KRÜGER, Franz
(b. 1797, Grossbadegast bei Köthen, d. 1857, Berlin)

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I

1852
Oil on canvas, 94 x 72 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Nicholas I (1796-1855), Russian emperor (1825–55), is often considered the personification of classic autocracy; for his reactionary policies, he has been called the emperor who froze Russia for 30 years. He was the founder of the Imperial Hermitage as a public museum.