The Uglich Museum houses the last portrait from the family gallery of the Kochurikhin merchants. The tradition of commissioning portraits of family members was established by Fyodor Kochurikhin in the mid-18th century. Initially, the portrait of Nikolay Kochurikhin entered the museum as the portrait of an unknown man. Later, based on letters and old inventory descriptions, the man was identified as Nikolay, the grandson of Fyodor Kochurikhin.

Nikolay Kochurikhin was born in December 1822 when a lot of effort was being put into rebuilding Uglich after the May fire that destroyed one-third of the city and went down in history. Nikolay was the long-awaited son and the second child after the daughter Dunya. Dmitry Fyodorovich, Nikolay’s father, visited all the local churches praying for an heir. In his diary, he wrote,

As can be seen from the diaries of his father, Nikolay was brought up surrounded by many relatives, in the atmosphere of provincial book-learning, where the “Menaion” met “Anecdotes from the Life of Peter the Great” and ancient authors, among religious contradictions, fears, and superstitions. The young man continued his father’s legacy and became a merchant. In the records of the time of this portrait, he was mentioned as “an Uglich 3rd-class merchant’s son”.

In this portrait, Nikolay Kochurikhin is around 40 years old, wearing the clothes (frock, vest, and neckcloth) typical of the 1860s fashion. In his right hand, he holds an envelope sealed with a red wax stamp bearing the monogram “NDK”. Perhaps, if the painter included the entire hands of the merchant in the composition, he would have also shown the signet ring. It is unknown where there was a paired portrait of his wife Alexandra Ivanovna. One thing is certain, however: as the museum expert Gusev wrote, the descendants of Nikolay Kochurikhin “did not care to eternalize the later generations of the family.”