Ivan Nikitin, The Portrait of Peter the Great

The work of Ivan Nikitin played an important role in the establishment of 18th century Russian portraiture as an artistic phenomenon. Although Nikitin's life is poorly documented, we know that he was born in the family of priest and received a good education. When his passion for paiting reached the ears of Peter the Great, tsar arranged for him to study abroad. The artist was able to pay back his majesty by creating one of the best portrayals of tsar made in his lifetime. But soon after Peter's death, as a result of the changes in political situation, Nikitin's outlook underwent substantial modification: the artist grew closer to the Moscow Old Russian Opposition, as a result of which he was arrested, convicted and sent to Siberia to live under perpetual surveillance. It should be mentioned that the authentification of Nikitin's works is a tricky business, for only three of them are signed. So the works known to us represent a mere fraction of all that was painted by this founder of Russian portraiture.