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Portrait painting continued to be most
popular during the reign of Peter's daughter Elizabeth, 1741-1761. The Empress
liked to fill the intervals between prayers with luxurious entertainments at
the palace and love affairs with powerfully built men, chosen ad hoc. She
showed sporadic interest in the arts too. It became obvious that the Academy of
Science that her father founded could not cope with the rising importance of
the arts as part of the cultural development of the country. The Russians, too,
wanted an independent academy of art, as was the case in most western
countries, and the idea was put forward on several occasions. However, nothing
came of it before Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov.
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