Princess Marie Wassilievna Woronzoff

Maria Vasilievna was the daughter of Prince Vasili Sergejevitj (Sergeevich) Trubetskoy (1776-1841), one of the oldest Russian noble families of Lithuanian origin. She was considered a great beauty and was a well-known personage in Russian high society. One of her closest friends was a daughter of Tsar Nicolas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819-1876).

She married twice. Her first husband was Colonel Alexei Griorievich Stolypin (1805-1847); he contracted cholera and died a few years after their wedding. They had one son, Nicolas Alexeievich Stolypin, Duc de Montelfi (1843-1898). Vasilievna’s second husband was Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov, also spelled Woronzow or Woroncov, whose grandfather was a longtime ambassador to London and well-known art collector. Her second marriage brought her increased wealth and status; her husband’s family owned the grand Vorontsov palace in Alupka, located in the Crimean Peninsula. After Vorontsov’s death in 1882 she had to leave Vorontsov Palace in Alupka. Since they never had any children, all of Vorontsov’s property and inheritance devolved to his kin. Vasilievna kept her mansion in Saint Petersburg and her own properties abroad, which included a house in Paris, a summer residence at Lac Léman (Switzerland), and residences in Nice, Sorrento and Florence. When she left Vorontsov Palace, Vasilievna took with her all of the furniture, artworks and other goods with her to Italy and France.

Maria Vasilievna died in Nice in 1895; her son Nicolas died a few years later in 1898. Her collection of paintings, sculptures, objects d’art and furniture were sold at auction in 1900 at Villa Woronzow in Montughi near Florence. When Adolphe Schloss acquired Joueurs peu scrupuleux by Joos van Craesbeeck (Schloss German no. L12/ French no. 56) at that sale, it had been attributed to Antoine (Anthonie) Palamedes Stevens.

Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (1744-1832), grandfather of Vasilievna’s second husband and Russia’s longtime ambassador in London, was a known collector of art. He acquired paintings during his stay in London. Vasilievna brought _The Martyrdom of St. Apolloni_a by Guido Reni from the Vorontsov collection with her; it was purchased by Count Vorontsov in London in 1823. The painting was sold at Vasilievna’s posthumous auction in 1900.

Literature: Rhinelander, Anthony L.H. Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy of the Tsar. First, Carleton University Press, 1990.