’Srpski’ portret Petra Velikog čuva se u Ermitažu od kraja 19. veka, sa urađenom kopijom za manastir u zamenu za original The “Serbian” portrait of Peter the Great has been preserved at the Hermitage since the end of the 19th century, with a copy made for the monastery in ex change for the original
matics, geometry and astronomy while in England, as well as conversing with the most prominent sci- entists. He visited the Royal Observatory in Green- wich, the Royal Society of Science and the University of Oxford. During his tour of the Tower of London, he was acquainted in detail with monetary reform at the Royal Mint. At the king’s invitation, Peter even attended a session of the Houses of Parliament. In his free time, the tsar sailed the Thames on a boat or amused himself rowing. Peter Mikhailov spent almost three months liv- ing in England. A new doorway was even cut into the back wall of his house in Deptford, to enable him to head into the street without being noticed, bypass- ing the crowds of regular folk. It is also noteworthy that the Russian delegation caused not only inter- est among the English, but also anger, because the foreigners liked to enjoy themselves and often fired cannons for fun. Peter bade farewell to the king of England in April, departing for Austria. On his journey to Vienna, he visited Dresden, which was then famous for its art gatherings, spending the whole night at the city’s Kun- stkamera museum (Cabinet of Curiosities). He also visited the city’s Main Arsenal, a foundry and sever- al fortresses. Peter had counted on being able to form an alli- ance with Austria against the Turks while he was in Vienna, but he barely managed, with great effort, to gain a personal audience with the emperor. This humble Russian tsar didn’t care for the opu-
lence and strict protocol of the Viennese Court. While his delegation awaited the granting of an audience with the Austrian emperor, Peter toured the city, ar- senal, library and kunstkamera. He also attended an opera performance and a masked ball, for which he chose the costume of a Friesland peasant that resem- bled the uniform of a Dutch sailor. Attempts by Peter and his envoys to create an an- ti-Turkish alliance in Vienna failed. Violating their ob- ligations, Austria and Venice both made peace with Turkey, ignoring Russia’s interests in the process. The young emperor was livid, but he had received a valu- able political lesson and decided that, from that mo- ment on, his country would solve all its problems on its own. He gradually managed to transform Rus- sia into an empire with a powerful army and its own fleet, and to defeat Sweden and thus gain access to the Baltic Sea. The young Peter the Great returned to Moscow from his European tour in August 1698. According to one legend, he even stopped en route at the Serbi- an Orthodox monastery of Velika Remeta and gifted the monks a personal portrait. However, historians have since established that this picture, which had been considered miraculous, was gifted to the mon- astery by Sremski Karlovci residents Pavle and Natal- ija Panajotović in 1821. This “Serbian” portrait of Peter the Great has been preserved at the Hermitage since the end of the 19 th century, with a copy made for the monastery in ex- change for the original.
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