Full-length, in armour, with a truncheon in his left hand, and his
right hand on his hip. From his shoulders hangs a mantle lined with
ermine and embroidered with the double eagle. To the left is a
table, on which is the crown imperial. The background, which shows
some ships, is said to be signed by _W. Vandevelde_, but no trace
of this exists. On canvas, 7 ft. 9 in. high, by 4 ft. 9 in. wide.
There is also an inscription, of which I can only make out the
words: "_Petrus Alexander Magnus Domimus Cæsar & Magnus Dux
Moscouiæ ... Eques. Pinxit 1698_." Engraved by Smith.
This picture was painted for William III. during Peter the Great's
visit to England, in the early part of 1698, and probably in the
house in Norfolk Street, where he took up his residence and lived
in close seclusion. It is considered one of the best portraits of
the Czar extant, and well portrays "his stately form, his
intellectual forehead, his piercing black eyes, and his Tartar nose
and mouth." His age was then twenty-six years. He naturally excited
the greatest curiosity, and became the principal topic of
conversation. Every one was full of stories of him; "of the immense
quantities of meat which he devoured, the pints of brandy which he
drank, the fool who jabbered at his feet, the monkey which grinned
at the back of his chair," and last, but not least, of his filthy
habits. When he went to stay at Evelyn's house, Sayes Court, at
Deptford, in order to more conveniently indulge in his favourite
pursuit of shipbuilding, Evelyn's servant writes to him:--"There is
a house full of people, and right nasty. The Czar lies next your
Library, and dines in the parlour next your study. He dines at ten
o'clock and six at night, is very seldom home a whole day, very
often in the King's Yard or by water, dressed in several dresses."
Evelyn himself afterwards remarked "how miserably the Czar had left
his house, after three months making it his Court."
Peter visited King William in Kensington Palace, as we have noted
in our "Historical Sketch," and as we shall notice again in our
account of the King's Gallery.