Franz Krüger, Portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, 1836

This portrait by the German painter Franz Krüger (1797–1857) from 1836 features the Russian Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna (1798–1860). Beginning in 1834, Tsar Nicholas I (1796–1855) introduced a cleverly conceived dress code meant to demonstrate the ruling house's connection to the Russian people. On official occasions, the ladies of the court now had to wear gowns whose cut and details recalled the sarafan, a sleeveless dress or pinafore skirt with a high waist, commonly worn in traditional Russian dress. Strings of pearls, appliquéd gems and a kokoshnik – a traditional Russian headdress worn with the sarafan by women and girls – completed the festive garb.

Franz Krüger (1797–1857), Portrait of Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia), oil on canvas, 1836, photograph: Shakko, color photography, 2012; source: state historical museum Moscow, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).