The State Russian Museum has over 2,000 sculptures created from the 18th through the early 20th centuries. An excellent example in Room 7 is this statue of Anna Ioannovna, the Russian Empress from 1730 until 1740. It was created a year after her death by Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. He had been invited to Russia in 1716 by Peter the Great. During his career, he created busts, statues and monuments for several Russian rulers and their families including the death mask of Peter I. His son Francesco Rastrelli became Saint Petersburg’s most prolific architect of the 18th century.