Female Rule

War is a regalian function, a power belonging only to the ruler. Women in arms could seem to be the oddest image possible when they were considered as the least able of power. Artists who reflected on that question were not trying to be unconventional or progressive. They often sought answers in allegories of Justice or Fortitude, that is to say in images of women strong but fair.

Female rulers were not satisfied by such images. Instead, they required portraits mirroring their politics. While shaping their public image, they appropriated armours and swords to assert their power as did their male counterparts. Indeed, the addition of a martial attribute materializes the ruler’s legitimacy, and his or her ability to use armed force.

Our final work is the state portrait of Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796). The military imagery she chose reveals that art may also be an arm.

The empress is bearing a metal breastplate and carrying a sword. Her crown made of laurel alludes to her victories over the Ottoman Empire. Painted after the conquest of Crimea, the portrait claimed the legitimacy of the new borders of Russia. It was a gift to the Grand Master of the Order of St. John, Emmanuel de Rohan. Indeed, the Order was established in the island of Malta, a strategical position in the war against Turkey.

This imperial portrait can be considered as the embodiment of Russian territorial ambitions at the end of the eighteenth century. Specially lended for this exhibit, this portrait left Valletta for only the third time since its arrival in 1790.