Tallinn – House of Peter the Great (Peter I at Work by Karl Burman)

This painting is located at the House of Peter the Great and it was painted by Karl Burman (1882-1965) in June 1945. It makes him look like a hands-on ruler with his aides ready to offer help.

This is the location in the room where the artist thought that Peter the Great might have been sitting. It would have been an interesting time for Burman to paint something like this, Estonia was under effective Soviet control with the puppet leadership of Johannes Vares and they would have liked the thought of Peter the Great having a relevance here.

Incidentally, Vares killed himself at the Residence of the President of Estonia, located opposite from the museum.