Empress Maria Feodorovna (1759–1828), born Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, was the second wife of the ill-fated Czar Paul I. It is perhaps the exquisite taste of this great patroness of decorative arts that encouraged production of verre églomisé in Russia. It became so widely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that even cabinetmakers did not hesitate to incorporate it in Russian furniture. This medallion celebrates the empress's coronation on April 16, 1797.