Ekaterina Nikolaevna Orlova, the daughter of N. Ya. Zinoviev and E. N. Senyavina, the wife of G. G. Orlova and the maid of honor of Catherine II. When the long-term and confused love relationship with Catherine II came to a final break, Prince Gregory Orlov decided on the forty-third year of life to marry her cousin, Ekaterina Nikolaevna Zinovieva, Empress Maid of Honor. The empress approved this marriage. The wedding probably took place in the spring of 1777.
The young nineteen-year-old princess was granted to the State Lady, received the Order of St. Catherine and expensive wedding gifts. For two years the couple lived in St. Petersburg. Princess Ekaterina Nikolayevna, a beauty gifted with intelligence and gentle temperament, “managed to return calm to Orlov’s heart; February 1778. – No motive will compel him to take part in affairs. “
In this best, bright season of Ekaterina Nikolaevna’s life, her portrait was created. It is written in a manner not typical of the late Rokotov style: it is a ceremonial representative image with carefully written accessories. On the satin white dress stands out a red ribbon of ribbon, the sign of a stats lady is noticeable with its shimmering glitter – a diamond monogram with a portrait of the empress. Behind shoulders is a descending ermine mantle, which testifies to princely dignity.
The official solemnity is enhanced by a high, flying up haircut in palace fashion of the second half of the 1770s. However, the image created by the artist is ambiguous and contradictory. Although a closed beautiful woman from high society keeps the viewer at a distance, the portrait sounds distinctly chamber notes. Under the glamor hidden complex character.
Due to the blurry contours and unsteady transitions from light to shade, an illusion of face variability arises. The lips are compressed and, at the same time, they seem to smile faintly. The aloof look of the elongated, impenetrable eyes is filled with sadness, the shadow on the left cheek causes an alarming response. Or all of this only seems to be because we know the future fate of E. N. Orlova. Family life, which had so happily begun, ended tragically. The young woman had poor health, and her husband took her abroad for treatment. She obviously showed the first symptoms of consumption.
The princess was traveling, however, with one goal: she wanted to have children, and she hoped that foreign medicine would help her. June 16, 1781 Catherine Nikolaevna died in Lausanne. The dust of her Orlov brought to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Catherine II expressed her condolences in a touching letter: “I got used to taking the greatest part in all your affairs before you for so many years, I could not, without a sincere and sensitive regret, be notified of the early loss of your dear princess, praying God and preserving your health and days until the late age… “. G. R. Derzhavin in verse on the death of Princess Orlova called her “the angel of beauty.”
After the death of his wife, G. G. Orlov showed clear signs of mental disorder. He fell into childhood, one of his contemporaries wrote that the prince “in childishness, does not know what he is doing and saying.” On the night of April 13, 1783, Grigory Orlov died.
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)