Portraits of famous people of the past. Pal Fried - and his extraordinary female image

Such famous portraits as "Portrait of a Lady in Blue" T. Gainsborough, "Young Man with a Basket of Fruits" Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio, “Self-Portrait” by K. P. Bryullov, etc. today have become the standard of excellence in fine arts.

For a connoisseur of beauty, famous portraits today are not just canvases that art critics write about and that cost fabulous amounts of money.

For every connoisseur painting is, as it were, the “soul” of the artist - an expression of the worldview, aesthetic credo, the painter's manner of execution. Famous portraits (“Portrait of E. N. Arsenyeva” by V. L. Borovikovsky, “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci, etc.) are so expensive because they evoke something special in the viewers’ souls. This is that unique feeling called the feeling of beauty.

Gioconda beautiful in her gaze - it seemed to combine soft femininity and a grin, somewhat similar to a man’s. It is not without reason that many who have seen the real painting by da Vinci claim that if you look at “La Gioconda” from afar, it seems as if in front of you is a meek, gentle woman. But, if you get closer to the picture, you are convinced that the canvas depicts a man with an almost devilish, almost cruel grin. Famous portraits are so famous because they have their own uniqueness, “zest”.

Portraits of famous artists

Portraits famous artists are also remarkable. Since their own paintings is a reflection of their worldview, then even in the gaze of the painters one can read something special, characteristic of them and their paintings. It is a special thing when portraits of famous artists are created by them themselves.

Famous portraits sometimes appear as depictions of the appearance of their author. In a self-portrait, the artist can express his own vision of his appearance. Eg “Self-portrait” by I. I. Levitan, created in the 1890s. The painting depicts Isaac Levitan in full dress. The artist himself is depicted in a completely relaxed pose, but his figure is surrounded by a gray-brown haze, as if foreshadowing something bad, fatal. And his other self-portrait, dating from 1880, appears completely different. Shown here is young and Beautiful face painter, smiling slyly. Here Levitan’s figure is against a blue background, cheerful and positive. The influence of the painting on the viewer often depends on the artist’s assessment of his own appearance. Portraits of famous artists give a person the opportunity to look at the genius who created this or that painting. Who didn’t want to look at the face of the one who portrayed the Demon from the work of M. Yu. Lermontov? Or look at the man who created image unfortunate Alyonushka, who lost her brother?

Portraits of famous women

Portraits occupy a special place in the galaxy of great paintings famous women. Famous portraits of women most often tell the story of the beauty of those depicted. But it also happened that a woman was a painter herself, and could give an interpretation of her own appearance (self-portrait) and the appearance of those around her.

Famous painting Louise Vigée-Le Brun "Self-Portrait with Daughter"shows not only the charm of its creator, but also Louise’s affection for her daughter: they hug each other so tenderly. Louise's brush includes a series of portraits depicting Marie Antoinette. The great portrait artist A. G. Warnek (1782–1843) created magnificent portraits of famous women. These were such famous portraits as the Portrait of E. M. Olenina in Priyutino, the hostess of the literary solon. The master’s brushes also include such paintings as “ portrait Kolosova Evgenia Ivanovna" - famous ballerina, one of the hundred great ballet masters. The painting shows a young beautiful girl, with his hair tied up, and with a quiver of arrows in his hands. The woman in such portraits became equal to the man.

Portraits of famous people

Portraits famous people allow descendants to see the real appearance of writers, musicians, politicians, etc. For example, a portrait of the famous Soviet writer A. N. Tolstoy, made by P. D. Kokorin gives us not only an image of the writer’s face. The picture conveys Tolstoy’s thoughtfully gloomy gaze, turned to the side. IN right hand pictured holding smoking pipe, but the fingers tightly grip the wooden surface, which indicates the concentration of Alexei Tolstoy. Portraits of famous people can convey the main point activities depicted.

This is how another portrait was made - portrait of F. I. Chaliapin(1905. Canvas, charcoal, chalk) made by V. A. Serov. Here the sad look of Fyodor Chaliapin is fully expressed. Chaliapin is wearing a tailcoat, but the wings of his nose rise excitedly, as if famous singer I just finished another aria.
Perhaps only Strong woman will be able to be the wife of an artist: endure his ups and downs, experience his failures as if they were her own. Portraits of women by famous artists, painted by the painters themselves, serve as proof of love and gratitude. One of these strong, but at the same time soft women was Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabala-Vrubel. It was famous Opera singer, which Mikhail Vrubel, the creator of the famous “Demon,” fell in love with at first sight. It was Nadezhda Zabela who served as the prototype famous character paintings Vrubel "The Swan Princess".

