Received in 1903 from A. P. Albrecht Provenance: collection of the depicted person s family
Albrecht, Karl Ivanovich (1789–1859) was the descendent of a native of Prussia, Ludwig von Albrecht. He began his military service of the Life-Guards Hussar Regiment, where in 1806 he was promoted from cadet to cornet, and in January 1812 to captain. In July 1812, he was seriously wounded in a battle near Vitebsk, and for his distinction in battle, he was promoted to colonel. In1817, he was made commander of the Polish Lancers. In the painting, Albrecht is shown at his estate, Kotly, in the Yamburg District of the Petersburg Region. He is depicted with the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, Third Class, which he was awarded in 1814 (white enamel cross on a white ribbon with a orange border around his neck). Far away, in the park, is his first wife, Varvara Sergeevna, with son Alexander (1820–1849).

Kiprensky Orest

Kiprensky, Orest Adamovich
1772, Nezhinskaya (St Petersburg Province) - 1836, Rome
Portraitist, history painter, draughtsman. Illegitimate son of a serf woman, Anna Gavrilova, who gave him the name Kipreisky, later changed to Kiprensky. Grew up in the family of his foster father Adam Schwalde. Emancipated from serfdom and enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Arts (1788). Studied history painting under Grigory Ugryumov and Gabriele-Francois Doyen. Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1803-09). Worked in St Petersburg, Moscow and Tver. Academician of portrait painting (1812), councillor of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1815). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Lived in Italy (1816-23, 1828-36). Contributed to the Paris Salon (1822). Donated Self-Portrait (1820) to the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence (1825). Appointed second-class professor of history and portrait painting with automatic member¬ship of the nobility (1831). Councillor of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples (1831). Buried at Sant'' Andrea delle Fratte in Rome.