PHOTO: Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II in the uniform of Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Greys (1902). Artist: Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (1865-1911)

In 2025, a portrait of Emperor Nicholas II, painted in 1902 by the Russian artist Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (1865-1911) will be shown at the National Army Museum in London at an exhibition dedicated to the art of battle during the era of Queen Victoria (1837-1901).

The National Army Museum in London will host a major exhibition Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria, which runs from 1st July to 1st November 2026.

The exhibition will showcase over 140 works of art from the museum’s collection, including works on loan from other museums and private collections. Among these is Serov’s portrait of Nicholas II, on loan from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in Edinburgh.

In Serov’s portrait, painted in 1902 in a lively impressionist manner, Russia’s most famous portrait artist, was able to convey the remarkable resemblance of the two Royal cousins: Nicholas II (1868-1918) and his elder cousin, the British King George V (1865-1936).

In Serov’s portrait, the young Russian Emperor is dressed in the uniform of Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Greys. This title was granted to him in 1894 by Queen Victoria on the occasion of the wedding of her granddaughter Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine to the future Emperor of Russia.

In 1902, the Emperor commissioned a portrait from Valentin Serov and, upon completion, presented the work to his Scottish Regiment. The portrait was taken to Edinburgh, to the castle where the headquarters of the Royal Scots Greys were located.

PHOTO: Serov’s portrait can be seen in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum,
located in the New Barracks at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.
PHOTO © The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Trust

In 1971, the Royal Scots Greys was reformed and changed its name to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. But the portrait of the honorary commander of the regiment remained in its place in the living room of the regimental castle.

In the 2010s, the Board of Trustees of the regimental fund of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regiment summoned an expert in Russian painting to Edinburgh. The insurance valuation of Serov’s work was valued at £15 million ($18 million USD).

Serov’s portrait of Emperor Nicholas II (1902) is on permanent display in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, located in the New Barracks at Edinburgh, Scotland.

In April 2017, a delegation of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards travelled to Russia, where they presented a uniform of Colonel-in-Chief to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum, and now on display in the Sovereign Martial Chamber’s World War I Museum.

The Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria exhibition, runs from 1st July 2025 to 1st November 2026 at the National Army Museum in London.

© Paul Gilbert. 13 January 2025