The reproduction in the museum’s collection replicates the famous pictorial portrait of Princess Tatiana Yusupova. The original was painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, one of the most fashionable portrait painters of the mid-19th century. A German by birth, he became famous for his work at the French court, painted King Louis Philippe and Emperor Napoleon III. The artist’s works were in great demand, he was approached by representatives of the noblest families from many countries. The master completed the portrait of Princess Yusupova in 1858.
Tatiana Yusupova’s father, Alexander Ribaupierre, was a diplomat and often took the family on distant business trips, so the girl was born and grew up abroad. In addition to French, which was her native language, she knew German, Italian, English, and Russian. In 1839, when she was 10 years old, the Ribaupierres returned to St. Petersburg and settled in a house on Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Tatiana, or Tata, as her relatives called her, often visited her grandmother in the palace on the Moika. There, she became very close to her cousin Nikolay. Over the years, a childish affection grew into a youthful love, and from 1852 there was a constant correspondence between them.
Because of their close kinship the lovers could not marry: the Orthodox Church forbade such unions. The affair caused a lot of gossip: people speculated that the young prince was going to kidnap his cousin and marry her, but he was prevented by the intervention of Emperor Nicholas I himself.
Although the young man and the girl lived a long time apart, their feelings did not fade. The family was sympathetic to their affection, and immediately after the coronation of the Emperor Alexander II in September 1856, the girl’s father obtained a consent to the marriage. To everyone’s surprise, the couple were married on September 26, 1856. The ceremony took place in the village of Buturlino, Yukhnovsky district, in the Nikolskaya Church.
In 1861, after five years of waiting, the princess became pregnant. The question of the legality of their marriage became especially acute for the couple: all their attempts to obtain an official certificate failed, the Holy Synod refusing to issue the necessary documents. Then, to resolve the question of inheritance and to protect himself from the pretensions of Golitsyn Princes, Nikolay Yusupov passed all his estates to his wife.
The long-awaited first-born daughter Zinaida was born in Moscow in October 1861. The couple named the girl after grandmother. In 1863, their son Boris was also born, but the boy died at the age of two months from scarlet fever. The Princess was deeply affected by this loss, her health began to deteriorate, and then at the insistence of doctors, the family moved abroad.
The Yusupovs bought a villa on Lake Leman, 15 kilometers from Geneva, and named it “Tatiana”. But neither a long stay in a good climate, nor the best resorts have not helped cope with the disease: the princess suffered from bronchial catarrh and by the end of life could not get up from bed. In January 1879 she died.
Tatiana Yusupova’s father, Alexander Ribaupierre, was a diplomat and often took the family on distant business trips, so the girl was born and grew up abroad. In addition to French, which was her native language, she knew German, Italian, English, and Russian. In 1839, when she was 10 years old, the Ribaupierres returned to St. Petersburg and settled in a house on Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Tatiana, or Tata, as her relatives called her, often visited her grandmother in the palace on the Moika. There, she became very close to her cousin Nikolay. Over the years, a childish affection grew into a youthful love, and from 1852 there was a constant correspondence between them.
Because of their close kinship the lovers could not marry: the Orthodox Church forbade such unions. The affair caused a lot of gossip: people speculated that the young prince was going to kidnap his cousin and marry her, but he was prevented by the intervention of Emperor Nicholas I himself.
Although the young man and the girl lived a long time apart, their feelings did not fade. The family was sympathetic to their affection, and immediately after the coronation of the Emperor Alexander II in September 1856, the girl’s father obtained a consent to the marriage. To everyone’s surprise, the couple were married on September 26, 1856. The ceremony took place in the village of Buturlino, Yukhnovsky district, in the Nikolskaya Church.
In 1861, after five years of waiting, the princess became pregnant. The question of the legality of their marriage became especially acute for the couple: all their attempts to obtain an official certificate failed, the Holy Synod refusing to issue the necessary documents. Then, to resolve the question of inheritance and to protect himself from the pretensions of Golitsyn Princes, Nikolay Yusupov passed all his estates to his wife.
The long-awaited first-born daughter Zinaida was born in Moscow in October 1861. The couple named the girl after grandmother. In 1863, their son Boris was also born, but the boy died at the age of two months from scarlet fever. The Princess was deeply affected by this loss, her health began to deteriorate, and then at the insistence of doctors, the family moved abroad.
The Yusupovs bought a villa on Lake Leman, 15 kilometers from Geneva, and named it “Tatiana”. But neither a long stay in a good climate, nor the best resorts have not helped cope with the disease: the princess suffered from bronchial catarrh and by the end of life could not get up from bed. In January 1879 she died.
