“Portrait of Vasily Nikanorovich Shenshin” - a painting by George Dow and his workshop from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace.
| ||
| George Dow and the workshop | ||
| Portrait of Vasily Nikanorovich Shenshin . Around 1821-1825 | ||
| Canvas, oil. 70 × 62.5 cm | ||
| State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg | ||
| ( inv. GE-8088 ) | ||
The picture is a chest portrait in profile of Major General Vasily Nikanorovich Shenshin from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace [1] .
By the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Colonel Shenshin was the chief of the Arkhangelsk Infantry Regiment and was part of the Danube Army, raided the French rear communications in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw . During the Overseas Campaign of 1813, he participated in many battles with the French and was promoted to major general for military distinctions, in the Battle of the Peoples near Leipzig he was wounded and awarded the Order of St. George 3rd class and Pur le Merit , in the campaign of 1814 during France was again wounded in the battle of Montmiral . In 1815, he commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division and took part in the campaign of One Hundred Days , was under the blockade of the Mets fortress [2] .
Depicted in the general uniform of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment , introduced in 1812. On the left on the chest is a star of the Order of St. Anna of the 1st degree with diamonds; on the neck there are crosses of the orders of St. George of the 3rd class and St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree or 2nd degree, as well as the Prussian orders of Pur le Merit and the Red Eagle . On the back of the picture are inscriptions: Schenschin and Geo Dawe RA pinxt [3] . Signature on the frame: V.N.Shenshin 1st, General Mayor .
On August 7, 1820, the Shenchin General Staff Certification Committee was included in the list of "generals deserving to be written in the gallery." The Dow fee was paid on February 24, 1822. The finished portrait was taken to the Hermitage on September 7, 1825. Since May 29, 1821 Shenshin was appointed commander of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment [4] , in the uniform of which he is depicted, it is believed that the portrait was painted after this date. A. Podmazo believes that the cervical cross of the Order of St. Vladimir has the 3rd degree, and accordingly the portrait was painted no later than December 12, 1824, when Shenshin was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree, whose star is not on the portrait [ 5] . However, due to the angle chosen by the artist, it is impossible to see the presence or absence of the Vladimir star, therefore it is impossible to say with certainty what degree the neck cross of this order has - the 2nd or 3rd, and accordingly unambiguously judge the late border of the painting. The finished portrait arrived at the Hermitage on September 7, 1825 [5] .
Notes
- ↑ State Hermitage Museum. “Dow, George and the workshop.” "Portrait of Vasily Nikanorovich Shenshin."
- ↑ Dictionary , p. 611-612.
- ↑ Renne, 2009 , p. 370
- ↑ Gulevich, 1906 , p. 363.
- ↑ 1 2 Podmazo, 2013 , p. 697.
Literature
- Gulevich S. A. History of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment. 1806-1906 years. - St. Petersburg. : Economic typographic lithography, 1906. - 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. British Painting of the 16th — 19th Centuries: Collection Catalog. - SPb. : Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum, 2009. - P. 316. - 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. 288-645 . - ISSN 0869-20011 . (Comm. A. A. Podmazo )