Portrait of Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Major General Paskevich was the chief of the Oryol Infantry Regiment and commanded the 26th Infantry Division, he was in many battles with the French and especially distinguished himself in the Battle of Borodino , street battles in Vyazma and near Krasnoye . From the beginning of the Overseas Campaign of 1813, he temporarily commanded the 7th Infantry Corps, then was at the blockade of Modlin and in battles in Saxony , for the difference in the Battle of the Peoples near Leipzig he was promoted to lieutenant general ; in the campaign of 1814 he commanded the 2nd Grenadier Division , at the head of which he distinguished himself in the capture of Paris . In the campaign, Hundred Days again made a trip to France and was under the blockade of several fortresses ^[2] .

Depicted in the general's uniform, introduced for infantry generals on May 7, 1817, with the monogram of Emperor Alexander I on epaulettes, a greatcoat was thrown over his shoulders. On the left on the chest is the Adjutant General ; on the neck there is a cross of the Order of St. George of the 3rd class; on board the uniform are crosses of the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle of the 2nd degree and the Order of St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree; a silver medal “In memory of the Patriotic War of 1812” on the St. Andrew’s ribbon on the right chest, a badge of the Turkish Order of the Crescent and stars of the orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Vladimir 2nd degree. On the back of the picture are inscriptions: Paskevitch and Geo Dawe RA pinxt ^[3] . Signature on the frame: I. Ѳ. Paskevich, General Lieutenant .

Despite the fact that on August 18, 1820, the General Staff Attestation Committee Paskevich was included in the list of “generals deserving to be written in the gallery”, the actual decision was made earlier than this date - the advance payment was paid December 17, 1819 and March 10, 1820 he received the remainder of the fee ^[4] . However, Dow himself began work much later than paying him money.

The Hermitage funds contain a portrait of I. F. Paskevich by Dow containing the author's signature and date: Geo Dawe RA pinxt 1823 , its main differences from the gallery are a darker color scheme, slightly smaller sizes and, most important: Paskevich is depicted on a neutral monophonic background without general adjutant attributes and an overcoat (oil on canvas, 69 × 60.7 cm, inventory number GE-6464). On the back there is an old sticker with the inscription: General Adjutant Paskevich No. 8 . This portrait was owned by Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich and was kept in the Mikhailovsky Palace until 1894. After the redemption of the Mikhailovsky Palace into the treasury and the installation of the Russian Museum in it, this version of the portrait of I.F. Paskevich was in the mansion of Countess Karlova, after the October Revolution, was nationalized and transferred to the Hermitage in 1923 ^[5] .

The portrait from the Military Gallery shows Paskevich with the attributes of the adjutant general, he received this title on December 12, 1824 ^[6] , respectively, the portrait was launched after this date. The gallery portrait was completed no later than the beginning of April 1825, since in London the company Messrs Colnaghi commissioned the St. Petersburg bookseller S. Floran to engrave G. Dow with the date May 1, 1825 ^[7] (taking into account the very beginning of navigation, the time of sample delivery for engravings from St. Petersburg to London by sea was two to three weeks). A print of this engraving is also available in the Hermitage collection (paper, mezzo-tinto , 66.5 × 48.3 cm, inventory number ERG-466) ^[8] . September 7, 1825 the finished portrait was taken to the Hermitage ^[4] .

There was another version of the portrait of Paskevich by Dow, done in 1829, when Paskevich came to St. Petersburg from the Caucasus on the occasion of his awarding the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. George 1st Class. The current location of this portrait has not been established; it is known from the lithograph of P.I. Meyer , one of the surviving prints of which is in the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin on Prechistenka in Moscow (paper, lithography , 32.1 × 26.5 cm, inventory No. E-7778) ^[9] . This portrait repeats the version from the Military Gallery, however it shows the cross-shoulder St. Andrew’s ribbon , several new medals and stars of the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called, St. Vladimir 1st class and St. George 1st class, as well as a slightly changed smell of his greatcoat.

There are many copies and versions of the portrait of Paskevich by Dow, performed by various artists and engravers. They vary the uniforms in which Paskevich is depicted, and the set of awards that were added to the portraits as Paskevich received new differences (a number of engravings are described and published by D. A. Rovinsky ^[10] ).

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  Version of the portrait, owned by Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich . Hermitage

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  Engraving by P.I. Meyer according to the version of the portrait of 1829. A.S. Pushkin Museum on Prechistenka

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  Engraving by Henry Dow from a gallery portrait. Hermitage

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  Engraving by I. Loginov. Option with shoulder strap St. George's ribbon. Hermitage ^[11]

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  Engraving by O. Kiselev. Variant with a cross-shoulder Andreevsky tape. Hermitage ^[12]

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  Thumbnail of an unknown artist. Alupka Museum-Reserve ^[13]

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  Engraving by I.P. Friedrich . The Pushkin Museum to them. Pushkin ^[14]

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  Engraving by an unknown artist. Paskevich is depicted in the uniform of 1817. Museum-Estate "Priyutino" ^[15]

• Miloradovich G. A. List of persons of the Suite of Their Majesties from the reign of Emperor Peter I to 1886. By seniority of the day of appointment. Adjutant Generals, Suites, Major Generals, Adjutant Outbuildings of the Persons, and Major Brigades. - Kiev: printing house S.V. Kulzhenko, 1886. - 208, 48 p.
• 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 .
• Rovinsky D.A. Detailed Dictionary of Russian Engraved Portraits. Edition with 700 phototype portraits. - SPb. : Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1888. - T. III: P — Ѳ.
• 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. 509-510 . - ISSN 0869-20011 . (Comm. A. A. Podmazo )