Catherine the Great is depicted in a mantel with the chain of St Andrew and the ribbon and cross of St Vladimir.
Empress Catherine II of Russia (1729–1796): Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst. Married the heir to the Russian throne — Prince Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp (1745). Overthrew her husband Emperor Peter III (1761–62). Crowned Empress (1762).

Levitsky Dmitry

Levitsky, Dmitry Grigoryevich
1735, Kiev - 1822, St Petersburg
Leading Russian eighteenth-century painter and portraitist. Son of Grigory Levitsky Nos, a priest and Ukrainian engraver. Moved to St Petersburg (c. 1758). Studied under Alexei Antropov. Worked in Moscow (17605). Nominated to the Academy (c. 1769). Academician (1770). Headed the portraiture class at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1771-87). Councillor (1776), member of the Academy council (1780). Retired for unknown reasons (1787). Worked as a free painter. Returned to the Academy council (1807).