The Nightly Necklace: Marie Feodorovna’s Sapphire Necklace

Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia wears an elaborate diamond and sapphire festoon necklace, as well as additional jewels from a coordinating parure, in a portrait by Konstantin Makovsky, ca. late nineteenth century; the necklace, which includes a sapphire that measured a whopping 159 carats, was confiscated after the revolution and later disappeared