The painter Fyodor Rokotov (1735, Vorontsovo estate - December 24, 1808, Moscow) was the originator of the Russian intimate portrait. According to the rules of the genre, this type of portrait depicted the image of the model in a private, casual setting. An important task of the artist was not only to convey the external features of the model, but also their inner world. Like many of Rokotov’s most significant works, this canvas was created in Moscow. The commissioner of the portrait was the chamberlain Alexander Dolgorukov, and his recently widowed mother was the model.
Anna Dolgorukova (nee Bredikhina) was the daughter of a colonel and vice-governor of Novgorod. At 23, she married Nikolai Dolgorukov, the representative of a noble princely family. For more than thirty years, the couple lived together and had five children born in a happy marriage. At the age of 57, she became a widow.
A middle-aged woman posed for the artist, but her age only emphasized the nobility of her image. The portrait is characterized with charm, inner warmth, and exceptional femininity. The artist underlined the perfect features of Anna Dolgorukova, filled the soulful look with a lively shine, added a slight blush, and revived her lips with a smile.
The clothing adds a special feeling of intimacy to the portrait: a light-colored home dress, a high cap decorated with a blue ribbon, and a black lace mantle thrown over the shoulders. Among Russian painters of the 18th century, Rokotov is an unsurpassed, subtle, and refined colorist. As in most paintings, here he uses only a handful of color combinations: light gray tones shimmer with mother-of-pearl in the folds of a home dress, a cap, and noble gray hair. Soft blue bows liven up their complex tonality. The model’s face is made in pleasant warm tones. Portrait of A.A. Dolgorukova refers to the 1790s, the late, not fully studied period of the artist’s work. Not many works of this period have survived, which is why the portrait from the collection of the Taganrog Museum is even more valuable.
Anna Dolgorukova (nee Bredikhina) was the daughter of a colonel and vice-governor of Novgorod. At 23, she married Nikolai Dolgorukov, the representative of a noble princely family. For more than thirty years, the couple lived together and had five children born in a happy marriage. At the age of 57, she became a widow.
A middle-aged woman posed for the artist, but her age only emphasized the nobility of her image. The portrait is characterized with charm, inner warmth, and exceptional femininity. The artist underlined the perfect features of Anna Dolgorukova, filled the soulful look with a lively shine, added a slight blush, and revived her lips with a smile.
The clothing adds a special feeling of intimacy to the portrait: a light-colored home dress, a high cap decorated with a blue ribbon, and a black lace mantle thrown over the shoulders. Among Russian painters of the 18th century, Rokotov is an unsurpassed, subtle, and refined colorist. As in most paintings, here he uses only a handful of color combinations: light gray tones shimmer with mother-of-pearl in the folds of a home dress, a cap, and noble gray hair. Soft blue bows liven up their complex tonality. The model’s face is made in pleasant warm tones. Portrait of A.A. Dolgorukova refers to the 1790s, the late, not fully studied period of the artist’s work. Not many works of this period have survived, which is why the portrait from the collection of the Taganrog Museum is even more valuable.
