Russian Female Portrait, Empire Period, Around 1812. French Inscription, Cm 21.5 × 17

Russian Female Portrait, Empire Period, around 1812. French Inscription, cm 21.5 × 17

Oil on wooden panel.

15.7 × 13 cm (without frame) – 21.5 × 17 cm (with frame).

Small Russian portrait on panel with a French inscription mentioning Saint Petersburg, Oranienbaum and Kronstadt in 1812, in the context of the Napoleonic wars.

Small-format female portrait, painted in oil on a wooden panel. On the reverse of the support there is an early ink inscription, written directly on the panel, recording a sequence of places and dates. The names Saint Petersburg, Oranienbaum and Kronstadt can be read, together with the dates 9 and 10 August 1812:

“… parti de St. Pétersbourg … à Oranienbaum … Kronstadt … le 9 août 1812 … le 10 du même mois …”.

A later annotation, referring to a return to Saint Petersburg, is also perceptible, indicating the continued use of the object over time.

The places mentioned belong to the same strategic system of the Gulf of Finland: Saint Petersburg, the imperial capital; Oranienbaum, a court residence; and Kronstadt, the main naval fortress responsible for the maritime defence of the capital. In 1812 this area was on alert due to fears of a naval attack, and movements between these sites formed part of the imperial defensive network.

The inscription is written in French, which in the early nineteenth century was the customary language of the Russian aristocracy and educated circles, used both in private correspondence and in military and administrative contexts. Its use, paradoxical in the context of the war against Napoleon, confirms that the author of the notes belonged to an educated and official milieu in which French remained a working language even in times of conflict.

The choice of a wooden panel, more resistant and less fragile than canvas, together with the small size, suggests an object designed to be easily transported, intended to accompany its owner during journeys and movements rather than to serve as a work of representation.

The young woman is depicted according to the canons of Empire fashion, wearing a high-waisted dress with a square neckline, characteristic of the early nineteenth century. Her hair is tied at the nape of the neck, in a sober and orderly hairstyle. The coral necklace, repeated in the earrings, provides the main chromatic accent and refers to a personal ornament, common at the time and linked to the private sphere. The face, with high cheekbones, and the measured posture convey a sense of composed dignity and unostentatious naturalness.

Taken as a whole, the work presents itself as an intimate and mobile object, connected to a personal story that intersects directly with the events of 1812, through key locations of the Russian imperial defensive system.

Condition: simply good original condition; even patina and craquelure consistent with age, minor paint losses of no significance. Painted wooden frame.