Portrait of tsarina marfa matveyevna, née apraksina (1664 – 1715), the second wife of tsar feodor alekseevich, 18th century (?) oil on canvas, state museum-reserve "gatchina" the collection of the gatchina palace contains a portrait of tsarina marfa matveyevna (1664-1715) by an unknown artist. The tsarina is depicted in ceremonial attire, against a landscape background, and holding a small dog in her hand. It is dated to the early 18th century, but the manner of painting and some details of the portrait cast doubt on this. According to the curator of the painting fund a. E. Shukurova, the elaboration of the background is not typical for paintings of the specified period: as a rule, in paintings of that time it is dark, without details, and the appearance of the landscape suggests that the canvas was created, at the earliest, in the middle of the 18th century. There are several copies of this painting. Perhaps its prototype is the oval parsuna portrait of marfa matveyevna from the late 17th - early 18th century, which is now kept in the state historical museum in moscow. If you compare these two works, it is easy to notice that the gatchina canvas is painted in a freer, secular manner, which also indicates its later origin. It is believed that the parsuna portrait was painted shortly before the wedding of marfa matveyevna and tsar feodor alekseevich, since she is depicted in a kokoshnik, which is an attribute of a girl's costume, and a dog - a symbol of marital fidelity. From the very beginning, we were very interested in the question: what breed is this dog? we did a little research, which allows us to assume that it is a cavalier king charles spaniel. Dogs of this breed were favorites of royal persons in europe, especially in england during the stuart era. Titian's painting "portrait of clarissa strozzi with a dog" from 1542, for example, depicts a very similar four-legged "model". Date: 18th century.
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