Gerard von kugelgen. Portrait of paul i with his family. 1800. Pavlovsk state museum-reserve. Oil on canvas. 146 x 215. Signed and dated at the bottom left: "gerard kugelgen 1800". Cx-3589-iii. The imperial family is depicted against the backdrop of pavlovsk park. In the background on the right is the façade of the pavlovsk palace, facing the slavyanka river. Depicted in the painting, from left to right: grand prince alexander pavlovich in the uniform of the life guards semyonovsky regiment, leaning on a pedestal with a bust of peter i; next to him stands grand prince konstantin pavlovich in the uniform of the life guards cavalry regiment; further on, little grand prince nikolai pavlovich is leaning against the knees of his mother, empress maria feodorovna. Behind the figure of the seated empress stands grand princess ekaterina pavlovna, and in the center of the composition, behind the harp, is grand princess maria pavlovna. Behind her, in the shade of the trees, is a column with a bust of grand princess olga pavlovna, who died in infancy. Further on, leaning on the knees of emperor paul i (in the uniform of the preobrazhensky regiment), stands the youngest daughter, grand princess anna pavlovna. At the foot of the chair on the ground sits a child, grand princess mikhail pavlovich. At the right edge of the painting stand grand princesses alexandra and elena pavlovna. Kyugelgen worked on the portrait in 1799-1800. The department of drawings of the state hermitage contains a preparatory pen drawing (inv. No. 40419) with discrepancies in details. A drawing closer to the final version was exhibited in 1911 in riga (current location unknown). The portrait was intended for the emperor's private rooms in the pavlovsk palace. The anachronism in the depiction of the uniforms of alexander and constantine is noteworthy. Their tailcoat cut with a very high standing collar, open in the front, was introduced by alexander i only in 1801. The innovation in the cut is easy to detect when comparing the uniform of the eldest sons with the suit of paul i. This circumstance indicates that the "family portrait" was partially rewritten by the artist after the death of paul i. In the handwritten catalogue of the paintings of the pavlovsk palace, compiled in 1925 by v. Zubov, there is an indication that emperor alexander ii had already noticed this inconsistency. When examining the painting in infrared rays, it was discovered that the painting had indeed been rewritten, and initially the uniforms of alexander and constantine looked different. Object Type: painting. Date: 1800. Medium: oil.
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