The Uglich Museum houses a portrait of the merchant and mayor Pavel Matveyevich Surin painted by the artist Ivan Tarkhanov.
In October 1843, the portraitist Ivan Tarkhanov once again worked in the large house of the Surin merchants on Yaroslavskaya Street. This time, a portrait was commissioned by the new head of the household — Pavel Matveyevich Surin. Instead of Surin Junior, he had become the only Surin after his father had died a year earlier. Pavel Surin bought new shops on his own, started a hotel business, established a tavern, and “rented it to the peasant Grigory Alexeyev Smirnov” who hired his lively nephew Pyotr. The latter embarked upon the path to becoming “the king of vodka”. Most importantly, Pavel Surin stopped being merely “a merchant’s son” and wrote in his diary, “In 1843, I declared my capital as a merchant at the city duma for the first time.” Surin wanted to pay tribute to his father and commemorate his legacy and achievements. The reason for the commissioning of the portrait was Matvey Surin’s honorary right to continue wearing the mayor’s uniform after his retirement “for his impeccable service”, which was announced in the “Governorate News”. His son also served as a municipal councilor, and the paired portraits of two men — which were extremely rare, unlike those of married couples — were supposed to emphasize their status and family continuity in this prestigious service.
In the years after his previous portrait, Pavel Surin had changed a lot. Tarkhanov depicted him with a plump face, confident gaze, and demeanor. The tunic, or rather the embroidered jacket with buttons depicting the coat of arms, hampers his movements, makes him hold his head straight up, and gives a certain solidity and grandeur to his figure. The two expressly official images could easily fit the interior of the city council or the city duma. After Pavel Surin had become a widower and got married the second time, the portrait of his father seemed to take a backseat, while its place was occupied by Tarkhanov’s portrait of Nadezhda Andreyevna Surina in almost the same size as that of her husband. Soon after this portrait was painted, in January 1848, Surin was elected for his first out of three terms as the local mayor: he lived a long life and even set a record as the longest-serving mayor of Uglich.
In October 1843, the portraitist Ivan Tarkhanov once again worked in the large house of the Surin merchants on Yaroslavskaya Street. This time, a portrait was commissioned by the new head of the household — Pavel Matveyevich Surin. Instead of Surin Junior, he had become the only Surin after his father had died a year earlier. Pavel Surin bought new shops on his own, started a hotel business, established a tavern, and “rented it to the peasant Grigory Alexeyev Smirnov” who hired his lively nephew Pyotr. The latter embarked upon the path to becoming “the king of vodka”. Most importantly, Pavel Surin stopped being merely “a merchant’s son” and wrote in his diary, “In 1843, I declared my capital as a merchant at the city duma for the first time.” Surin wanted to pay tribute to his father and commemorate his legacy and achievements. The reason for the commissioning of the portrait was Matvey Surin’s honorary right to continue wearing the mayor’s uniform after his retirement “for his impeccable service”, which was announced in the “Governorate News”. His son also served as a municipal councilor, and the paired portraits of two men — which were extremely rare, unlike those of married couples — were supposed to emphasize their status and family continuity in this prestigious service.
In the years after his previous portrait, Pavel Surin had changed a lot. Tarkhanov depicted him with a plump face, confident gaze, and demeanor. The tunic, or rather the embroidered jacket with buttons depicting the coat of arms, hampers his movements, makes him hold his head straight up, and gives a certain solidity and grandeur to his figure. The two expressly official images could easily fit the interior of the city council or the city duma. After Pavel Surin had become a widower and got married the second time, the portrait of his father seemed to take a backseat, while its place was occupied by Tarkhanov’s portrait of Nadezhda Andreyevna Surina in almost the same size as that of her husband. Soon after this portrait was painted, in January 1848, Surin was elected for his first out of three terms as the local mayor: he lived a long life and even set a record as the longest-serving mayor of Uglich.