She was a beautiful woman who loved her husband, even despite the fact that Mikhail Alexandrovich had a very bad character. Among the great portraits of women by famous artists is the series of paintings of Gala, painted by Salvador Dali. In 1929, Gala (Elena Dyakonova), together with her first husband Paul Eluard, visited the young Catalan painter Salvador Dali. Salvador and Elena fell in love with each other immediately, even though Dyakonova was ten years old older than the artist and had a daughter from her first marriage, Cecile. Gala (as Dali called her) became the first and only love, muse and wife. She built the artist’s work schedule and became his “producer.”

Such famous portraits were painted from Elena Dyakonova as: “Portrait of Gala with two lamb ribs”, “Gala in the image of Leda”, etc. Salvador Dali wrote about his beloved in a dedication in his biography “The Diary of a Genius”: “I I dedicate this book to my genius, my victorious Gala Gradiva, my Helen of Troy, my Saint Helen, my brilliant like the surface of the sea, Gala Galatea the Serene.”

Famous portraits of women

Even the most famous female portraits cannot be compared in importance and fame with Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “La Gioconda”. This painting struck many with its dissimilarity to other famous portraits. It became so famous also because there was an opinion that Leonardo himself depicted himself in it. And indeed, as mentioned above, some art critics think that Gioconda’s smile is truly masculine. Famous portraits of women are sometimes symbols of femininity and beauty.

These are such famous female portraits as “Portrait of N. N. Pushkina” A. P. Bryullov(Watercolor, 1831), and a portrait of “Nina Chavchavadze” by N. Iankoshvili. Both young girls are shown in the prime of their youth and beauty. Both of them are the spouses of great Russian writers. Both of these girls have something bright, pure, sublime; they are depicted as muses of A. S. Griboedov and A. S. Pushkin. The girls are dressed in light gauze dresses, as if sparkling in the rays of the innocent beauty of their owners. These are famous portraits of not just women, but inspirations of writers.

The most famous portraits

The most famous portraits are, perhaps, those that made the greatest impression on viewers. Such famous portraits attract attention either because of the unusual colors, the originality of the plot, etc. The portrait of A. S. Pushkin, made by Orest Kiprensky, is perceived as such.

The artist's style, distinguished by plastic expressiveness of form and truthfulness, was able to convey, to one degree or another, the unique appearance of the poet. “Portrait of A. S. Pushkin” at one time caused a lot of controversy. Some viewers (Pushkin's contemporaries) spoke about the amazing similarity, others said that there was no such similarity. Here, rather, everything depended on how Pushkin was known by his contemporaries. The most famous portraits are so great also because they make the viewer feel the reflection of the soul of the person depicted. We can feel the aura of a person who died many years ago, feel his gaze on us. Perhaps even the most beautifully taken photographs will never be able to convey the enchanting magic of famous portraits. In the most famous portraits there is always something of their author - the artist. Two people participate in the creation of a portrait - the artist and the character in the picture, one gives the canvas his appearance, and the painter, no matter how realistic the picture is, always brings into it an echo of his soul.

Any modern history textbook is, first of all, a set of dry information, dates, numbers, descriptions, surnames, names, and so on. And for younger generation, which is taught from them (after all, except for historians, it is not at all necessary for adults to know their past - they have already unlearned it in due time), it is necessary to at least somehow present this dryness in a form accessible to the youthful imagination. For this purpose, in textbooks there is a favorite subject of study for all “alternatives” - these are pictures. Usually this scenic paintings oil paintings illustrating an event, usually written a century or more from the event itself, as well as picturesque portraits of those letters and numbers that are called people, not ordinary people, but outstanding ones, who are forever immortalized on the pages of world history . In some ways, a history textbook is very reminiscent of a huge epitaph, something like “born - did something outstanding - died.” On the one hand, there is very little information about those times; meager excerpts from chronicles and descriptions of contemporaries do not fully describe the character of a person, whether he was kind-hearted or often nervous about trifles, how he developed spiritually and what was his level spiritual development, what his worldview was, and so on. But on the other hand, there is a period of antiquity, which is thousands of years further away from us on the time scale than the same period of the Middle Ages, but about which, paradoxically, much more information is known than about the medieval period. A natural question arises - why is this so? Did they record information more carefully in antiquity? And in the Middle Ages they suddenly stopped - they say there was no time for that, dark ages, dysentery, plague and so on?

