Prince Nikolai Sergeyevich Volkonsky was Leo Tolstoy’s maternal grandfather. Prince Volkonsky participated in the Turkish campaigns and the capture of Ochakovo. He was in the retinue of Empress Catherine II during her trip to Taurida and her meeting with the Austrian Duke Joseph II. The prince enjoyed the favor of Catherine, she valued him for his mind and experience. Prince Volkonsky was sent to Berlin as an extraordinary ambassador for the wedding of the Crown Prince.

Nikolai Volkonsky chose a girl from his circle, Yekaterina Dmitriyevna Trubetskaya, as his wife. She died of puerperal fever when their eldest daughter was two years old. The younger girl did not survive and Prince Volkonsky never married again.

Under Paul I, Prince Volkonsky was in disgrace. Having received the post of military governor of Arkhangelsk, he soon resigned due to the insufficiently respectful tone of the emperor. Leo Tolstoy explained this as follows:

Together with his daughter Maria, Volkonsky moved into their family estate of Yasnaya Polyana, where he engaged in the construction of the estate. During this time, he did the main entrance alley, laid a large house, arranged an English park with two ponds and installed two turrets with iron gates at the entrance.

Many of the buildings of Nikolai Sergeyevich Volkonsky stand to this day. “He probably had a very fine taste. All of his buildings are not only durable and comfortable but extremely elegant. This is also true for the park in front of the house, ” wrote Leo Tolstoy in his memoirs.

The was created by Fyodor Rokotov — the leading portrait artist of the Russian classicist style at the end of the 18th century. In the Catherine era, he was the most sought-after master of the ceremonial portrait. His clients included members of the royal family and the nobility. Portraits of Catherine II, the young Emperor Paul, Peter III, Count Orlov, Count Vorontsov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Golitsyn are among some of Rokotov’s works. He is credited with over 150 paintings, however many of them may have been created by his students from the “Rokotov circle”.