Aleksey Antropov

Aleksey Antropov painted Russian court portraits with the directness of the older icon tradition. His sitters are set against dark backgrounds in strong, contrasting colours, and their faces are frank rather than flattered.

He was born in St Petersburg in 1716 and trained at the Chancellery of Buildings under Andrey Matveyev, later taking lessons from the court painter Pietro Rotari. Besides portraits he painted icons and church decoration, including frescoes at St Andrew’s Church in Kiev in the 1750s, and he was put in charge of icon painting for the Holy Synod. He painted Empress Elizabeth, Catherine II and Peter III, whose favourite painter he became, as well as Countess Rumyantseva in 1764. He also taught the young Dmitry Levitzky. He died in St Petersburg in 1795.

In his Portrait of Emperor Peter III, look at the contrast between the rich costume and the plain, unidealised face.