But it’s one thing to describe a person’s life, another thing is his portrait, which can sometimes tell much more than any evidence. After all, any picture is an image that can be firmly lodged in your head, and it will be difficult to get it out of there. Today we will talk about the authenticity of portraits outstanding people 16-17-18 centuries, that is, a period that is distant from us by the standards of Earth’s time for an insignificantly small period of time, and about which, it seems, historians should know almost everything. So, let's go.

1. Adil-Gerai (Girey), Crimean Khan.

Khan of Crimea in 1666-1671. According to official genealogies, the Gireys are Chingizids, and descend from the Tugatimurids from Janak-oglan, younger brother Tui Khoja Oglan, father of Tokhtamysh. The eldest son of Janak oglan, Ichkile Hasan oglan, is the father of Ulu Muhammad, the founder of the dynasty of Kazan khans. But, this version origin of Hadji Giray, encounters numerous inconsistencies. It is more likely that Hadji Giray was not a Chingizid, but belonged to the famous Mongol-Turkic family of Kerey (Kirey, Girey), and only later the successful usurper was assigned to the Golden Family.

Of all, the most popular is considered to be a portrait, which allows you to capture a person or a group of people on canvas. According to a long-standing legend, this one originated during the Ancient Greece, when the girl said goodbye to her lover who was leaving for war and, in order to forever perpetuate his image in her memory, she circled the shadow falling from him on the wall. Over the centuries, the art of painting improved and reached the pinnacle of its mastery by the 18th century. It was at this time that portraits of famous artists began to appear, which depicted not only the appearance of the hero, but also conveyed his feelings, experiences, and temperament.

Features of paintings from the Peter the Great era

In European fine art, the 18th century is rightly called the time of the dominance of the portrait genre. It is this type of painting that becomes predominant, because everyone wanted to get paintings with their image. In Russia, the popularity of portraits was brought by Peter I. The progressive reforms of the emperor contributed to the beginning of close cooperation between the state and European countries, and Russian painting began to gradually be enriched with elements of Western secular art. However, despite the influence of foreign culture, portraits of famous artists of the 18th century living in Russia did not lose their originality and expressiveness.

Types of paintings

Initially, portraits were divided into ceremonial and chamber portraits. The first type included paintings in which a person was depicted in full height during the celebration (if the hero was painted waist-high, then the picture was considered semi-ceremonial). He was dressed in magnificent clothes and stood in a proud pose, surrounded by a luxurious background. Such paintings were exhibited in the reception hall for public viewing.

Chamber portraits were the opposite of ceremonial portraits: here the sitter was depicted in a relaxed pose, immersed in his thoughts and activities. This type of work of art was intended to decorate the walls of small rooms, away from prying eyes.

In the 18th century, ceremonial and chamber paintings still did not lose their popularity, but another type of painting was added to them - intimate painting. Here the artist tried not only to depict a person, but also to convey his inner world with the help of a brush. The luxurious background was ignored. Many famous portraits of Russian artists were often painted in an intimate style.

Transformation of paintings in the 18th century

Notable figures in the art of that time were such painters as I. Nikitin, F. Rokotov, I. Argunov, A. Antropov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky, A. Matveev and others. Portraits of famous artists are imbued with high respect for the individual person. If in the first half of the 18th century, paintings in this genre were parsuns (flat, frozen images of noble people, made using icon-painting techniques), then gradually the masters begin to move away from this, introducing the breath of life, light and emotions into their works. Creative heritage painters of the 18th century were largely determined future fate Russian portrait.

Creativity of I. Nikitin

The artist Ivan Nikitin (born in the mid-1680s - died around 1742) was the pride of Peter the Great. The Emperor highly appreciated the creative skills of the painter, considering him a portrait painter of the European level. Early works The artist’s works are made in a parsun style with its inherent gloom, flatness of the image, and fuzzy play of light and shadow. But, despite this, Nikitin’s portraits painted in initial stage his works are particularly realistic and psychological; they completely lack flattery towards the hero of the picture, which was abused by many ceremonial painters of that time. Gradually, Nikitin moved away from parsuns and improved his skill, maintaining in it the realism of the image and a subtle understanding inner world person.

The painter's brush includes several paintings depicting Peter I, as well as many other noble persons (the emperor's wife, his daughters Elizabeth, Anna and others). The artist’s most successful work is considered to be “Portrait of a Floor Hetman” (circa 1725). The picture impresses with the tragic image of the hero - an old man, on whose face there is strength, power, emotion and sorrow. Before today It is not known exactly who exactly Ivan Nikitin painted on his canvas. The painter enhanced the dramatic effect of the painting with a skillful selection of shades of paint. This canvas, like other portraits of famous artists, depicts not just a person, but an entire era.

