CANVASES, CARATS AND CURIOSITIES

Few historical figures earned the title “Great” during their lifetimes, and Catherine II of Russia, known as Catherine the Great, remains one of the most renowned. As the longest-reigning female ruler of Russia, she is celebrated for her dedication to Enlightenment ideals, her patronage of the arts and her progressive reforms, including the establishment of state-funded higher education for women. However, her legacy is shadowed by salacious myths, often wielded to undermine her authority in a patriarchal society.

Portrait of Catherine II of Russia by Aleksey Antropov. 18th century. Art Gallery of Tver. Source.

Enter her erotic furniture. Though these pieces lack definitive proof of association with the empress, their existence has inspired tantalizing speculation about Catherine’s private life. Whether factual or fiction crafted by Nazis, these artifacts—along with persistent rumors of her sexual exploits—reflect both the fascination and the scandal that surround one of history’s most formidable female leaders.

Alleged photo of Catherine the Great’s erotic furniture. Taken by Wehrmacht soldiers. Circa 1941.

Who Was Catherine and Why Was Her Russian Empire so Great?

Born in 1729 as Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, the daughter of a minor German prince, Sophie adopted the name Catherine II to align herself with Russian lineage and entered the Russian court through an arranged marriage to her second cousin, Peter, the Grand Duke and heir to the throne. At just 15, she left her homeland to become the ideal consort, but the reality of her marriage to Peter proved unideal.

She found her husband immature, unattractive and erratic, describing him in her memoirs with biting disdain. Their relationship deteriorated further after Peter ascended the throne as Peter III. Catherine, a shrewd and ambitious woman, is widely believed to have orchestrated a coup d’état that overthrew Peter after less than a year in power. Peter was killed shortly thereafter, and Catherine was crowned Empress of Russia.

Portrait of Catherine II the Legislatress in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice by Dmitry Levitsky. 1783. The State Russian Museum. Source.

Catherine’s rise to power was tied to her relationship with Grigory Orlov, one of the key architects of the coup that deposed her husband. Orlov, a charismatic officer in the Russian Imperial Army, became Catherine’s lover during her years as Grand Duchess, and his influence extended beyond the personal realm into the political. Together with his brother, who held a significant position in the military, Orlov organized and executed the coup in 1762. The Orlovs’ ability to rally the Imperial Guard and secure the support of key factions in St. Petersburg was instrumental in Peter’s removal. After his abdication, Peter was imprisoned and later died under suspicious circumstances.

The alliance between Catherine and Orlov not only secured her throne but also became a source of salacious gossip, feeding speculation about her sexuality. Critics and rivals, especially those uneasy with a woman wielding absolute power, used her relationship with Orlov to suggest that Catherine’s authority was derived from her lovers rather than her own abilities. This perception was compounded by her later relationships with other prominent men, leading to the exaggeration of her romantic life into a narrative of unchecked promiscuity.

An Imperial Stride! Satirical etching from The Bon Ton Magazine (1791). British Museum.

The unease of Catherine as a woman in power is exemplified in this satirical etching from The Bon Ton Magazine (1791), now in the British Museum, which mocked her ambitions with the quip: "The Empress of Russia is said to intend placing one foot upon Petersburgh, and the other upon Constantinople. What a delight must the Imperial stride afford to the curious inhabitants of the intermediate countries." A French version exaggerated this further, depicting her bare-breasted, emphasizing scandal over statesmanship.

This illustration, however crude, does point at the truth that Catherine successfully expanded Russia’s global influence as she modernized. Her reign ushered in a golden age of Russian culture, characterized by the establishment of state-funded libraries, academies and the construction of opulent palaces. Under her patronage, institutions such as what would become the State Hermitage Museum were founded, and she transformed St. Petersburg into one of Europe’s foremost cultural centers.

Yet, even amid these accomplishments, her private life became a frequent target of salacious stories—none more infamous than the rumors surrounding her supposed erotic furniture.

How Catherine Curated Her Image

Catherine’s impressive collection included work by Frans Hals and other Dutch masters. Here is Portrait of a Gentleman by Frans Hals. Circa 1630. M.S. Rau.

In line with her goal of aligning Russia with the cultural elite of Europe, Catherine the Great amassed a vast art collection, using art to project an image of cultural sophistication and absolute power. By the end of her reign, she had amassed an extraordinary collection, including 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books, 10,000 drawings and an equal number of gemstones, along with significant holdings of sculpture and objet d’art. This remarkable assemblage formed the foundation of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, one of the world’s most prestigious art collections today.

Catherine’s acquisitions spanned the breadth of European art history. She collected masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, Raphael and Frans Hals, alongside works by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, whose portraits of Marie Antoinette exemplify the grandeur of late 18th-century painting. Western European tastes heavily influenced her choices, reflecting her correspondence with Enlightenment philosophers such as Voltaire. Catherine’s blending of Byzantine traditions with classical and European influences reveals her intention to modernize Russian culture while respecting its unique heritage.

Flora Danica Porcelain Dinner Service by Royal Copenhagen, 124 Pieces. M.S. Rau.

The famed Flora Danica porcelain service, the life's work of Johann Christoph Bayer, was commissioned in 1790 by King Christian VII of Denmark for Empress Catherine the Great.

