Prince Mikhail Andreevich Obolensky (1806–1873)

Prince Mikhail Andreevich Obolensky (1806–1873) was a Russian archivist and historian who directed the Moscow branch of the State Archive, making him one of the most important figures in the preservation of Russian historical documents during the Nicholas I era. Tropinin painted him around 1850, when both painter and subject were in their mature years — Tropinin in his late seventies, Obolensky in his mid-forties. The unlocated canvas represents the intellectual professional portraiture that formed an important stream of Tropinin's late work: portraits of scholars, writers, archivists, and educators who formed Moscow's cultural establishment. Obolensky's archival work was directly relevant to the Romantic era's historical consciousness — the recovery and publication of medieval documents underpinned the literary and artistic revival of interest in Russian national history.

Oil on canvas in Tropinin's late manner, the warm Moscow interior light characteristic of his final years. The scholarly subject's face is modeled with the painter's mature directness, the warm palette building the characteristic honey-gold tone of skin in afternoon studio light.