Portrait of Daniil Vasilievich Shukhanov

“Portrait of Daniil Vasilievich Shukhanov” - a painting by George Dow and his workshop from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace.

George Dow and the workshop

Portrait of Daniil Vasilyevich Shukhanov . 1825 year

Canvas, oil. 70 × 62.5 cm

State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg

( inv. GE-8102 )

The picture is a chest portrait of Major General Daniil Vasilyevich Shukhanov from the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace ^[1] .

By the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Colonel Shukhanov commanded the Olviopol Hussar Regiment , was in the Danube (3rd Western) Army of Admiral P.V. Chichagov . During the Overseas Campaign of 1813, he fought in Poland , Silesia and Saxony , distinguished himself in the battles of Bautzen and Dresden , in September he was promoted to major general ^[2] .

Depicted in the general doloman of the Olviopol Hussar Regiment, introduced in 1813, a mentic is thrown over his shoulder, from under which a lunar band is visible. On the neck there are crosses of the orders of St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree, St. Anna of the 2nd degree and the Prussian Red Eagle of the 2nd degree; on the right side of the chest is a gold cross “For the capture of Ochakovo” (depicted erroneously instead of the cross “For the capture of Izmail” ), a silver medal “In memory of the Patriotic War of 1812” on the St. Andrew’s ribbon and a bronze noble medal “In memory of the Patriotic War of 1812” on the Vladimir ribbon (also depicted mistakenly: since Shukhanov died at the end of November 1814, he did not manage to get it). On the left, on the background above the shoulder, near the collar of the mentic, is the artist's signature and date: G. Dawe RA pinxt 1825. ^[3] . Signature on the frame: D.V. Shukhanov, General Mayor . Among the awards, the breast cross of the Order of St. George of the 4th class was missed, which Shukhanov was awarded on October 18, 1787 ^[4]

On August 7, 1820, the Committee of the General Staff for Attestation of Shukhanov was included in the list of “generals deserving to be written in the gallery” and on July 25, 1822, Emperor Alexander I ordered his portrait to be painted ^[5] .

Since Shukhanov died in 1814, the search for his portrait was undertaken for copying; in particular, in the newspaper " Russian invalid " several times an appeal was sent to Shukhanov's relatives with a request for a portrait. This announcement played a role in the search: the daughters of Shukhanov responded to him, who wrote to the Inspectorate Department of the War Ministry that the portrait of the late general was pledged in Voronezh to Captain Chumicheva, who agreed to issue the portrait only after paying off the debt of the Shukhanovs in the amount of 325 rubles - in 1825, Emperor Alexander I assumed obligations under this duty "in respect of the merits of the late General Shukhanov", however, due to his sudden death and subsequent uprising of the Decembrists, the procedure The payment of money dragged on for a year - only on September 13, 1826 the money was sent to Voronezh. November 19, 1826, after the debt was closed, the Voronezh vice-governor I.I. Rubashevsky received a portrait of Shukhanov and sent it to the Inspectorate Department. Upon passing the need for a portrait, he, according to the command of Emperor Nicholas I , was returned to the daughters of Shukhanov. The current location of the prototype portrait is unknown ^[5] .

All these events are not consistent with the author’s date on the canvas (1825) and with the dates of payment of the Dow fee: the advance was paid to him on August 10, 1825 and the rest of the fee he received on May 19, 1826 - before the money was allocated for the purchase of the portrait from the pledge. In addition, it is known that the chief curator of the Hermitage, the actual state adviser F.I. Labensky, received a finished portrait from the Dow on June 15, 1826 - also long before the receipt of a prototype portrait from Voronezh for copying. No explanation for these contradictions was found ^[5] .