Olga's Gallery

        Ivan Nikitin was the favorite artist of Peter the Great. He was born in the family of a clergyman. He was educated initially in the Moscow State Armory and in the engraving workshop of Dutch artist, A. Schonbeck. In 1711, he was transferred to St. Petersburg and was appointed a court painter. His known works of that period are Portrait of Tzarevna Praskovya Ivanovna (1714), Portrait of Tzarevna Natalia Alexeyevna (Not later than 1716), Portrait of Tzarina Praskovya Fedorovna (Not later than 1716).
        In 1716-1720, Ivan Nikitin and his brother Roman Nikitin studied art in Italy, in Venice and Florence. His skills were greatly improved in Italy and he became the first Russian artist of European standard.  His most notable works, which were created after his European voyage are Portrait of Count G. I. Golovkin (1720s), Portrait of Peter the Great (1720s), Portrait of the Hetman of Ukraine (1720s). In 1732, he and his brother were arrested for treason due to slanderous accusations and endured 5 years of imprisonment, interrogation and tortures in the Fortress of St. Peter and Paul. Then they were exiled to Tobolsk. They were acquitted only in 1741, but Nikitin died in 1742 on his way from exile.

Tzarevna Praskovya Ivanovna (1694-1731) - daughter of Tzar Ivan V, niece of Peter the Great, sister of Tzarina Anna Ioannovna. She was married to senator I. I. Dmitriyev-Mamonov.

Tzarevna Natalia Alexeyevna (1673-1716) - sister of Peter the Great. She supported her brother's reforms, was one of the few highly educated women of her time. She opened the first Russian theater and even wrote several plays.

Catherine I (1684-1727) - Empress of Russia after 1725, after the death of her husband Peter I the Great. She was of lowly birth, probably descendant from Lithuanian peasants. She was Roman Catholic and married at the age of 16 to a Swedish soldier, who then abandoned her. She was captured during  the Great Northern War and became a mistress to Russian general Boris Sheremetyev, then to Russian principal minister Prince Alexander Menshikov, by whom she was given to Tzar Peter in 1705. He married her in 1712 and in 1724, after passing the new law  of succession, nominated her his successor. After his death in 1725, Prince Menshikov ensured her succession. During her short reign she continued her husband's reforms.

Count Gavriil Golovkin (1660-1734) - Russian statesman and supporter of Peter the Great, diplomat, Chancellor, senator, Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Since 1726 - member of the Supreme Secret Council.

Bibliography:
Russian Art of Peter I the Great Period. Leningrad. 1990.
Russian Portrait of the 18th and 19th centuries in Russian Museums. Moscow. 1976.

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