Published on: 2026-09-07
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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Exhibition “Catherine II and the Age of Enlightenment: the Russian project” at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, subordinate to the capital’s Department of Culture — is not just a showcase of rarities. It is an invitation to an intellectual salon of the 18th century, where they talk about the future of Russia, debate science and art, and leaf through the “Encyclopedia.”
Rare books, ceremonial portraits, and delicate graphics come together to form a vivid picture of an era when knowledge became the main value. All 256 exhibits are special, but we suggest taking a closer look at five of them — they help to feel the pulse of the time and hear the voices of those who shaped the Russian Enlightenment project.
Portrait of Mikhail Shcherbatov: the historian who argued with the empress
In the center of the hall is a portrait of Prince Mikhail Shcherbatov painted by Dmitry Levitsky (1781). It depicts a man who was not afraid to criticize the authorities, despite holding high state positions. The term “enlightened absolutism,” used since the mid-19th century in world historiography, seems to refer precisely to this kind of relationship: the monarch listens to intelligent, educated subjects. The outstanding historian, philosopher, and publicist Mikhail Shcherbatov was exactly such a person.
By the order of Catherine II, the prince spent over 10 years sorting through the archive of Peter the Great. His “Chronicle of Many Rebellions” became one of the most important historical works of its time. The prince had a difficult character, which often irritated the empress. But Catherine valued his talent and education, allowing Shcherbatov to continue his work.
At the exhibition, a miniature, a graphic portrait, and book replicas were added to the portrait: together they create a three-dimensional image of the thinker whose judgments were essential to the era.
A page from the “Encyclopedia”: pigeons as a symbol of progress
At first glance — just an image of pigeons. But before the viewers is an authentic engraving by Robert Bénard from the legendary “Encyclopédie” of philosopher Denis Diderot and mathematician Jean Le Rond d’Alembert. They turned the book into a manifesto of an era: the Enlightenment thinkers’ aspiration to gather, organize, and transmit knowledge about the world.
The “Encyclopedia” consisted of 35 volumes — an unprecedented project for its time, uniting science, art, crafts, and technology. It is known that at least 28 volumes were in Catherine II’s personal library: the empress closely followed the intellectual life of Europe.
Looking at the page, it is easy to imagine how heavy volumes were leafed through in the salon and discussions about the structure of the world took place. And even the image of pigeons became a reason for conversation about nature, classification, and the boundaries of human knowledge.
Plates from Catherine II’s order service: a state manifesto in glaze
The service of the Order of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, presented at the exhibition, is a vivid example of how art served the state idea in the Catherine era. The tableware was made at Franz Gardner’s private factory in Verbilki, so as not to divert the capacities of the Imperial Porcelain Factory from other tasks. This service was intended for special celebrations, when the knights of the Order of Saint Vladimir, awarded for service and bravery, gathered around one table.
For a long time, it was believed that the design was created by the German master Joachim Kestner, but research has proven that the author was the academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Gavriil Kozlov. Interestingly, the compositional solutions of the service anticipated the Empire style aesthetic, which would only become fashionable in Europe several decades later. Holding such a plate in your hands is like reading a manifesto about the grandeur and taste of an era.
Bust of Mikhail Lomonosov: strength of character in plaster
The gypsum bust of Mikhail Lomonosov was made after the famous original by Fedot Shubin. Interestingly, the fates of the scientist and the sculptor largely intersect: both were born in the Russian North and went from a Pomor backwater to recognition in the capital.
Mikhail Lomonosov grew up in the family of a northern fisherman: his father owned a small vessel, sailed it for fish and marine animals, and often took his son with him. This tempered the character of the future scientist. His fate resembles an adventure novel: at 19, Mikhail Lomonosov secretly left home, traveling with a fish convoy to study in Moscow, posing as a nobleman, nearly conscripted as a soldier, educated in Germany, served in the Prussian army, and was repeatedly involved in major scandals due to his fiery temper.
Mikhail Lomonosov, “our first university,” as Alexander Pushkin called him, became the first Russian scientist of world stature, reformed the literary language, and made discoveries in the fields of physics, chemistry, and astronomy. Fedot Shubin created the image of the scientist from memory a quarter of a century after his death and managed to convey not only his facial features but also his inner strength. The bust seems to remind us: progress is not only ideas but also will, labor, and the courage to go against the tide.
Voltaire’s book on Peter the Great: a dialogue between Europe and Russia
Rounding out the top five is Voltaire’s book “History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great” (Paris, 1808). Catherine II engaged in a long correspondence with Voltaire, the French thinker and writer, one of the main symbols of the European Enlightenment, discussing state governance, legislation, and Russia’s future. The thinker called the empress the “Northern Semiramis” and saw in her a model of an enlightened monarch.
Denis Diderot is another great representative of the Enlightenment, with whom the empress corresponded and whose works she read attentively. Catherine purchased works by French philosophers and sought to use the ideas of European philosophy to modernize the country. The book “History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great” is a material trace of those intellectual connections that made Russia part of the broader European dialogue.
Paustovsky’s glasses, Scriabin’s mirror: stories of personal belongings in Moscow museumsMemorial museums of Moscow: where Scriabin, Pushkin, Bulgakov, and Tsvetaeva lived and created
The “Russian Project” of Enlightenment is not a decree or a manifesto, but rather a large intellectual conversation that took place in the salons and offices of the second half of the 18th century. Its essence was to take the universal ideas of European reason and apply them to Russia. This is how reforms were born, universities were built, and educational projects were created, where knowledge became the foundation of the state. Spaces for such conversations were also created by places like Kolomenskoye — the favorite residence of the empress.
Tickets for the exhibition “Catherine II and the Age of Enlightenment: The Russian Project” can be purchased through the service “Mosbilet”.
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