The Ambassador and Arbiter of Taste. Minister State Secretary, Count Alexander Armfelt as intermediary cultural agent

This article focuses on some previously unconsidered dimensions of one of the most influential diplomats of the Finnish history, minister and count Alexander Armfelt (1794–1876), not only as a mediator of political and intellectual, but also of cultural ideas. Armfelt, who had tight connections to the state and who knew about major political developments, had an optimal belvedere position to the nineteenth century sphere of culture. Bringing the concept of ‘intimacy’ from the world of politics to the setting of culture, this article shows how influential role Armfelt possessed in presenting and ‘imagining’ Finland to the eyes of the Emperor Alexander II, acting, besides as a political advisor, also as an ‘arbiter of taste’ in the issues of Finnish culture. In terms of institutional history, the decade-long process of the birth of the Finnish Art Society (1846) can be understood as a result of Armfelt’s intermediary talents, and as an act of cementing ties between the Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland. Differing from the earlier models of interpretation, this article indicates the Finnish Society’s possible earlier prototype and model as the [Imperial] Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (1820). Overall, these imperial societies might require a deeper evaluation of their organizational status, as they may reflect more the European (including Russian) political culture, and the practices of modern diplomacy than the sole and exclusive sphere of arts.