Orest Kiprensky

Born as an illegitimate son of a landowner and raised by a serf family, his surname 'Kiprensky' is derived from 'Kypris,' another name for the goddess Aphrodite.¹

He entered the boarding school of the Imperial Academy of Arts at age six, spending 15 years until 1803 receiving a rigorous academic education in art.¹

His 1804 portrait of his foster father was so masterfully executed that members of the Naples Academy later mistook it for a work by Rubens or Van Dyck.¹

Winning the Major Gold Medal for a historical painting in 1805 granted him the privilege to study abroad, a major turning point leading to his time in Europe.¹

During his stay in Italy, he rescued a young girl named Mariucci from her dissolute family and placed her in a convent, later becoming his wife.¹

His 1827 portrait of Alexander Pushkin is his most famous work; the poet himself remarked that 'the mirror flatters me,' noting the idealized depiction.¹

He returned to Italy to find the missing Mariucci and married her in 1836, converting from Russian Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism for the marriage.¹

In 1836, shortly after finally marrying his long-time love, he died of pneumonia in Rome at age 54 and was buried in Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.¹