To promote her book, “The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia,” Susan Jaques, a member of the Historians of the 18th Century Art and Architecture group, spoke to a group of Fairfield town residents about the collection “in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.” While the event was lacking in attendance from the student population, it was none the less a fascinating and educational experience, made all the better by Jaques’ readily apparent expertise and her infectious passion for the subject. An event that turned Russia into “a world wonder,” as the woman who sought to rectify this knowledge gap, Susan Jaques, announced at her lecture in Bellarmine Hall’s Diffley Board Room. While the general public knows a lot about the individual pieces included in this collection, the same cannot be said about the time and circumstances surrounding the momentous occasion when all of these pieces resided together in St. These pieces ranged from works the empress commissioned to placate stilted lovers then purchased back once they died, to works created by some of the greats, including Rembrandt and Michelangelo. There are few women in history more fascinating than Catherine the Great, and for the first time, Susan Jaques brings her to life through the prism of art.Empress Catherine the Great of Russia is known for her unlikely military victories, her focus on raising the opinion of Russia in the eyes of world powers and for the vast collection of priceless masterpieces which she purchased over the course of her reign.

Petersburg, and the magnificent architectural wonder the city became is largely her doing. Catherine also spearheaded the further expansion of St. She was a self-proclaimed 'glutton for art' and she would be responsible for the creation of the Hermitage, one of the largest museums in the world, second only to the Louvre. She believed that the best way to do this was through a ravenous acquisition of art, which Catherine often used as a form of diplomacy with other powers throughout Europe.

Intelligent and determined, Catherine modeled herself off of her grandfather in-law, Peter the Great, and sought to further modernize and westernize Russia.

She then staged a coup that ended with him being strangled with his own scarf in the halls of the palace, and herself crowned the Empress of Russia. A German princess who married a decadent and lazy Russian prince, Catherine mobilized support amongst the Russian nobles, playing off of her husband's increasing corruption and abuse of power.

The Empress of Art by Susan Jaques