Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich (1690–1718) was the son of Peter I from his first marriage with Eudoxia Fyodorovna Lopukhina. From 1703, the court lawyer and diplomat Baron Heinrich von Huyssen was engaged in the upbringing and training of Alexei. Senator Yakov Fedorovich Dolgorukov and Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn greatly influenced the young man. The heir to the throne excelled in sciences and languages, was interested in history and geography. In 1709–1712 he traveled to Europe and studied in Dresden. During the Northern War (1701–1721) he carried out state assignments.
However, Alexei was in sharp opposition to Peter’s reforms. Not seeing in him a worthy successor, Peter I hoped to benefit the state from the dynastic marriage of his son and the German Princess Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In a short and unhappy marriage, two children were born: daughter Natalia and son Peter, the future Emperor Peter II.
In 1729, Christian Albert Wortmann created paired engraved portraits of the tsarevich and Charlotte Christina Sophie with a dark-skin boy based on the original paintings by the artist Johann Paul Lüdden.
Lüdden, a German painter, came to St. Petersburg with Wortmann, worked on commissions of the Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Court. Portrait was among his favorite genres. He painted pictures on biblical and mythological themes.
However, it was not only Lüdden’s work that served as the basis of the engraving on display. Christian Wortmann turned to the famous 1710 painted portrait by Johann Gottfried Tannauer to depict all of Tsarevich Alexei’s characteristic facial features and figure.
Tannauer was one of the first German artists who responded to the invitation of Peter the Great and entered the Russian service. In St. Petersburg, he received a position as a court painter (“Hofmaler”) painted portraits, paintings on historical themes, created miniatures and drawings. Thanks to Tannauer, Russian masters got acquainted with the style of late European Baroque, its deep perspective, light contrasts and bold color combinations. The artist created a wonderful portrait gallery, which included portraits of Emperor Peter the Great and his wife Catherine I, Tsarevich Alexei, Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov and his daughters, Count Peter Andreyevich Tolstoy, General Admiral Count Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin.
