The portrait depicts a blue-eyed man with a calm gaze, blond hair, and a barely noticeable mustache. Experts suggest that the portrait was painted around the 1840s. The name of the artist remained unknown.
The painting was created in the style of “mannerism”, which became characteristic of merchant portraiture in the mid-1840s. As a style of painting mannerism appeared as early as the 16th century in Italy, and in the 19th century it was reinterpreted by Russian painters. In such paintings artists depicted graceful, slightly elongated figures, used bright colors and contrasts, experimented with the effects of lighting and perspective and sought through the image to convey different emotions.
The portrait of the man in the museum’s exhibition retained the main features of “mannerism”: the artist depicted the portrayed man in an elaborate, slightly tense pose, and a spectacular costume. The merchant is dressed in a black tailcoat in the fashion of the time, a white starched shirt with a stand-up collar, a velvet black vest, and pantaloons of a greenish shade. The costume is completed with a scarf made of dark velvet and a bow tie.
The artist carefully painted the jewelry: the chain of a pocket watch with winding key and the ring of a wedding type on the merchant’s index finger. With his left elbow the character of the portrait leans on the edge of a table with a folded mahogany tabletop, and in his hands, he holds a bundle of bound documents with a wax seal.
The man portrayed in the portrait belongs to the family of prominent Murom merchants Kiselevs, who are mentioned in the scribe documents of Murom in the 17th century. In the first third and forties of the 19th century, members of this entrepreneurial dynasty traded bread, which was “the main article turnover of local merchants”. Like the portraits of the merchant Kiselevs from Murom, which are also represented in the exhibition, this painting came to the museum from their family gallery.
At first, researchers assumed that the artist portrayed one of the sons of the grain merchant, the ktitor of the Smolensk church Karp Kiselev. Also, the portrayed could be Andrey Kiselev, hereditary honorary citizen, a merchant of the 1st guild. In this case, a paired picture of him could be depicted his wife, Anna Kiseleva. However, the couple died early, and their children died in infancy, so it is unlikely that their portraits have survived to this day. As a result, the experts decided on the version that in the portrait the artist depicted Ivan Kiselev, and in the paired picture — his second wife Anna.
The painting was created in the style of “mannerism”, which became characteristic of merchant portraiture in the mid-1840s. As a style of painting mannerism appeared as early as the 16th century in Italy, and in the 19th century it was reinterpreted by Russian painters. In such paintings artists depicted graceful, slightly elongated figures, used bright colors and contrasts, experimented with the effects of lighting and perspective and sought through the image to convey different emotions.
The portrait of the man in the museum’s exhibition retained the main features of “mannerism”: the artist depicted the portrayed man in an elaborate, slightly tense pose, and a spectacular costume. The merchant is dressed in a black tailcoat in the fashion of the time, a white starched shirt with a stand-up collar, a velvet black vest, and pantaloons of a greenish shade. The costume is completed with a scarf made of dark velvet and a bow tie.
The artist carefully painted the jewelry: the chain of a pocket watch with winding key and the ring of a wedding type on the merchant’s index finger. With his left elbow the character of the portrait leans on the edge of a table with a folded mahogany tabletop, and in his hands, he holds a bundle of bound documents with a wax seal.
The man portrayed in the portrait belongs to the family of prominent Murom merchants Kiselevs, who are mentioned in the scribe documents of Murom in the 17th century. In the first third and forties of the 19th century, members of this entrepreneurial dynasty traded bread, which was “the main article turnover of local merchants”. Like the portraits of the merchant Kiselevs from Murom, which are also represented in the exhibition, this painting came to the museum from their family gallery.
At first, researchers assumed that the artist portrayed one of the sons of the grain merchant, the ktitor of the Smolensk church Karp Kiselev. Also, the portrayed could be Andrey Kiselev, hereditary honorary citizen, a merchant of the 1st guild. In this case, a paired picture of him could be depicted his wife, Anna Kiseleva. However, the couple died early, and their children died in infancy, so it is unlikely that their portraits have survived to this day. As a result, the experts decided on the version that in the portrait the artist depicted Ivan Kiselev, and in the paired picture — his second wife Anna.