Rokotov - creator of the semi-dress style

If Ivan Nikitin was a particularly brilliant painter of the early 18th century, then the second half of the century became famous (1735 - 1808). He was especially good at portraits of women. There weren’t many famous artists who could convey a lady’s tenderness and grace on canvas, and Rokotov was in great demand. He wrote many of his works in a semi-ceremonial style.

The master’s talent captivated Catherine II, and in 1763 she specially invited him to create her coronation portrait. The painter depicted the empress in profile, successfully emphasizing her stately figure and thoroughbred face. Catherine liked the painting so much that she continued to order artists to paint her portraits, copying Rokotov’s style. The painter’s brushes belonged to Struyskaya, Princess Yusupova, Peter III and other noble persons of that time. He paid main attention to the customers’ faces, making them soft, gentle, as if glowing from within. Thanks to this approach, his portraits turned out to be realistic; they conveyed the feelings of the people from whom they were painted.

V. Borovikovsky - glorifier of the female image

When looking at portraits of girls by famous Russian artists, one cannot help but mention Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825). Fame came to him in last decade 18th century. Borovikovsky created intimate portraits, emphasizing the sentimentality and tenderness of his sitters. He painted not only rich women, but also simple peasant women, conveying on canvas the whole feminine beauty that era. The images of Lopukhina, Naryshkina, Arsenyeva, the peasant woman Khristinya, the double portrait of the Lvov family maids Lizonka and Dashenka are the most masterful. Women with soft hair, a gentle blush and a luminous gaze look touchingly from the canvases. Despite the fact that all the author’s paintings are written in the same style, they are a true work of art of that time.

D. Levitsky and his paintings

Dmitry Levitsky (1735-1822) is another famous portrait painter of the 18th century. Like other artists, he skillfully depicted in his works the beauty of the inner world of man. Levitsky became famous as a master of ceremonial style. He wrote the characters very realistically, without flattery or embellishment of the client’s appearance. Levitsky left behind a whole gallery of portraits, depicting Catherine II, E. Vorontsova, A. Kokorinov, P. Demidov, Ursula Mnishek and many other of his famous contemporaries.

Features of surviving paintings

The 18th century left as a reminder of itself paintings-portraits of famous artists, which today can be seen in Tretyakov Gallery, Russian and Pushkin Museums, private collections. The painted canvases are so realistic that they amaze art fans with the level of skill of past painters. Portraits of women by famous artists look especially colorful, they exude life, youth and extraordinary believability of the image.

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First of all, we know two things about the painting: its author and, possibly, the history of the canvas. But we don’t know much about the fates of those who look at us from the canvases.

website I decided to talk about women whose faces are familiar to us, but their stories are not.

Zhanna Samari
Auguste Renoir, Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary, 1877

Actress Jeanne Samary, although she could not become a stage star (she played mainly maids), was lucky in something else: for some time she lived not far from the studio of Renoir, who painted four portraits of her in 1877-1878, thereby making her famous much more than it could do her actor career. Zhanna played in plays from the age of 18, at 25 she got married and gave birth to three children, then even wrote a children's book. But this charming lady, unfortunately, did not live long: at the age of 33 she fell ill with typhoid fever and died.

Cecilia Gallerani
Leonardo da Vinci, "Lady with an Ermine"
1489-1490

Cecilia Gallerani was a girl from a noble Italian family, who at the age of 10 (!) was already engaged. However, when the girl was 14, the engagement was broken for unknown reasons, and Cecilia was sent to a monastery, where she met (or it was all set up) with the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. An affair began, Cecilia became pregnant and the Duke settled the girl in his castle, but then the time came to enter into a dynastic marriage with another woman, who, of course, did not like the presence of her mistress in their house. Then, after Gallerani gave birth, the duke took his son for himself, and married her to the impoverished count.

In this marriage, Cecilia gave birth to four children, ran almost the very first literary salon in Europe, visited the Duke and enjoyed playing with his child from his new mistress. After a while, Cecilia’s husband died, war came, she lost her well-being and found shelter in the house of the sister of that same Duke’s wife - it was in such wonderful relationships that she managed to be with people. After the war, Gallerani returned her estate, where she lived until her death at the age of 63.

Zinaida Yusupova
V.A. Serov, “Portrait of Princess Zinaida Yusupova”, 1902

The richest Russian heiress, the last of the Yusupov family, Princess Zinaida was incredibly beautiful, and, despite the fact that her favor was sought, among others, by august persons, she wanted to marry for love. She fulfilled her desire: the marriage was happy and brought two sons. Yusupova spent a lot of time and effort on charitable activities, and after the revolution she continued it in exile. Her beloved eldest son died in a duel when the princess was 47 years old, and she could hardly bear this loss. With the outbreak of unrest, the Yusupovs left St. Petersburg and settled in Rome, and after the death of her husband, the princess moved to her son in Paris, where she spent the rest of her days.

