joyed paintings, sculptures, and cameo making. Catherine was a patron of the arts and built many magnificent palaces and public buildings in St. Petersburg. Catherine stored all of her great pieces of art in a palace now called the Hermitage. Catherine II was worried about Peter the Greats grand-nephew, Ivan VI, who was living, without a name in the dungeon where Empress Elizabeth had sent him in 1741. Ivan VI had a legitimate claim to the crown and throne. In 1764, Catherines fears diminished. A young army officer believed that it was his calling from God to rescue Ivan VI from imprisonment. The guards killed Ivan when the officer attempted to free him. Another person who posed a threat to Catherine II was an army deserter who claimed to be Peter III. After much blood shed he was captured and beheaded. The only person who was now a threat to Catherine was her own son, Tsarevitch Paul. Her son loathed her because he though she killed his father. It wasnt until Catherines death that he realized that his mother was innocent.Catherines attitude for her love affairs was very straight forward. She thought of physical satisfaction as a completely natural and unshameful need. Although her views on sex were looked down upon by many, Catherine continued to have one lover after another. Catherines ex-lover, Grigory Orlov, was dismissed from court. As a parting gift, Catherine gave her ex a generous amount of money, a generous pention, riches, a marble palace, and 6,000 serfs who could act as slaves. In 1774, Catherine disovered a replacement for Grigory Orlov. Her new lover, Grigory Potemkin captured her imagination as no other man ever had. At the age of 45, she abandoned herself to her love of Potemkin, some historians believe that they were actually married for some time. When Catherines relationship with Potemkin began to cool down, he became her matchmaker and lifelong friend. When Catherine was 50 years old, she fell in l...
