The portrait depicts an elderly man with light eyes, gray hair, and a puffy beard. His straightforward gaze is directed toward the audience.
This portrait in the museum’s collection was the most difficult: the researchers could not determine who was painted in it. The portrait was painted by an anonymous artist and has no notes or inscriptions. The work was purchased together with a portrait of a merchant’s wife Yevdokiya Sorokina-Usova, which was painted in 1817. Presumably, the artist also portrayed one of the members of the merchant family Sorokin-Usova. But the portrait couldn’t be a paired one: in such family paintings husbands and wives were always depicted looking at each other. And both characters in these portraits look in the same direction — their heads are turned to the left (for the viewer — to the right).
In addition, the time of creation of these two paintings does not coincide either. Researchers suggest that the image of the unknown merchant was painted much later. This is evidenced by his clothes: a double-breasted dark-colored European frock coat. On the left side of his chest in the buttonhole the artist depicted a silver badge of honor: a small cross with diverging rays. It is attached to a silver badge with a red ribbon. Researchers suggest that the outfit may correspond to the first third of the 19th century.
The portrait displayed at the museum exhibition belongs to the “socio-ethical primitive” style. Such works were at the junction of professional and non-professional art. They denoted class and reflected the values of the merchant class: respect for the ancestors and the family business. There were certain canons: the artist painted the character on a dark monochrome background, emphasized the face and hands, and the interior details were usually absent.
In addition, portraits communicated valuable information about the characters: their marital status, state of capital, place in society. In the property inventories of the 18th — 19th centuries, portraits were considered not only artistic works, but also unique documents, which confirmed the identity. On the back of the canvas, they recorded “background information”: birth, family and social status. There are no such notes on the painting from the museum’s collection.
This portrait in the museum’s collection was the most difficult: the researchers could not determine who was painted in it. The portrait was painted by an anonymous artist and has no notes or inscriptions. The work was purchased together with a portrait of a merchant’s wife Yevdokiya Sorokina-Usova, which was painted in 1817. Presumably, the artist also portrayed one of the members of the merchant family Sorokin-Usova. But the portrait couldn’t be a paired one: in such family paintings husbands and wives were always depicted looking at each other. And both characters in these portraits look in the same direction — their heads are turned to the left (for the viewer — to the right).
In addition, the time of creation of these two paintings does not coincide either. Researchers suggest that the image of the unknown merchant was painted much later. This is evidenced by his clothes: a double-breasted dark-colored European frock coat. On the left side of his chest in the buttonhole the artist depicted a silver badge of honor: a small cross with diverging rays. It is attached to a silver badge with a red ribbon. Researchers suggest that the outfit may correspond to the first third of the 19th century.
The portrait displayed at the museum exhibition belongs to the “socio-ethical primitive” style. Such works were at the junction of professional and non-professional art. They denoted class and reflected the values of the merchant class: respect for the ancestors and the family business. There were certain canons: the artist painted the character on a dark monochrome background, emphasized the face and hands, and the interior details were usually absent.
In addition, portraits communicated valuable information about the characters: their marital status, state of capital, place in society. In the property inventories of the 18th — 19th centuries, portraits were considered not only artistic works, but also unique documents, which confirmed the identity. On the back of the canvas, they recorded “background information”: birth, family and social status. There are no such notes on the painting from the museum’s collection.
