Ekaterina Khruschova and Ekaterina Khovanskaya

Ekaterina Khruschova and Ekaterina Khovanskaya, painted in 1773, is one of the six double-figure paintings Levitzky executed for the Smolny Institute for Noble Girls, the school founded by Catherine II for the daughters of the Russian aristocracy. The series, which depicts the students performing theatrical performances, dancing, and engaging in musical activities, is Levitzky's most celebrated achievement — it transformed Russian portraiture by introducing genre elements, theatrical costume, and movement into what had previously been a predominantly static format. The two Ekaterinas are shown in a dancing or theatrical pose that simultaneously demonstrates their Smolny education and functions as a visual celebration of Catherine II's civilizing project. The series as a whole is held at the Russian Museum and ranks among the finest achievements of eighteenth-century portraiture anywhere in Europe — a judgment that Russian art historians have emphasized and that Western scholarship has been slow to second.

Oil on canvas in a larger format than typical portrait work, accommodating the two-figure composition and the theatrical costumes with their elaborate textures. Levitzky deploys his full technical range across the canvas: delicate face modeling, confident silk rendering, and the energetic brushwork needed to capture the implied movement of dancers.