Peter the Great marked the start of an embrace of European culture, giving rise to two opposing themes to Russia. There is traditional Russia, which is often associated with features such as autocracy and the deprivation of freedom (Verizhnikov, 212). On the other hand, the modernizing force is generally defined as the inflow of Western lifestyles and ideals into Russia (Lewitter, 493). This is an attempt to broadly replicate post-Enlightenment societies, including their culture, architecture, and economy, with an emphasis on self-consciousness or as the Westernizers put it, the “free development of personhood” (Hamburg and Poole, 37). In the annals of Russian history, Catherine the Great stands out as one of the few who provoked significant …show more content…
Only under this condition were the pursuit of personal freedom and institutional changes able to happen. Similarly, Catherine imported a bottom-up model and tried to change Russians’ minds to the likes of the Europeans. As an example, Catherine brought in artworks and other products of the Enlightenment and built an art museum, known as the Hermitage Museum, which accumulated over four thousand artworks upon Catherine’s death (Whittaker, 148). The monumental number serves to show the thoroughness and diversity of Catherine’s collection of European art. As an expressive form of media, art is effective in propagating emotions and moving its audiences, who become more aware of and agreeable with the message the artworks are sending (Talley). After the museum became open to the public in 1852, it served as such place where people would gather to appreciate the art, converse on their opinions, and foster new ideals. Even now, the Hermitage Museum remains one of the most visited museums in the world, continuing its generational impact of Russia’s Westernization to more