ABSTRACT
The coats of arms were distributed on the walls and integrated into the architectural elements. This chapter looks at how one such event contributed to a narrative of continuity and legitimacy of the Russian monarchy through its design, its immediate impact on the subsequent rulers, and the treatment of its memory. The Empress was at the center of the grandiose commemorative plan, which celebrated her legacy as the head of the Russian nation. The military personnel carried standards, the clergy carried banners and crosses, horses with coats of arms from counties and provinces were lead ahead of the deputies, the Staff Marshal rode on horseback and held the staff of the Russian Empire. Elizaveta's funeral demonstrates that, by the middle of the eighteenth century, Russian ceremonial culture had complete fluency in the baroque techniques of the public representation of power that had been developed in Western Europe.
