In 1920ies art experts thought that the portrait of Countess Anna Vorontsova was painted by the Italian artist Pietro Rotari. The catalogue of the Tambov Ethnography Museum, 1947, stated that this work of art was created by an unknown artist of XVIII century. The Tambov Picture Gallery attributed the portrait to Aleksey Antropov. This decision was later placed under doubt and the work was assigned to the French artist Louis Tocque. It was finally proved, in 1999, that the copy of Louis Tocque’s portrait of 1757 was painted six years later by Aleksey Antropov.

Aleksey Antropov is one of the first Russian portrait artists. From 1732 he took art classes from Louis Caravaque and the Russian artist Andrey Matveyev, at the end of 1750ies he studied with Pietro Rotari, an Italian artist, working in Russia. Antropov also painted icons for the Winter Palace. In Kiev he worked on frescoes and icons for the Andreyevskiy Cathedral. He served as an artist for the Holy Synod from 1761 and supervised young artists and iconographers.

Aleksey Antropov’s portrait of Vorontsova is a copy from the portrait of the French artist Louis Tocque, who was invited to St. Petersburg by Count Mikhail Vorontsov. His wife, Countess Anna Vorontsova, whose maiden name was Skavronskaya, is depicted in the portrait. She was first cousin to the Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna (Elizabeth).
Vorontsova’s contemporaries called her a “lovely lady…a great spender, extravagant and elegant”.

Antropov portrayed her dress in greatest detail, paying special attention to the diamond decoration of the lady-in-waiting, and the image of the Empress on the decoration.

Just as the author of the original painting, the artist employed the baroque style, noted for great splendor in the depiction of the costume, the volumetric folds of the hoop skirts — an old-fashioned dress with a rounded — off train. The contrast of blue and gold of the dress is also characteristic of the baroque style. Antropov softened the stirring palette with light sky — blue of the dress and the white of lace decorations. The portrait presents some features of rococo: the slight turn of the figure, the skittish tilt of the head, blush on the cheeks and an elegant ringlet in the hairstyle.

In 1763 Aleksey Antropov also painted Vorontsova’s grand portrait. The Countess in this portrait is featured wearing the Order of St. Catherine, the Big Cross. This painting is part of a collection of the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.