In November 1829, after finishing the portraits of the Shaposhnikovs, the Uglich portraitist Ivan Tarkhanov started taking commissions from the Surin family.
Matvey Sergeyevich Surin started trading in ironware as a teenage boy under the guidance of his mother and gradually expanded his business. As time went on, he moved from the suburbs on the left bank of the Volga to the city center on the right bank. He got a good deal on a plot of land and started building a large house. Later, Surin decided that his family deserved to be recognized and celebrated formally and commissioned a series of portraits. For him, a portrait served as documented proof of his success and helped to present his relatives to the best advantage.
Although there may have been more paintings originally, seven portraits are known in the family gallery established by Matvey Surin, with the period between the first and the last of them spanning 16 years. The image of the master of the house was the most simple and laconic one, as he let his wife, son, and daughter-in-law present his family. His wife Agrippina Andreyevna Surina was fully committed to the old ways of life. She is portrayed wearing somewhat outdated clothing: a white blouse with light sleeves, a sleeveless jacket, and a dark headband completely covering her hair. The expensive pearl jewelry indicates the family’s well-being and love of the decorous ornamental style of earlier days — of the pre-Petrine era. The strongly built dark-eyed woman is portrayed as the ancestress of a successful family.
Agrippina Andreyevna came from the Serebrennikov family. There were so many citizens with this surname in Uglich that over time, nicknames were also added to their names. Agrippina was married off when she was 14, and in this portrait, she is depicted at the age of 55. The responsibilities of the merchant’s wife were not limited to those of running and managing her home. She also brought up her children, mediated their conflicts, and sometimes looked into trading matters, and supported her sons (for example, when one of them became a widower early). This image of Agrippina Surina reveals a calm and active person — “an excellent wife” who, according to the “Domostroi”, is “more precious than a gemstone.”
Matvey Sergeyevich Surin started trading in ironware as a teenage boy under the guidance of his mother and gradually expanded his business. As time went on, he moved from the suburbs on the left bank of the Volga to the city center on the right bank. He got a good deal on a plot of land and started building a large house. Later, Surin decided that his family deserved to be recognized and celebrated formally and commissioned a series of portraits. For him, a portrait served as documented proof of his success and helped to present his relatives to the best advantage.
Although there may have been more paintings originally, seven portraits are known in the family gallery established by Matvey Surin, with the period between the first and the last of them spanning 16 years. The image of the master of the house was the most simple and laconic one, as he let his wife, son, and daughter-in-law present his family. His wife Agrippina Andreyevna Surina was fully committed to the old ways of life. She is portrayed wearing somewhat outdated clothing: a white blouse with light sleeves, a sleeveless jacket, and a dark headband completely covering her hair. The expensive pearl jewelry indicates the family’s well-being and love of the decorous ornamental style of earlier days — of the pre-Petrine era. The strongly built dark-eyed woman is portrayed as the ancestress of a successful family.
Agrippina Andreyevna came from the Serebrennikov family. There were so many citizens with this surname in Uglich that over time, nicknames were also added to their names. Agrippina was married off when she was 14, and in this portrait, she is depicted at the age of 55. The responsibilities of the merchant’s wife were not limited to those of running and managing her home. She also brought up her children, mediated their conflicts, and sometimes looked into trading matters, and supported her sons (for example, when one of them became a widower early). This image of Agrippina Surina reveals a calm and active person — “an excellent wife” who, according to the “Domostroi”, is “more precious than a gemstone.”
