During the Azov campaigns of 1695–1696, Peter I did not yet command the troops — he fought beside them as a bombardier Peter Alekseyev, son of Mikhail. The capture of the Azov fortress became a significant event in Russian history and was reflected in almost all areas of art, including engraving.

Advocating for the development of arts and sciences in his state, Peter the Great not only sent young people to study abroad, but also invited scientists, artisans, engineers, architects, and artists to Russia. They were entrusted with major orders and, more importantly, the training of Russian specialists. The development of the art of engraving during this period is also associated with the names of foreign masters and their Russian students.

One of the first foreign nationals in the Russian service to open their school was Adriaan Shkhoonebeek. A disciple and follower of the Amsterdam engraver Romeyn de Hooghe, he worked in the etching technique, was a master of mezzotint and left a rich creative legacy.

Unfortunately for art historians, many early works of Schoonebeek and his students remained unsigned, and are now difficult to identify.

The engraving on display comes from the collection of the bibliophile, bibliographer, historian and statistician Leonid Alekseyevich Voyeykov (1818–1886). It is marked “Rare”. A note is attached to the bottom:

In particular, one such piece is the engraved portrait of Peter I with the inscription “Verbeelding der dragt van een voornaam. Heer von Moscovien”, in which the young tsar is standing in the same cliched pose and wearing the same costume, but the landscape in the background is different. Facial features and the positioning of the head are different. In both cases, the engravers are unknown, but there is an indication that the face was done “like in the Kneller portrait”.

The portrait artist Godfrey Kneller painted only the heads of his models and achieved great portrait similarity. Anonymous engravings created from the Kneller portrait prove the popularity of this artist’s works as reference images.