The unknown master painted the head of the empress from Rokotov’s picture, and the elements of clothes, decorations, orders and other attributes of power – from Roslin’s canvas. The master painted the sleeves of empress’s dress in such a manner that they reminded metallic armour. On her bosom he painted the star of St. Vladimir order, which she instituted in 1782. The environment, posture, clothes, adornments – everything was meant to emphasize the high status of the person depicted on the gala portrait. And yet the author slightly shifted the accent from the grandeur of Catherine II to her humaneness. He darkened the background behind the empress, painted the elements of clothes in cold muted tones. The master paid a special attention to the details of her face: he depicted the empress advancing in age, but at the same time he mitigated some features and made them more attractive than on Roslin’s canvas. He accentuated her everlasting beauty by a natural high colour. It is just the appearance of the tsarina that attracted attention and became the centre of the painting.
When the artist created the work, portrait was the most popular genre of painting. There were a few kinds of portrait: gala, chamber, self-portrait, depiction of several persons. XVIII century is even called sometimes “portrait century”. To portray oneself on the canvas was affordable only for people of the highest strata of the society, so expensive it was.