[MARIA ALEXANDROVNA (Grand Duchess, 1824-1880, wife of Alexander II of Russia, daughter of Ludwig II of Hesse)]

Very Fine Cabinet Photo by Ch. Bergamesco, signed and dated showing her head and shoulders in an oval, 6¼” x 4¼”, no place,

Charles BERGAMESCO (1830-1896) was born in Northern Italy. He moved to St Petersburg in the 1840s with his mother, a painter. He started as an actor at the French Theatre in St Petersburg but became interested in the daguerreotype process and went to Paris to study it. He returned to St Petersburg to open his own studio and after a few years became well known there and in Europe, winning prizes at exhibitions, photographing at many courts and receiving several decorations. He visited England in 1877 and took a number of photographs of Queen Victoia and her family.
Maria Alexandrovna was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she was Duchess of Edinburgh and later Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II. She was the supreme patroness of the Red Cross: In total, she patronized 5 hospitals, 12 alms-houses, 30 shelters, 2 institutes, 38 gymnasiums, 156 lower schools, and 5 private charitable societies. Empress Maria expanded charitable activities during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. The beginning of a new era in women's education in Russia was marked by her establishment of open all-union women's educational institutions in 1872.

Item Date:  1877

Stock No:  43018      £475

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