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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

Explore this Section:

The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol The Husband
Russia Symbol The Enlightened Absolutist Monarch
Russia Symbol Catherine's Foreign Policy
Russia Symbol Paul I
The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of World History
Introduction
The Americas
Eurasia


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 
   The Sultan’s Solemn Outing
 
   Photographic Services & Permissions
 
Antoine Ignace Melling (1763–1831)
“ A Solemn Procession of the Sovereign, on a Holiday (bayram),” from:
Voyage pittoresque de Constantinople et des rives du Bosphore [Picturesque Voyage from Constantinople and the Banks of the Bosphorus]
Paris: Treuttel et Würtz, 1819
NYPL, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Art and Architecture Collection

This engraving offers a broad view of an Ottoman procession. Guards, backs turned, line the route of the reforming Sultan, Mahmud II (r. 1808–39). The crenelated walls of the Topkapi Palace, left, and buildings with Arabic inscriptions, right, enclose a scene filled with boldly hatted men, richly outfitted steeds, and women covered in dark robes. Vendors offer flat cakes and nuts to bystanders. This early 19th-century vignette could just as easily have depicted the Ottoman court of the 16th century. It contrasts sharply with contemporary images of a modernized, classical Russian imperial capital to its north.