Art and Diplomacy. The Portrait of Catherine the Great by Dmitry Levitsky for the Grand Master of the Order of Malta

The portrait of Catherine II by D. G. Levitsky for the Grand Master of the Order of Malta Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc occupies a special place not only in the large collection of portraits of the Russian empress but also in the history of the relations between Russia and Malta. It was a gift with a far-reaching aim: to attract Malta into the orbit of Russian foreign policy in the Mediterranean basin. In the analysis of the painting this clearly emerges from the figuratively codified political message and the historical context of the creation and gifting of the picture.