The portrait is one of a series of portraits of archimandrites of the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St Petersburg painted by Alexei Antropov in the 1760s and 1770s.
Sylvester (Semyon) Kulyabka (1701 or 1704–1761) was rector of Kiev Religious Academy (1740), Archbishop of St Petersburg and Schlüsselburg and Archimandrite of the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery (from 1750). The subject is depicted in the vestments of an archbishop, with a crosier and a panagia. On the background is the Kulyabka family coat of arms.

Antropov Alexei

Antropov, Alexei Petrovich
1716, St Petersburg - 1795, St Petersburg
Painter, portraitist, icon-painter. Studied under Louis Caravaque, Andrei Matveyev and Alexander Zakharov, took lessons from Pietro de Rotari (from 1732). Joined the painting department of the Ministry of Construction (1739), foreman (1749). Helped to decorate the interiors of palaces in and around St Petersburg and Moscow. Painted the interior decor of the Si Petersburg Opera House (1750). Created murals and icons for St Andrew’s Cathedral in Kiev (1750-55). Lived in St Petersburg (from 1758). Worked for the Holy Synod and supervised the work of painters (from 1761), Taught Dmitry Levitsky and Pyotr Drozhdin.