“Portrait of Otto Fedorovich Knorring” - a painting by George Dow and his workshop, from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace.
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| George Dow and the workshop | ||
| Portrait of Otto Fedorovich Knorring . Around 1826-1827 | ||
| Canvas, oil. 70 × 62.5 cm | ||
| State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg | ||
| ( inv. GE-7911 ) | ||
The picture is a chest portrait of Major General Otto Fedorovich Knorring from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace [1] .
By the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Major General Knorring was the chief of the Novgorod cuirassier regiment and commanded the 2nd cuirassier division, participated in the first battles to repulse Napoleon's invasion, but he died suddenly in early August 1812 [2] .
Depicted in the general's uniform, introduced for cavalry generals on April 6, 1814 - Knorring could not wear such a uniform because of his early death and should have been depicted in a 1808 uniform with two rows of buttons. On the left on the chest is a star of the Order of St. Anne of the 1st degree; on the neck there is a cross of the Order of St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree; on the right side of the chest there is a cross of the Order of St. George of the 4th class and a silver medal “In memory of the Patriotic War of 1812” on the St. Andrew’s ribbon [3] - is mistakenly depicted: Knorring was not awarded this medal, since it was established only six months after his death [4] . Signature on the frame: O. Ѳ. Knorring 3rd , General Mayor .
On August 7, 1820, the Knorring Attestation Committee of the General Staff was included in the list of “generals deserving to be written in the gallery” and on July 25, 1821, Emperor Alexander I ordered his portrait to be painted. The Dow fee was paid on April 25, 1823 and June 21, 1827. The finished portrait arrived at the Hermitage on July 8, 1827. The previous delivery of the finished portraits was October 18, 1826, respectively, the picture dates from between these numbers [4] . Since Knorring died in August 1812, the artist probably used a prototype portrait delivered to him from the relatives of the general. The current location of the prototype is not known.
V.K. Makarov found this portrait completely devoid of similarities with typical Dow works [5] . The guardian of British painting in the Hermitage, E. P. Renne, supported his opinion [3] .
Notes
- ↑ State Hermitage Museum. “Dow, George and the workshop.” "Portrait of Otto Fedorovich Knorring."
- ↑ Dictionary , p. 424.
- ↑ 1 2 Renne, 2009 , p. 304.
- ↑ 1 2 Podmazo, 2013 , p. 333.
- ↑ Makarov, 1940 , p. 190.
Literature
- Makarov V.K. George Dow in Russia // The State Hermitage Museum. Proceedings of the Department of Western European Art. - L. , 1940 .-- T. 1 .
- Podmazo A. A. Images of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812: Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. - M .: Russian Knights, 2013 .-- 864 p. - ISBN 978-5-903389-62-9 .
- Renne E.P. State Hermitage Museum. British painting of the 16th — 19th centuries: Collection Catalog. - SPb. : Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum, 2009. - 416 p. - ISBN 978-5-93572-376-7 .
- Dictionary of Russian generals, participants in the hostilities against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812-1815. // Russian archive. The history of the Fatherland in the evidence and documents of the XVIII — XX centuries. : Collection. - M .: TRITE studio N. Mikhalkova , 1996. - T. VII . - S. 424 . - ISSN 0869-20011 . (Comm. A. A. Podmazo )