The Easel

10th March 2020

Peter the Great: Collector, Scholar, Artist. Moscow Kremlin Museums

A story off the beaten track.  Apparently, the modern concept of a museum owes something to the reformist Czar, Peter the Great. Russia had accumulated treasure from war, diplomacy and trade deals. Appreciating that “power was a performance”, Peter put these treasures on public display. Pleased with the results he engaged in what would now be called curatorship. Then, as now, art has the potential to “brand national identity”. Images are here.