The Shadow of Great Britain

As for Count Sergei Stroganov, the Russian envoy, the history of his family can be traced back to the Moscow Grand Duchy era, and they are truly old nobility of Tsarist Russia. When Grand Duke Vasily II of Moscow was imprisoned by the Tatars, it was they who paid for his ransom.

During Ivan the Terrible’s reign, they supported Russia’s conquest of Siberia, and in return, besides granting the Stroganov family large territories along the eastern frontier of the Kama River and the Chusova River Basin, Ivan the Terrible also rewarded them.

During the Polish interference in Russia in the early 17th century, the Stroganov family not only did not side with the Poles, but also provided significant financial assistance and military support to the Russian government. To show gratitude, the Tsar bestowed them the title of ”Distinguished Person” in 1610, and allowed them to use the suffix ”vich” after their father’s name. It’s important to know that such privilege was exclusive to the royal family in Russia at that time.

With this new title came a series of unprecedented privileges for the Stroganov family: only subject to royal judgment, the right to establish towns and fortresses, the power to maintain legal armed forces and to cast cannons, organize military actions against Siberian rulers, and engage in tax-free trade with Asian countries.

Over the next two hundred years, the Stroganov family’s power expanded through their private armed forces to conquer vast lands in Siberia, relocating Russian peasants for colonization. They developed agriculture, hunting, salt industry, fishing, mining, and metallurgical industries in these regions, and built numerous towns, forts, and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Because of this, starting from this period, the Stroganov family gradually became Russia’s wealthiest commercial giants and the most trusted financiers of the Tsars.

When Peter the Great wished to develop the navy, they donated four warships to him in one breath. During the financial difficulties of the Great Northern War, they unwaveringly provided enormous financial support. Even from their generous actions, you can see how wealthy this family truly is. After all, even wealthy middle-class figures like the Earl of Dalhousie dare not say they can casually donate four warships to the Royal Navy, let alone fund Britain in a war.

When Arthur was in Russia, he once dealt with the Stroganov family. At that time, he was invited by the Governor of Moscow, Duke Dmitry Golitsyn, to visit his nephew Count Sergei Stroganov’s Russia’s first private art college (now the Moscow State University of Art and Industry).

According to his introduction, the purpose of establishing this art college is to teach art and crafts to 360 people, including children and serfs, in hopes of cultivating enough outstanding architects and artists for Russia.

Arthur still remembers the scene when he first interacted with Count Sergei Stroganov. If no one told him, he really could not imagine that the seemingly quite emaciated middle-aged man before him was actually a super rich man with assets exceeding 60 million rubles (approximately 6.4 million pounds) and 40,000 serfs.

The ”Portrait of Count Sergei Stroganov” by Italian painter Pietro de’ Rossi was painted in the 1820s.

In the past, Arthur had always been unsure of what the upper class in Earl of Dalhousie’s eyes looked like, until he met this gentleman.

While guiding Arthur during the visit, Arthur personally heard him say, ”During bad years, one could earn an annual income of about 3 million rubles (approximately 320,000 pounds). And if the year is particularly good, it could reach 5 million rubles (approximately 530,000 pounds).”

But when Arthur heard these words, he initially doubted if he had misheard, and later questioned whether the other party might not be good at mathematics, mistakenly counting zeros in their annual income.

Until once, the other party invited him to visit Stroganov Palace on Peterburg Neva Street.

When Arthur saw the room full of art collections, he finally realized that the issue was neither with his hearing nor the other’s arithmetic, but rather in his own limited imagination of wealth.

The Stroganov family’s collection is not primarily focused on Russian native art but rather systematically introduces Italian, French, and Dutch art.

Among them are not only Renaissance paintings from Italy but also French academic school oil paintings and an impressive number of classical prints and manuscripts. What surprised him even more was that a considerable portion of the works were not acquired through auctions or diplomatic gifts but were directly created and retained by artists long funded by the Stroganov family.

Among all painting genres, the Stroganov especially loved the Baroque style. On that day, Arthur saw at least three genuine works by Peter Rubens, with several portrait works created by Rubens’ assistant Anthony van Dyck right next to them. Moreover, works by Rembrandt, Poussin, Raphael, and Lorand were as plentiful as cabbages.

Although in the art market, not every Baroque master’s works can fetch a huge price, even the cheapest Rembrandt’s half-length portraits can easily be auctioned for 1,000 pounds in London.

However, the deepest impression left by Count Sergei Stroganov on Arthur was not his collection of art pieces, but his casual remark: ”I don’t particularly feel anything special about the act of collecting.”