2-588-182 - The Art Collector/Heritage-Images

'Portrait of the Empress Anna Ioannovna', 18th century. Detail. The daughter of Tsar Ivan V of Russia and the niece of Peter the Great, Anna Ionnovna (1693-1740) became Empress of Russia in 1730 when she succeeded her cousin, Peter II. She was an autocratic ruler who enjoyed inflicting cruel humiliations on the old nobility. Found in the collection of The Hermitage, St Petersburg.