The collection of the Ostrogozhsk Museum features one of the portraits by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy — the “Portrait of a Military Engineer”. It depicts an elderly man wearing the uniform of a military engineer in the rank of a general. On his chest, he wears a ribbon bar holder with decorations starting from the Order of St. George, 4th class. Around his neck, he wears the Order of the White Eagle.
The portrait itself does not have a caption with the name of the sitter, but the general was later identified based on his preserved photograph. The portrait depicts the engineer general Eduard Ivanovich Gerstfeld (1798–1878).
General Gerstfeld was born into a family renting a state-owned property in Livonia in 1798. In 1814, at the age of 16, he entered service as a 2nd-class conductor in the Pernovskaya Engineering Team and later enrolled at the Central Engineering School where a year later he was made a warrant officer of a corps of engineers. In December 1819, Gerstfeld was promoted to the rank of a second lieutenant and a year later assigned to the Reval Engineering Team. Eduard Gerstfeld had an extremely successful career: he made his way from an assistant commander of the Western Engineer Division to a Deputy Minister of Communications, a member of the State Council with the rank of senator, and a member of the Council of the Ministry of Communications. He was also awarded the rank of a four-star general, and then an engineer general, and an honorary member of the Nikolayevskaya Engineering Academy. Eduard Gerstfeld died on November 24, 1878 and was buried at the Smolenskoye Lutheran cemetery in St. Petersburg.
The “Portrait of a Military Engineer” is one of almost 700 portraits painted by Ivan Kramskoy. Although the painter had prominent philosophical, religious, and genre paintings, he achieved particular popularity as a portraitist. His sitters included members of the Imperial family, Emperor Alexander III himself, representatives of the wealthiest noble families, writers, poets, and statesmen. Fame guaranteed the painter a comfortable life and allowed him to focus on his art.
The portrait itself does not have a caption with the name of the sitter, but the general was later identified based on his preserved photograph. The portrait depicts the engineer general Eduard Ivanovich Gerstfeld (1798–1878).
General Gerstfeld was born into a family renting a state-owned property in Livonia in 1798. In 1814, at the age of 16, he entered service as a 2nd-class conductor in the Pernovskaya Engineering Team and later enrolled at the Central Engineering School where a year later he was made a warrant officer of a corps of engineers. In December 1819, Gerstfeld was promoted to the rank of a second lieutenant and a year later assigned to the Reval Engineering Team. Eduard Gerstfeld had an extremely successful career: he made his way from an assistant commander of the Western Engineer Division to a Deputy Minister of Communications, a member of the State Council with the rank of senator, and a member of the Council of the Ministry of Communications. He was also awarded the rank of a four-star general, and then an engineer general, and an honorary member of the Nikolayevskaya Engineering Academy. Eduard Gerstfeld died on November 24, 1878 and was buried at the Smolenskoye Lutheran cemetery in St. Petersburg.
The “Portrait of a Military Engineer” is one of almost 700 portraits painted by Ivan Kramskoy. Although the painter had prominent philosophical, religious, and genre paintings, he achieved particular popularity as a portraitist. His sitters included members of the Imperial family, Emperor Alexander III himself, representatives of the wealthiest noble families, writers, poets, and statesmen. Fame guaranteed the painter a comfortable life and allowed him to focus on his art.
