Portrait of Catherine I

Executed in oil on canvas, the portrait demonstrates the polished, finished technique typical of formal court portraiture, infused with the refined handling of the Leiden fijnschilders. The composition is an oval format focusing on the sitter from the chest up, set against a dark, indistinct background of muted brown and gray tones that minimizes spatial depth. Soft light illuminating from the upper left highlights the face, chest, and white fabric, while shadows pool in the folds of the blue mantle. The brushwork is smooth and blended in the flesh tones and fabrics, with finer, meticulous detail reserved for the jewelry and textiles. The overall palette is restrained, relying on whites, deep blues, russet reds, and warm browns.

Carel de Moor painted the portrait from life in The Hague in March 1717, alongside a likeness of the Tsar, completing the work in his studio by May of the same year. In 1718, both portraits were sent overland to Russia, where the diplomat Boris Kurakin received them. Kurakin likely kept the depiction of Catherine for himself, while the companion portrait of Peter became lost. The painting remained at the Kurakin family estate in Nadezhdino, Saratov Gubernia, for nearly two centuries. It first became known to the wider public at the historical-artistic exhibition of Russian portraits in the Taurida Palace in 1905, but subsequently vanished from sight. In 1956, the State Hermitage acquired the work via the Expert Purchasing Committee from M. M. Uspensky.

Carel de Moor was a prominent Leiden painter trained by Gerrit Dou, Abraham van den Tempel, and Frans van Mieris, establishing his reputation within the Leiden fijnschilder tradition. By 1717, he was a highly sought portraitist commanding high prices from elite patrons across the Netherlands, including major commissions such as a monumental portrait of the entire magistrate of The Hague that same year. His international reputation had already attracted foreign patrons, including Cosimo III de' Medici and the imperial ambassador in The Hague. The commission from the Russian court underscores this international standing. For many years, this painting was considered a companion piece to Andrei Matveyev's portrait of Peter the Great, reflecting the scholarly effort to reconstruct the original diplomatic pairing lost after 1718.

The portrait has endured as an essential visual document of Catherine I, valued for its unidealized record of her appearance. It has been featured in modern scholarship and exhibitions examining the Empress's life, including the 2024 online exhibition Catherine I: The First Royal Owner of Sarskoe Selo organized by the Tsarskoe Selo museum. The painting's image also circulated through reproductive prints, such as a 1724 engraving by Jacobus Houbraken held in the State Historical Museum, which helped cement the visual legacy of De Moor's likeness of the Empress across broader European audiences.