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Equestrian portrait of Peter the Great

Creation period

mid XVIII century

Dimensions

88,5x54,5 cm
88,5х54,5 cm

Technique

canvas, oil

Collection

New Jerusalem Museum

Exhibition

Russian Art. Icons, Portraits and Landscapes

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IMG_7517.jpg

Unknown atrist

Equestrian portrait of Peter the Great

Equestrian portrait of Peter the Great was painted unknown author in the XVIII century. Particularly, in the time of reign of Peter the Great secular painting art started developing. The senior genre during Peter’s epoch and throughout the XVIII century was portrait.
The royal persons rarely posed personally for artists; many painters painted using the works created by renowned craftsmen. Sometimes there were a few of such samples. One of the most popular equestrian portraits of the Emperor was Peter the Great in Poltava Battle of the artist Johann Gottfried Tannauer.

Johann_Gottfried_Tannauer_03.jpg

J.G.Tannauer, Peter the Great in Poltava Battle, 1724. Kept with Mikhailovsky Palace, img via: wikipedia.org

The unknown artist benefited from famous images of Peter the Great, however, didn’t copy them completely, while attempted to reshape them. In the portrait from the collection the craftsman blended several styles and genres: portrait on board letter, cartoon style and rococo. He painted the Emperor against the background of the landscape with high sky. The experts assume that at a distance the unknown author depicted towers of Poltava fortress. Thus he underlined the martial prowess of the tsar and his victories in Great Northern War.

In the traditions of portrait on board the author conveyed the external traits of the Emperor only loosely. This technique rooted from iconography, thus the face of Peter the Great resembled more the face of a saint, while the proportions of his figure were impaired. The artist conveyed the resemblance with the prototype through the attributes of power and attire.

From the cartoon style, the artist borrowed a bright color palette, non-dimensional depiction of articles and overall simplicity of performance. The traits of rococo in the painting were revealed in the general composition. The author captured the monarch in a gracious posture, while the face depicted and emphasized its youngness. The artist performed the background very loosely: the trees in the left part of the painting – in a summarized way, no details.

Elizaveta_with_Black_Servant_by_Grooth_(1743,_Tretyakov_gallery).jpg

Georg Christoph Grooth, ‘Equestrian portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna with piccaninny’, 1743. Kept with the State Tretyakov Gallery, img via: wikipedia.org

The rococo style spread out across Russia in the reign of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. Thus some experts assume that this portrait was painted by the artist close to mid XVIII century, already after the death of the Emperor. In favor of this opinion is the fact that ‘Equestrian portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna with piccaninny’ has a lot in common with the portrait from the exhibition. Especially, the images of Emperor figures are identical.

New Jerusalem Museum

Equestrian portrait of Peter the Great

Creation period

mid XVIII century

Dimensions

88,5x54,5 cm
88,5х54,5 cm

Technique

canvas, oil

Collection

New Jerusalem Museum

Exhibition

Russian Art. Icons, Portraits and Landscapes

Point your smartphone camera to open in the app

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Icon of Our Lady Assuage My Sorrows

Unknown author

Icon of Our Lady Assuage My Sorrows

Unknown author

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