Author Description

The Stroganoffs were among Imperial Russia's wealthiest and most influential families. Their collection of art, antiquities, and decorative objects, assembled over five centuries, was rivaled only by the holdings of the tsar. This book, the companion volume to a major traveling exhibition, reassembles masterworks of the Stroganoff collection for the first time since the 1917 Revolution. The more than 200 objects showcased here are extraordinarily exquisite 16th-century icons; European old-master paintings by Botticelli, Poussin, van Dyck, and Watteau; rare antiquities from around the world; and stunning decorative objects, such as the great malachite coupe from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Complete with photographs of that fabled Baroque palace, which is now under restoration, this book will be a revelation to art lovers everywhere.