Yaroslavl artists borrowed some techniques used for the class portrait from foreign portraitists and some from local icon painters. The genre was also influenced by Yaroslavl folk art: paintings on spinning wheels, ornamental embroidery, and toys. Such art was simple and laconic. The fewer details decorated an item, the more expressive they became. Bright ornamental lines and color combinations turned into symbols: an artist would render a complete message with one detail. Such trends shaped the special type of the Yaroslavl provincial portrait.

The painting on display pairs with the portrait of the merchant Ivan Sobolev, the husband of our character. The artist painted the spouses so that they are mirror images of each other: Ivan’s figure is slightly to the right from the center, and Nadezhda’s - to the left. At the same time, the male portrait is more laconic and austere, and the female one is more decorative. We may assume that female images acquired a special meaning in class portrait: their beauty and picturesqueness set off the business portraits of their husbands. The heroines were turned into a generalized character of a devout and virtuous woman.