This is one of the last works by Fedot Shubin. The sculptor masterly explores the contradictions of the sitter’s personality. The emperor approved of the bust, which was repeated in bronze.

Shubin Fedot

Shubin, Fedot Ivanovich
1740, Archangel Province - 1805
Leading Russian Neoclassical sculptor, portraitist. Son of a tusk carver in Archangel Province. Studied under Nicolas-Francois Gillet at the Imperial Academy of Arts through the intercession of Mikhail Lomonosov (1761-66), under Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris (from 1767) and under Joseph Nollekens in Rome (from 1770). Combination of psychology and Neoclassical idealisation was highly rated by Catherine the Great. Portrayed many leading Russian statesmen.