The Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts displays an etching by Alexey Fyodorovich Zubov — “The Wedding of Peter the Great and Catherine at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on February 19, 1712”.

The artist depicted the grand hall of the first Winter Palace. Its walls and ceiling were decorated with carpets, tapestries, and Venetian mirrors. The tables were arranged to form a circle. The room was illuminated by a chandelier made of ebony and ivory and carved by Peter the Great himself. In the foreground, ladies sit with their backs towards the viewer, with Catherine depicted half-turned in the center.

The men are sitting on the opposite side of the room, in the background. In the center, Peter is sitting, with Menshikov standing next to him as the master of the ceremony. Everyone is dressed in Western European style: ladies in elegant robe ronde dresses and towering hairstyles, and men in caftans and wigs. Through the open doors on the sides, more tables with guests can be seen. The wedding is presented as a festive celebration.

Along the entire length at the bottom of the etching, there is an inscription that reads, “The Wedding of Imperial Highness and Sovereign of All of Russia Peter the Great”. Although there is no artist’s signature on the etching, it was undoubtedly produced by Alexey Zubov. At that time, there were only two engravers in Russia who had the skills to create such an image — Alexey Zubov and Pieter Pickaert. The latter was in Moscow at the time. He moved to St. Petersburg later, in 1714. In creating this etching, Alexey Zubov relied on the 1702 print “The Wedding of F. Schansky” by Adriaan Schoonebeek. A comparison of the two pieces reveals how Zubov had developed skills, reaching the level of his teacher and being able to introduce his own ideas in each artwork.

Officially, Peter the Great married Catherine Alekseevna in St. Petersburg in early 1712. However, they actually got married secretly back in 1707. During that time, Peter’s first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina, was still alive, and a marriage with Catherine could have caused discontent among high-ranking members of the Russian Orthodox Church. Probably, this is why the creation and distribution of the etching “The Wedding of Peter the Great and Catherine at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on February 19, 1712” is shrouded in mystery, and some questions regarding the image have not been answered.