A watercolour depicting the Empress Maria Feodorovna in a traditional Russian sleigh, driven across the snow-covered Anichkov bridge in St Petersburg, in 1889. The Anichkov bridge crosses the Fontanka river, and is adorned with four equestrian statues by the sculptor Baron P.K. Klodt (1805–67), two of which are visible here. Signed and dated, bottom left.

The Empress and her husband, Alexander III, had used the nearby Anichkov Palace as their St Petersburg residence since their wedding in 1866. From 1881, when Alexander became Emperor, the palace was used intermittently. The vision of a carefree Empress, gazing directly at the viewer, contrasts with the reality of her situation. In 1881, her father-in-law, Alexander II, was assassinated when a bomb was thrown at him in St Petersburg. After this, Alexander III and his family lived in fear that they might be subjected to the same fate. It is likely that this watercolour entered the Royal Collection through the Princess of Wales, perhaps a gift from the Empress herself.

John Beer was a painter and illustrator who specialised in sporting subjects and animals. Born in Stockholm, he worked in America for five years from 1869, before travelling to the Russian court and on to London. In London, in addition to his work for an English journal, he carried out watercolours for the Prince of Wales.

Text adapted from Russia, Royalty & the Romanovs, London, 2018