Workshop of Christian Daniel Rauch German, 1777-1857

Private Collection, Vienna

Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, later Tsar Nicholas I from 1825 to 1855, was married in 1817 to Charlotte, daughter of Frederick III of Prussia, who became Alexandra Feodorovna.  The couple were in Berlin in 1821 when the Prussian court sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch took the opportunity to model their busts from life during sittings at the Berliner Schloss between 3rd and 15th May.  The completed bust of Nicholas, signed and dated 1821, is in the State Russian Museum (formerly in the Peterhof).  Autograph replicas are in the Hermitage and Chatsworth, Derbyshire.

In 1829, while engaged on the bust of the Tsarevich, later Alexander II, Rauch took the opportunity to rework his bust of Nicholas.  He made a number of changes to reflect the Tsar's maturity, with the addition of a moustache, more elaborate sideburns and a re-styled coiffure. The improvements accentuate his tall forehead and noble demeanor. Marble replicas of this 1829 model can be found in the Schinkelpavillon in Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden and the Regensburg schloss. The original plaster model remains in the National Gallery of Berlin (inv.no.176).

Related literature:
Jutta von Simson, Christian Daniel Rauch. Oeuvre - Katalog, Berlin, 1996, pp.179-81 and 276-77