The small-sized, almost miniature portrait of Ustim Karmelyuk by Vasily Andreevich Tropinin is not just a piece of art but also an act of civic courage. Although saying Karmelyuk’s name was forbidden at the time, the serf Vasily Tropinin painted his portrait.

Vasily Tropinin was born as a serf of Count Münnich in the village of Karpovka, Novgorod Governorate. For his long and loyal service, his father was freed and managed to provide Vasily with an education at the Novgorod Public School where the young boy became interested in drawing and painting.

As part of the dowry of Münnich’s daughter, Vasily Tropinin was soon transferred to Count Irakli Ivanovich Morkov — an associate of the military commander Alexander Suvorov and an advocate of serfdom. The new master sent Vasily to live with his cousin Alexey Ivanovich Morkov in St. Petersburg and study the trade of a confectioner. When Alexey Morkov saw Tropinin’s paintings and drawings, he convinced his cousin to send Vasily Tropinin to study at the Academy of Arts. The artist spent six years there but never completed his studies or received a diploma, as his master recalled him to his new estate in Ukraine. It was only in 1823 that Vasily Tropinin was recognized on a nationwide level. Count Irakli Morkov yielded to the pressure of the advanced society and set the artist free.

Between 1804 and 1823, Vasily Tropinin lived alternately in the Ukrainian estate and the Moscow house of Count Irakli Morkov, working both as a painter and a house serf. During that time, there were civil conflicts in Podolia, Ukraine. In 1813, Ustim Yakimovich Karmelyuk (Karmaliuk) became the leader of the rebels. According to Alexandra Amshinskaya, a famous researcher of Tropinin’s art, the artist met Ustim Karmelyuk and painted a study for the portrait from life.

There are several versions of how Vasily Tropinin got acquainted with Ustim Karmelyuk. According to one of them, the artist met the folk hero through Prokopi Danilevsky who provided medical aid to the sick and wounded associates of Karmelyuk. According to another version, Tropinin painted portraits of convicts, including that of Karmelyuk.

There are two more portraits of Ustim Karmelyuk created by Vasily Tropinin. They are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Alexandra Amshinskaya believes that the portrait painted from life is the one from the Nizhny Tagil Museum.