Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky

The Golitsyn-Prozorovsky family, Ramenskoe
L.G.Birchansky, Moscow, acquired 1922
Ivan Andreevich Melikov from 1930s
Thence by descent

St. Petersburg, Tauride Palace, Historical Fine Art Exhibition of Russian Portraits, 6 March - 26 September 1905, No.889a
Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery, Exhibition of Works by D.G.Levitsky, 1922-3, No.8

G.Goldovsky, L.Markina et al, Dmitrii Grigor'evich Levitskii 1735-1822: Catalogue, Leningrad: Iskusstvo, 1987, p.125 listed no.13
N.Gershenson-Chegodaeva, Dmitrii Grigor'evich Levitskii, Moscow: Isskustvo, 1964, p.389 listed and illustrated no.22 as location unknown

The canvas has been lined. The paint surface is quite dirty and there is a layer of discoloured varnish. Three nail heads are visible in the lower left hand corner securing the relining. There are fine lines of craquelure throughout, deepening towards the edges. There are signs of crude retouchings around the edges. UV light reveals retouching to the edges and a few areas of the sitter's face and mouth, however the presence of an opaque layer of fluourescing varnish prevents a more conclusive examination. Held in a gold painted wooden moulded plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Although never formally educated, Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Prozorovsky (1732-1809) rose to prominence in the Russian army, gaining distinction in Seven Year and the Russo-Turkish wars and eventually becoming Field Marshal. Levitsky's portrait shows the many  military orders awarded to him during his long and illustrious career: the Orders of St. Anne first class (1768); St. Alexander Nevsky, and St. George 2^nd and 3^rd class awarded in 1777 for his service in the Crimea. He is also shown wearing the Order of St. Andrew Pervozvanny, which is in fact a later addition, since Prozorovsky only received it in 1790 – a decade after Levitsky completed his portrait.

 

Prozorovsky's maternal relatives, the Galitzines, helped to promote his political career and secure the post of Governor of Kursk in 1780 and that of Governor General of Moscow in 1790.

 

In response to this appointment, Grigory Potemkin wrote to Empress Catherine II, 'Your Highness has moved the oldest canon out of the arsenal, one which will fire ceaselessly at Your target, because it does not have one of its own; only beware that it does not stain Your Highness's name with blood in posterity.'1.

 

When Russia resumed its hostilities against Turkey in 1808, Prozorovsky was named Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. However his reputation suffered a severe blow after his failed assault on the fortress of Brailov which resulted in a great number of Russian casualties. Barely two months later, Prozorovsky died whilst leading his army across the Danube. He is buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, St. Petersburg.

 

Igor Grabar organised the 1922-3 Levitsky exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery to commemorate the centenary of the artist's death. It comprised a total of 51 portraits selected from State and private collections in the Moscow region.

 

We are grateful to Dr. Liudmila Markina head of the Department of 18^th-mid 19^th Century Russian Painting at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow for her help in researching this lot.

 

 

1.Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, Russian Portraits of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, vol.3, Saint Petersburg, 1907, p.360