Portrait of Mikhail Alexandrovich Golitsyn

Painted in 1833 and of unknown present location, the portrait of Mikhail Alexandrovich Golitsyn belongs to Kiprensky's final years — the artist died in Rome in October 1836, and his last decade was marked by personal difficulties, a second marriage to an Italian woman, and a declining reputation in Russia. The Golitsyn family was one of the most ancient and prominent in Russian aristocratic society, with generations of distinguished service to the Russian state, and a commission to paint a member of this family retained its significance even late in Kiprensky's career. The portrait may reflect the continuation of aristocratic patronage that had sustained Kiprensky across the decades since his first successes, even as newer portrait conventions were beginning to replace his romantic approach.

Oil on canvas, the work demonstrates the late Kiprensky style: the romantic atmospheric effects of his earlier portraits somewhat moderated, the technical execution still assured but less dramatically innovative. The warm Italian tonality he had developed through years of residence in Rome is apparent in the flesh-tone handling.