In the early 1840s, in anticipation of the marriage of the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II, to Princess Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt, later Empress Maria Alexandrovna, new apartments were created for the young couple within the Winter Palace. Situated on the second floor of the palace's southwestern projection, these rooms had previously formed part of the private apartments of Emperor Alexander I. His former bedchamber was subsequently transformed into the study depicted in the present watercolor. Located on the principal floor of the western wing, the room overlooked the Admiralty.
The interiors of the western wing prior to the devastating fire of 1837 had been recorded in a series of watercolors by the brothers Nikanor and Grigory Chernetsov. Following the reconstruction of the Winter Palace and the redecoration of its interiors, Eduard Hau was commissioned to document the newly completed apartments. The majority of these watercolors are now preserved in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Among them are three views of Alexander II's study, one of which depicts the interior from precisely the same vantage point as the present work, albeit without figures.
The watercolor portrays Alexander II seated at his writing desk, the wall behind him adorned with a carefully arranged display of dynastic portraits. At the center hangs an image of his wife, Maria Alexandrovna, surmounted by a portrait of his grandfather, King Frederick William III of Prussia. Flanking these are portraits of the Emperor's parents, Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna, the latter depicted in mourning attire.
The study also occupies an important place in Russian history. On March 1, 1881, Emperor Alexander II was brought here after sustaining fatal injuries in an assassination attempt, and it was in this room that he died later that day.