Christian Daniel Rauch (Circle), Marble Portrait Medallions of Tsar Nicholas I and Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia), after 1816/17

A pair of marble relief tondi featuring the profile portraits of Alexandra Fyodorovna, Tsarina of Russia, born Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1798–1860), and her husband, Tsar Nicholas I. The portraits depict both figures in harmonious, mutual gaze. The tondi are inscribed in Cyrillic script along their edges:

ИМПЕРАТРИЦА АЛЕКСАНДРА ФЕДОРОВНА / IMPERATRITSA ALEKSANDRA FEDOROVNA / Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna

ИМПЕРАТОР НИКОЛАЙ I / IMPERATOR NIKOLAY / Emperor Nicholas I

The inscriptions show remnants of gilding, a technique also employed by Christian Daniel Rauch (1777 Arolsen – 1857 Dresden) in other works, such as the profile relief of Queen Elisabeth of Prussia from 1841 (cf. Jutta von Simson, Christian Daniel Rauch, Berlin 1996, p. 359, no. 226).

Rauch created the original relief design in 1816 in his Carrara atelier. It is now housed in Sanssouci Palace and depicts Princess Charlotte of Prussia with an Apollo knot and side ringlets. In 1817, at the age of 19, she married Tsar Nicholas I and adopted the name Alexandra Fyodorovna, under which she became known as Grand Duchess of the Russian Empire.