Dmitry Levitsky became famous as a ceremonial portrait painter. In 1783, Prince Alexander Bezborodko, a great connoisseur of painting and Levitsky’s protector, ordered the painter a portrait of Catherine II to decorate his mansion in Saint Petersburg.

In 1783, Dmitry Levitsky published a detailed explanation of the program of this portrait in the journal Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian World: in the painting art of the 18th century, whole systems of symbols and images called ‘programs’ were often used. As a rule, such ‘programs’ were not invented by painters themselves. It is believed that the poet Nikolay Lvov, a bright representative of the Russian Age of Enlightenment, created the program for the portrait of Catherine II.

It is worth noting that though Dmitry Levitsky painted more than 20 portraits of Catherine II, however, there is no evidence of her sitting for him. To paint the Empress’s face, the artist used the works by court portrait painter Fyodor Rokotov. Catherine II liked her coronation portrait a lot and ordered to use Rokotov’s work for all her new portraits.