Her collecting habits often disrupted the plans of her European rivals, as she strategically secured entire private collections before others could act. In this way, her collection became not only a reflection of her personal tastes but also a statement of geopolitical dominance. By acquiring treasures that other monarchs coveted, Catherine reinforced her position as one of Europe’s most powerful rulers. Rumors, likely born of jealousy, suggested that Catherine the Great's artistic patronage extended into scandalous territory, with whispers alleging she commissioned provocative erotica to decorate entire rooms in a palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

Sex and Sovereignty

Erotic Snuff Box. Circa 1840. M.S. Rau.

While undoubtedly overblown, Catherine the Great's gender and powerful sexuality played a pivotal role in shaping both her political strategy and the perception of her legacy. As a German princess with no direct claim to the Russian throne, Catherine had to carefully navigate the constraints of her time to secure and legitimize her rule. Her marriage to Peter III, though deeply unhappy, provided her an entry point into Russian power structures. By bearing a son and publicly adopting Orthodoxy and Russian customs, she crafted an image of legitimacy as both a dutiful wife and the mother of a future tsar—positions that were culturally and politically indispensable.

Catherine’s relationships with carefully selected male favorites became another strategic tool in her consolidation of power. Figures like Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin, a military leader and statesman, were both lovers but trusted agents of her will. These men, tied to Catherine through personal loyalty and dependence on her largesse, acted as extensions of her authority, allowing her to bypass bureaucratic structures and directly enforce her policies across the vast empire. Potemkin, in particular, exemplifies this dynamic; he wielded extraordinary authority as Catherine’s confidant, adviser and emissary.

Despite the pragmatic nature of many of these relationships, Catherine’s sexuality became a focal point for her detractors. Much like the sexist Roman smear campaigns faced by Cleopatra centuries earlier, Catherine’s personal life was weaponized by political rivals and misogynistic critics. Cleopatra faced rampant sexist rumors, with Roman propaganda portraying her as a manipulative seductress who used her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony to further her ambitions, despite little evidence to support such claims.

Myths of Catherine’s insatiable libido and the infamous (and unfounded) rumor of her death involving a horse were propagated to undermine her authority and reduce her accomplishments to scandalous anecdotes. These narratives were amplified by figures such as Frederick the Great, who dismissed her achievements with misogynistic disdain, reinforcing stereotypes about women in power.

Cleopatra by Heinrich Faust. Dated 1876. Sold at M.S. Rau.

Furnishing the Empress

One of the most provocative legends tied to Catherine the Great is the tale of her so-called "erotic cabinet," a hidden collection of furniture and décor said to reflect her famed sexual appetite. According to popular accounts, these Royal chambers—filled with risqué furniture and ornate decorations—were located either at Gatchina Palace or one of the palaces at Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg. The furniture purportedly included chairs, desks and screens adorned with explicit imagery, while an entire wall was allegedly covered with intricately carved wooden phalluses of varying designs. These pieces were said to have been crafted during Catherine’s reign but hidden after her son, Paul I, ascended the throne, potentially due to his disdain for his mother’s sexual legacy.

The strongest evidence for the existence of such a room comes from a set of photographs allegedly taken by Wehrmacht soldiers during the Nazi occupation of Tsarskoye Selo in 1941. The soldiers reportedly stumbled upon this secret boudoir, photographing a table and chair from the collection. Other sources cite the photos as originating from Soviet soldiers, adding to the confusion. Shortly after the alleged discovery, the palace was bombed, and its contents, including the infamous furniture, were believed to have been destroyed in the subsequent fires. Despite the loss of the original pieces, these photographs have sparked near-endless debate among historians and enthusiasts about their authenticity.

Some historians believe the furniture could have belonged to Catherine, citing 19th-century accounts that reference her "legendary erotic furniture," which was hidden away after her death. German soldiers who entered Tsarskoye Selo during World War II claimed to have seen a room with furniture and decorations in an overtly erotic style. However, no report from the Wehrmacht officers has ever been found.

Hermitage personnel have supported the idea of a Romanov collection of erotic art, cataloged in the 1930s but lost, likely destroyed by 1950. While some images survive from the 19th century, doubts persist regarding their veracity. Were the pieces truly Catherine’s, or did they belong to later members of the Romanov family? Did they ever exist at all, or were they just another conspiracy theory perpetrated by the Nazis? Regardless, the myth of Catherine’s erotic decor remains one of the most enduring—and controversial—tales of her reign.

 

A recreation of the infamous table. 21st century. Sold at Sotheby’s.

The tradition of erotic art and furniture spans centuries and cultures, with examples like ancient Assyrian furniture adorned with erotic reliefs dating back to the 13th century BC. Catherine the Great wasn’t the only ruler rumored to own salacious furniture—British King Edward VII famously commissioned a "love chair" (siege d'amour) to accommodate his size during visits to the renowned Le Chabanais brothel in Paris.

Siège d'Amour Love Chair. 19th century. M.S. Rau.

Did Catherine’s infamous erotic furniture truly exist? The answer may never be known. What is certain, however, is that Catherine the Great was an extraordinarily powerful ruler, guided by Enlightenment ideals, who ushered Russia into the modern age. A visionary and an anomaly in her time, it is not inconceivable that she might have commissioned avant-garde designs. Yet, Catherine’s legendary legacy hardly depends on rumors. As one of history’s most intriguing leaders, her impact stands on its own—though the myths surrounding her certainly add to the fascination.