Catherine II of Russia

Philippe de Lasalle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The inscription embroidered along the bottom of the portrait proclaims "From the Nile to the Bosphorus, the Ottoman trembles; her people adore her, the world applauds." This was written by the philosopher Voltaire expressly for Lasalle's woven portrait of the Russian empress.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art