Tallinn – House of Peter the Great (Painting of Mikhail I of Russia)

This painting, at the House of Peter the Great, of Mikhail I of Russia (the Russian Tsar between 1613 and 1645) is original, although it’s not known who painted it. It was donated to Tallinn’s Brotherhood of the Blackheads in 1639 and there was a copy made in 1728 by Johann Heinrich Wedekind and this is in a Moscow art gallery. It’s that copy which is used on sites such as Wikipedia to illustrate articles about the former Tsar, meaning that this painting tucked away in Estonia is one of the best representations that there is of the Russian leader Mikhail I.

He’s wearing the royal dress of the early seventeenth century and he had some reason to feel regal and proud as he brought a stability to Russia after the Time of Troubles which lasted between 1598 and 1613. This was a sub-optimal period for Russia, as there was a famine that killed a third of the country’s population and lawlessness was seemingly everywhere. Peter the Great lived between 1672 and 1725 and so I rather like to think that this painting was here during his time as Tsar, I can almost imagine him wandering by it giving a little nod to mark his seal of approval.