An Officer, wearing the dark green uniform of the Préobrajensky (also Preobrazhensky or Preobrazhenskii) Regiment, his hair powdered

The officer in this portrait wears the uniform of the Russian Preobrazhensky Regiment. Interestingly the portrait can be dated quite precisely, as he is depicted in a transitional uniform, introduced in April 1801 after the assassination of Emperor Paul I, with new sewing (broderie) and trimmed boules (coiffure).[1]

The finalised uniform of dark-green cloth, short waistcoat fastened with nine buttons and patent leather boots with low built-up heels and spurs was worn on September, 15, 1801 by Alexander I for his coronation ceremony. The Emperor was fascinated by military uniform and designed a new style for Russian regiments, continuing the clothing reform started by Paul I. A courtier noted that ‘the Emperor's court came to resemble soldiers’ barracks. The emperor’s office was full of orderlies, messengers and lance-corporals modelling the uniforms of various troops, and the emperor would spend hours with them, making chalk marks on their tunics and undergarments amidst samples of moustache brushes, boot brushes, button-polishing boards and other similar sundries.’

One member of the regiment who would have been a contemporary of the sitter here was Mikhail Semyonovich, Prince Vorontsov (1782-1856), whose father was Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, the Russian Amabassador based in London. That the sitter in this miniature was painted by a French artist, Charles-Joseph de la Celle, Chevalier De Châteaubourg, is not unusual for this period. Russia embraced European artists, who were attracted to work there under the enthuasiastic gaze of Empress Catherine the Great. Catherine particularly admired English art, stating ‘I look at the English nation as the one whose union is the moist natural and useful for Russia’. The French Revolution of 1789 spurred a number of artists to emigrate abroad, including to Russia. De Châteaubourg was born in Nantes and possibly studied under Isabey before travelling to England, Germany and Russia (1801-05). The sylistic traits in the present work show a knowledge of the work of Peter Edward Stroely (also spelt as Ströhling, and sometimes Stroely or Straely (1768-c. 1826). This influence can be seen in his portrait of miniature of Anna Aleksandrovna Obol'ianinova, née Ermolaeva (1754-1822), sold at Christie’s in November 2007.

It is possibly that, like his contemporary Prince Vorontsov, the officer in this portrait may have taken part in the defence of Russia during Napoleon’s invasion of 1812.





[1] With thanks to Dimitri Gorchkoff for his information on the uniform (private correspondence).