Show all images on one page	#009520 Title: Cutting through the Window to Europe Artist: Kurilov Vladimir Size: 31.5x26.5x7.5 Size (inches): 12.25x10.5x3 Price : $2350 SOLD!

This large Palekh box shows Peter the Great, the first Russian Emperor of Russia. The box was painted by a well-known artist, Vladimir Kurilov.
Peter the Great made much for development and prosperity of the Russian state. He was the reformer of Russian political system who carried out the policy of Westernization of Russia. Being a talented and resolute personality, he managed to found the Russian fleet and enlarge considerably the territory of Russian state.
As a result of Russian-Swedish Wars the territories of Lithuania, Estonia and Ingria were joined to Russia. In Ingria Peter the Great established the well-known town of Saint-Petersburg, that is one of the most beautiful towns in the world and is considered to be the second capital of Russia.
Saint Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5,4 million residents. As Russias Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russias entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1713 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.
Saint Petersburg is known as the Cultural Capital of Russia, and received over 15 million tourists (before COVID-19). It is considered an important economic, scientific, cultural, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of the Northern Capital and serves as a home to some federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.
Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, which was later called Ingermanland, which was inhabited by Finnic tribe of Ingrians. The small town of Nyen grew up around it.
At the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great, who was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, wanted Russia to gain a seaport to trade with the rest of Europe. He needed a better seaport than the countrys main one at the time, Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea in the far north and closed to shipping during the winter.
Street leading to St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral On 12 May 1703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans and soon replaced the fortress. On 27 May 1703, closer to the estuary (5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy (Hare) Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city.
The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, several Swedish prisoners of war were also involved in some years under the supervision of Alexander Menshikov. Tens of thousands of serfs died building the city.Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate. Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, 9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704.
During the first few years Saint Petersburg has developed around Trinity Square on the right bank of the Neva, near the Peter and Paul Fortress. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan. By 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed but is evident in the layout of the streets. In 1716, Peter the Great appointed Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg.
In 1725, Peter died at age fifty-two. His endeavors to modernize Russia had met with opposition from the Russian nobility-resulting in several attempts on his life and a treason case involving his son. In 1728, Peter II of Russia moved his seat back to Moscow. But four years later, in 1732, under Empress Anna of Russia, Saint Petersburg was again designated as the capital of the Russian Empire. It remained the seat of the Romanov dynasty and the Imperial Court of the Russian Tsars, as well as the seat of the Russian government, for another 186 years until the communist revolution of 1917.
Here we can see Peter the Great who manages the construction of Saint-Petersburg. The scene is painted in red, brown, blue and green tempera paints, and richly detailed with gold and silver metal paints. Gold and silver paints wraps around the boxs sides.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The lid is hinged from the top of the scene, and the box rests flat. Signed with the year of 2002, Palekh, and the artists name of Vladimir Kurilov.