The portrait, presented in the museum’s exposition, was taken by Sergey Levitsky, known as the father of Russian photography. He greatly contributed to the development and popularity of photography in Russia. In 1847, Levitsky invented the first-ever camera that used bellows. He was one of the first in Russia to shoot under electric lighting and was the first to use a magnesium flash. A realist photographer, Levitsky was against retouching as it hindered the development of artistic portrait photography — in his opinion, it smoothed out the truth of life. As an expert in photographic exhibitions, Sergey Levitsky forbade awarding photographers that used retouching.

A friend to many Russian writers, Sergey Levitsky made a significant contribution to the iconography of outstanding cultural figures. He took hundreds of photographs of Russian scientists, writers and artists. On February 15, 1856, around the same time as the portrait of Leo Tolstoy was taken, Levitsky made the famous group photo of Russian writers who were contributors to the “Sovremennik” magazine. From the diary of Alexander Druzhinin:

Leo Tolstoy’s relationship with the writers in Levitsky’s photograph developed in different ways. Korney Chukovsky was spot on when he said that Tolstoy in general, and especially in his youth, gave in to “the ebb and flow of love”. In the last years of his life, Tolstoy fondly remembered Turgenev, despite their disagreements in the 1850s and a quarrel in 1861, after which they stopped communicating or several years. Despite all their difference, both writers respected each other until the end of their lives.

One day in 1905, the writer’s wife, Sophia Tolstaya, laid out photos that hung in the old library of their house in Yasnaya Polyana on the living room table. Among them was the Sovremennik group photo. Tolstoy said about it: “These are my true friends” — and asked to hang the photo in his study. This photo with the autographs of the writers on its mat can still be seen above the writer’s desk.