When I conducted a bit of research about Catherine the Great to remind myself why she is worthy of respect, I stumbled upon the fact that it was she, as an “enlightened monarch,” who made a significant contribution to the formation of a national art collection. Many paintings that we can now see in museums across Russia and the world were purchased by Catherine II from European collections. Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and many others became ornaments of the Hermitage during that time. “My museum in the Hermitage consists, apart from the paintings and Raphael’s loggias, of 38,000 books, four rooms filled with books and engravings, 10,000 engraved gems, approximately 10,000 drawings, and a collection of natural science, filling two large halls.”
It turned out that much of this heritage was sold by Anastas Mikoyan to America between 1929-34 to secure funds for the country’s industrialization. A total of 2880 paintings were selected. Among the departed paintings were works by Jan van Eyck, Titian, Rembrandt, Botticelli, and Raphael. For example, “The Annunciation” by Jan van Eyck, “Portrait of Isabella Brant” by Van Dyck, “Adoration of the Magi” by Sandro Botticelli, “Joseph Accused by Potiphar’s Wife” by Rembrandt, and “Venus with a Mirror” (or “Toilet of Venus”) by Titian are displayed in the National Gallery of Art here in Washington. Thousands of works are scattered across museums around the country and the world, many in New York museums.
At the same time, Fabergé eggs and the Codex Sinaiticus were sold. “The Night Café” by van Gogh also went to an American collector and philanthropist Stephen Clark. Incidentally, Yale University won a lawsuit several years ago against a descendant of the Russian collector Pierre Konowaloff, who believed that after the revolution, “The Night Café” had been unlawfully nationalized by the Soviet Union and sought compensation for it.
The initiative for the sales originated from the People’s Commissariat for Trade, which was headed by A. I. Mikoyan in 1926—the same one who later became associated with the meat processing plant. The revenue from the sales constituted no more than one percent of the country’s gross income and did not have a significant impact on the course of industrialization, but on December 31, 1933, all nine workshops of the Moscow meat processing plant began operation, and the following year it was named after Mikoyan. Thus, Doctor’s, Amateur’s, and Tea sausages in Russia ended up being linked with the names of Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Raphael in such an interesting manner.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 