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Author Easter, Gerald, 1959- author.

Title The Tsarina's lost treasure : Catherine the Great, a golden age masterpiece, and a legendary shipwreck / Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees.

Publication Info. New York : Pegasus Books, 2020.
©2020

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 West Hartford, Noah Webster Library - Non Fiction  910.9163 EASTER    Check Shelf
Edition First Pegasus Books hardcover edition.
Description xvii, 366 pages,16 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 24 cm
Note Maps on endpapers.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-351) and index.
Summary "On October 1771, a merchant ship out of Amsterdam, Vrouw Maria, crashed off the stormy Finnish coast, taking her historic cargo to the depths of the Baltic Sea. The vessel was delivering a dozen Dutch masterpiece paintings to Europe's most voracious collector: Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Among the lost treasures was The Nursery, an oak-paneled triptych by Leiden fine painter Gerrit Dou, Rembrandt's most brilliant student and Holland's first international superstar artist. Dou's triptych was long the most beloved and most coveted painting of the Dutch Golden Age, and its loss in the shipwreck was mourned throughout the art world. Vrouw Maria, meanwhile, became a maritime legend, confounding would-be salvagers for more than two hundred years. In July 1999, a daring Finnish wreck hunter found Vrouw Maria, upright on the sea floor and perfectly preserved. The Tsarina's Lost Treasure masterfully recounts the fascinating tale of Vrouw Maria--her loss and discovery--weaving together the rise and fall of the artist whose priceless masterpiece was the jewel of the wreckage. Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees bring to vivid life the personalities that drove (and are still driving) this compelling tale, evoking Robert Massie's depiction of Russian high politics and culture, Simon Schama's insights into Dutch Golden Age art and art history, Gary Kinder's spirit of, danger and adventure on the beguiling Archipelago Sea" --Amazon.
Contents Prologue: The wreck -- Rembrandt's apprentice -- The prince's bride -- From pupil to master -- From fräulein to empress -- Temple of arts -- The tsarina's salon -- Sale of the century -- Catherine's treasure ship lost -- Age of revolution -- Graveyard of wrecks -- The wreck hunter -- Golden age secrets revealed -- Restoring a master -- Catherine's treasure ship found -- Finders keepers -- The Dutch retreat -- The Swedish patron -- The Russian advance -- The Finnish plan -- Catherine's treasure ship abandoned -- Epilogue: The treasure.
Subject Shipwrecks -- Baltic Sea -- History -- 18th century.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796.
Dou, Gerald, 1613-1675. Nursery.
Antiques.
Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796. (OCoLC)fst00053521
Antiques. (OCoLC)fst00810720
Shipwrecks. (OCoLC)fst01116638
Atlantic Ocean -- Baltic Sea. (OCoLC)fst01241545
Chronological Term 1700-1799
Genre/Form History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
Added Author Vorhees, Mara, author.
ISBN 9781643135564 (hardback)
1643135562 (hardback)
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