Expressing of the theme of the ideal being, the affecting unity in the divine harmony of the world and man was something that Ivanov worked on his entire artistic career. It was interpreted in many sketches and studies connected with the main work of his life, the painting The Coming of the Messiah, as well as works created in parallel to it.

Ivanov Alexander

Ivanov, Alexander Andreyevich
1806, St Petersburg -1858, St Petersburg
Painter, landscapist, history painter. Son of professor of history painting Andrei Ivanov. Studied under his father and Alexei Yegorov at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Awarded a gold medal (1827). Fellow of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, lived in Italy (1830-58). Academician for Christ''s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection (1835). Worked for over twenty years on Christ''s Appearance to the Peofile, painting four-hundred studies. Pioneer of plein-air painting in Russia.