Count Ivan Grigoryevich Chernyshov or Tchernyshov (1726-1797)

Count Ivan Grigoryevich Chernyshov (1726–1797) was a Russian naval commander and statesman who served as Vice-President of the Admiralty College and later as President — effectively the head of the Russian navy during some of its most expansive years under Catherine II, including the Mediterranean campaigns of 1769–1774 that saw Russian warships operating in waters previously controlled by the Ottomans. Levitzky's undated portrait of him represents a naval commander at the center of Russia's transformation into a sea power. The unlocated canvas reflects the problem of attribution common to provincial Russian holdings where documentation is incomplete. Chernyshov's naval career encompassed genuine achievement — he was instrumental in building the Black Sea Fleet — and Levitzky's portrait would have been a statement of this professional identity.

Oil on canvas presumably in the military-naval portrait tradition, with the distinctive uniform and decorations of Russia's naval command distinguishing this from Levitzky's army portraits. Naval portrait conventions borrowed from the British tradition through the engraved copies that circulated widely among educated Russians.