A characteristic example of Vladimir Borovikovsky’s portrait work of the 1790s, done in a manner that combines signs of sentimentalism (the intimate character of the portraits; the landscape background; the gentle, light colour palette) and a certain amount of the classical approach to creating an image, significant and serious. Bezobrazova Anna Sergeevna (née princess Urusova; 1746–1809

Borovikovsky Vladimir

Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich
1757, Mirgorod - 1825, St Petersburg
Painter, draughtsman, miniaturist, icon painter, portraitist. Born into a family of low rank Cossacks. Studied painting under his father, the icon painter Luke Borovik, in Mirgorod. Listed "above the specified number" in the Mirgorod regiment where his father and relatives served (1774). Awarded the rank of "comrade of the colours" (1783), resigned with the rank of lieutenant. Moved to St Petersburg (1788) and studied under Dmitry Levitsky and Johann Baptiste I Lampi. Nominated to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1794), academician of portrait painting (1795). Councillor of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1802). Contributed to the iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedralin St Petersburg (1804). Mason and member of Ekaterina Tatarinova''s mystical sect.