There’s an episode in Matthew Weiner’s series, ‘The Romanoffs’, where descendants of Russia’s last royal family get together on a cruise ship and re-enact the glory days of grand balls and staged entertainment. Those with Romanov DNA lap it up, while two married-in relations find the entire event slightly perplexing.
Russia, Royalty and the Romanovs, a new exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery, has the potential to inspire a similar division of response. Created to show the links between the British and Russian monarchies dating back to Peter the Great’s time, the show is made up of portraits, ornaments (Fabergé eggs and the like), weaponry, ceremonial paraphernalia and several vases in size XXXXL.
It’s all in exquisite condition, as is always the case with the Royal Collection, and it’s all very grandiose – or, as the plaques keep saying, ‘splendid’. And it also knows its audience, which will mainly consist of visitors to the Queen’s Gallery who come armed with an existing interest in the life of royalty, at home and abroad.
That’s not entirely intended as criticism, as feeding your existing fanbase is a shrewd move. But it does mean that there’s not an awful lot here to convince someone with limited curiosity for the family tree of Queen Victoria to really care about the items on display.
Perhaps this is because the most superficially interesting things about royalty, diplomacy and politically motivated marriages are normally the scandals – the behind-closed-doors gossip that informs semi-fictional shows like ‘The Crown’ – and a exhibition held in part of Buckingham Palace is, obviously, never going to provide any of that.
Or, more seriously, it’s because the artworks on display here aren’t especially great quality. The best portraits of monarchs – like those by Hans Holbein the Younger or Diego Velázquez – are worth seeing for their artistic qualities, not just for the sitters.
The exceptions are two lovely, modernist portraits by Savely Sorine of our current Queen in 1948 and the Duchess of York (AKA the Queen Mother) in 1923. In contrast to the traditional pomp-and-more-pomp royal portraits, these two stand out for how ‘normal’ they make their royal subjects look. For that, they’re almost certainly two of the most interesting paintings of British royals ever made. And they’re the handiwork of a Russian artist – finally providing a genuinely fascinating link between the two nations.