During his Moscow period, between the mid-1760’s through the 1780s, Fyodor Rokotov did not pay attention to subject details in his pictures: he didn’t depict drapery or jewels, interiors or textures even in ceremonial portraits. The most prominent exception is the coronation portrait of Catherine II, drawn in profile in 1763. The Empress actually ordered artists to copy her face from Rokotov’s original.

Little is known about the painter himself because he died without issue. Rokotov was born supposedly in 1735, in the Vorontsovo estate owned by Prince Repnin. Experts do not know for sure whether he was a serf. Rokotov’s first painting is dated 1757. In 1760, he was admitted to the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Five years later, Rokotov got the degree of Academician for a copy of Venus and Amour by Luca Giordano. Rokotov is the author of numerous half-length ceremonial portraits of Moscow nobles and a whole family gallery for the Vorontsovs, part of which is the portrait of Vasily Naryshkin, the husband of Anna Vorontsova.Little is known about the painter himself because he died without issue. Rokotov was born supposedly in 1735, in the Vorontsovo estate owned by Prince Repnin. Experts do not know for sure whether he was a serf. Rokotov’s first painting is dated 1757. In 1760, he was admitted to the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Five years later, Rokotov got the degree of Academician for a copy of Venus and Amour by Luca Giordano. Rokotov is the author of numerous half-length ceremonial portraits of Moscow nobles and a whole family gallery for the Vorontsovs, part of which is the portrait of Vasily Naryshkin, the husband of Anna Vorontsova.