Miniature portrait of the Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich in childhood
Miniature portrait of the Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich in childhood
Russia
the 1850-1860's
Ivory, glass, metal, enamel, lapis lazuli, leather; watercolours, gouache, casting, gilding
15.0 х 12.2 х 8.5 cm
A double-sided portrait miniature with a chest-high portrait of a boy in a coral-coloured Russian-style shirt is inserted in the oval glass plate. It is fixed flexible. The viewer sees not only the face of the child, but his back and neck, that is, the reverse of the miniature. The miniature is fixed on an artistically decorated stand with four Renaissance male and female figurines. The whole composition is mounted on a rectangular base lined with lapis lazuli, on the reverse side of which is the name and title of the depicted person: "ВЕЛИКIЙ КНЯЗЬ АЛЕКСIЙ АЛЕКСАНДРОВИЧЬ" (GRAND DUKE ALEXEY ALEXANDROVICH). Presented series of portraits is stylistically and compositionally close to children's portraits of the 1850s by the Court artist Woldemar Hau (1816-1895). This miniature could be executed on the master's layout original.
Alexey Alexandrovich (1850-1908) - the Grand Duke, the fourth son of the Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881) and the Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880), the brother of the Emperor Alexander III. Member of the State Council (since 1881), the General-Admiral (1883). Died in Paris. Buried in the Grand Ducal Tomb in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Инв.8276/ИЗО