2621 - Romanov Dynasty—Princess Ella of Hesse, upon her arrival in Russia. (Carte cabinet in Makart format, full-length seated portrait). Tsarskoye Selo, Wilhelm Lapré Studio, 1888. Vintage. Albumen print mounted on cardboard. Size: 18.5 x 9 cm. Cardboard dimensions: 20.5 x 10 cm.

Romanov Dynasty—Princess Ella of Hesse, upon her arrival in Russia. (Carte cabinet in Makart format, full-length seated portrait). Tsarskoye Selo, Wilhelm Lapré Studio, 1888. Vintage. Albumen print mounted on cardboard. Size: 18.5 x 9 cm. Cardboard dimensions: 20.5 x 10 cm. The burgundy-painted Skamoni cardboard features the studio mark “V. Lapre” (Cyrillic) at the bottom edge, as well as an advertisement for the studio in gold print on the reverse. The artistic composition of the photograph is entirely in keeping with the Symbolist-Impressionist style of the time, including the emphasis on a slender waist. Princess Ella (Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt and by the Rhine) subsequently became, as Elizaveta Fedorovna, the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Aleksandrovich; whose execution in 1917 alongside the imperial family was followed by her canonization in 1992. - Slightly bumped at the lower edge of the mount; on the reverse, a narrow remnant of the original mounting and a later brief annotation in lead; shows slight scratches and stains. - Provenance: Formerly owned by Grand Duchess Maria Aleksandrovna (1853–1920), the younger daughter of Alexander II of Russia from his first marriage, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; private collection in Switzerland, private collection in southern Germany.