Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
. He later also served as director of the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
(in 1797), the Kremlin Armoury
Kremlin Armoury
The Kremlin Armory is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, established in 1808 and located in the Moscow Kremlin .The Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons,...
(date unknown) and the state porcelain and glass factories (c.1792).
A patron of the arts and a keen traveller, he spoke five languages and corresponded with Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
. As a diplomat, Prince Nikolai travelled throughout Europe, to France and Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, where he met Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, to Germany and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, where he met Frederick the Great, to Austria, where he met Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, and to Italy. During his journey he purchased a large collection of art for the tsar, acting as a mediator between the tsars and European artists.
Yusupov collected for himself alongside collecting for the tsars, and thus his own collection of paintings and objets d'art evolved from the same sources as the Imperial one. His own collection of His own collection became one of Europe's richest collections and included over 600 paintings (including many landscapes), sculptures, works of applied art, more than 20,000 books and porcelain, most of which he put on display in his estate. After 1917 his extensive collection was broken up and passed to several different museums, though the bulk of it is kept in Arkhangelskoye, the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
. In 1804, Nicholas went to Paris and frequently met Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, who presented him with a gift of three large tapestries. He also commissioned Sappho and Phaon
Sappho and Phaon
Sappho and Phaon is an 1809 neoclassical painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David of Cupid, Sappho and her lover Phaon. It was commissioned by Count Nikolai Yusupov and is now the only painting by David in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg....
from Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
in 1809.
In 1810 Yusupov bought Arkhangelskoye Estate
Arkhangelskoye Estate
Arkhangelskoye is a historical estate located around 20 kilometers to the west from Moscow. In 1703–1810 Arkhangelskoye belonged to Galitzine, and from 1810–1917, to the Yusupov family. In 1917 the Yusupovs' property was nationalized by the Bolsheviks...
, where he lived with his wife and family and which he turned into a luxurious palace, park and summer residence in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Prince Nicholas built his own porcelain factory there, with much of the artisans from France. He finally died aged 80 and was succeeded by his second and only remaining son, Prince Boris, since their elder son, Prince Nikolai, died in infancy.
Marriage and issue
In 1793 Nikolai married Tatiana Vasilievna von Engelhardt (January 1, 1769-May 23, 1841), one of Prince Potemkin's nieces. Their children were:- Nikolai
- Boris