Portraits by the artist Alexander Ivanov, which he created in Rome in 1841, hold a special place in the iconography of Nikolai Gogol. Ivanov never specialized in the portrait genre, and Gogol’s sketches from life were made “in strict secrecy” from everyone. According to the writer, they were personal and not intended for public displays. One of these sketches was presented by Gogol to Vasily Zhukovsky, and is currently housed in the Russian Museum.

In the fall of 1841, Gogol returned to Russia, first to St. Petersburg and then to Moscow, where he stayed in the home of his friend and historian, Professor Mikhail Pogodin of Moscow University. It was probably around that time that Gogol also presented Pogodin with another portrait painted by Ivanov as a token of their longstanding friendship. This portrait is now part of the collection of the Pushkin House.

The memoirs of Nikolai Berg, a poet and journalist, present another version of the events surrounding the acquisition of the Gogol portrait by Pogodin,

In connection with the discovery of the portrait, Berg raised some reasonable questions:

Soon, the complex relationship between Gogol and Pogodin deteriorated, which led to a complete cessation of communication. The situation was exacerbated when in 1843 Pogodin published a lithographic reproduction of Ivanov’s portrait in the magazine “Moskvityanin”. Gogol was greatly offended by this act of his former friend.