(Idealistic and tough, Catherine the Great sought to modernize Russia.) Family portraitGerman artist Anna Rosina Lisiewska composed a formal portrait in 1756 of the Russian royal family ...

For Catherine the Great, jewelry was about much more than ... Cartier eventually purchased the emerald from the Russian royal family in 1927 and had it cut into a pear shape to enhance its brilliance.

The state of Catherine and Pete III's relationship is at an all-time low and the political manoeuvrings in St. Petersburg continue in earnest as the good and great seek to keep their spot in court ...