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.