Maria Lopukhina
V.L. Borovikovsky, “Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina", 1797

Borovikovsky painted many portraits of Russian noblewomen, but this one is the most charming. Maria Lopukhina, a representative of the Tolstoy count family, is depicted here at the tender age of 18 years. The portrait was commissioned by her husband Stepan Avraamovich Lopukhin shortly after the wedding. Ease and a slightly arrogant look seem to be either a common pose for similar portrait the era of sentimentalism, or signs of a melancholic and poetic disposition. The fate of this mysterious girl turned out to be sad: just 6 years after painting the painting, Maria died of consumption.

Giovanina and Amacilia Pacini
Karl Bryullov, “Horsewoman”, 1832

Bryullov’s “Horsewoman” is brilliant ceremonial portrait, in which everything is luxurious: the brightness of the colors, the splendor of the draperies, and the beauty of the models. It depicts two girls who bore the surname Pacini: the eldest Giovanina is sitting on a horse, the younger Amatzilia is looking at her from the porch. I ordered a painting from Karl Bryullov, my long-time lover. foster mother, Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova, one of the most beautiful women Russia and the heiress of a colossal fortune. The Countess guaranteed a large dowry for her grown-up daughters. But it turned out that in her old age she was practically bankrupt, and then the adopted daughters Giovanina and Amatsilia, through the court, recovered the promised money and property from the countess.

Simonetta Vespucci
Sandro Botticelli, "Birth of Venus"
1482–1486

The famous painting by Botticelli depicts Simonetta Vespucci, the first beauty of the Florentine Renaissance. Simonetta was born in rich family, at the age of 16 she married Marco Vespucci (a relative of Amerigo Vespucci, who “discovered” America and gave the continent his name). After the wedding, the newlyweds settled in Florence and were received at the court of Lorenzo de Medici, which in those years was famous for its magnificent feasts and receptions.

Beautiful, at the same time very modest and friendly, Simonetta quickly fell in love with Florentine men. The ruler himself tried to look after her Florence Lorenzo, but it was his brother Giuliano who sought it most actively. Simonetta's beauty inspired many artists of the time, among whom was Sandro Botticelli. It is believed that from the moment they met, Simonetta was the model for all Madonnas and Venuses painted by Botticelli. At the age of 23, Simonetta died of consumption, despite the efforts of the best court doctors. After this, the artist depicted his muse only from memory, and in his old age he bequeathed to be buried next to her, which was done.

Vera Mamontova
V.A. Serov, “Girl with Peaches”, 1887

The most famous painting The master portrait of Valentin Serov was painted in the estate of the wealthy industrialist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. Every day for two months his daughter, 12-year-old Vera, posed for the artist. The girl grew up and turned into charming girl, married mutual love for Alexander Samarin, belonging to the famous noble family. After honeymoon In Italy, the family settled in the city of Bogorodsk, where three children were born one after another. But unexpectedly in December 1907, just 5 years after the wedding, Vera Savvishna died of pneumonia. She was only 32 years old, and her husband never remarried.

Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya
F.S. Rokotov, “Portrait of Struyskaya”, 1772

This portrait by Rokotov is like an airy half-hint. Alexandra Struyskaya was 18 when she was married to a very rich widower. There is a legend that for her wedding her husband gave her nothing less than a new church. And all my life I wrote poetry to her. It is not known for certain whether this marriage was happy, but everyone who visited their house paid attention to how different the spouses were from each other. Over 24 years of marriage, Alexandra bore her husband 18 children, 10 of whom died in infancy. After her husband's death, she lived for another 40 years, firmly managed the estate and left her children a decent fortune.

Galina Vladimirovna Aderkas
B.M. Kustodiev “Merchant's Wife at Tea”, 1918

Kustodiev’s “Merchant’s Wife at Tea” is a real illustration of that bright and well-fed Russia, where there are fairs, carousels and the “crunch of French bread.” The picture was painted in the post-revolutionary famine year of 1918, when one could only dream of such abundance.

Galina Vladimirovna Aderkas, a natural baroness from a family that traces its history back to one Livonian knight of the 18th century, posed for the merchant’s wife in this portrait-picture. In Astrakhan, Galya Aderkas was the Kustodievs' housemate, from the sixth floor; The artist’s wife brought the girl to the studio after noticing the colorful model. During this period, Aderkas was very young - a first-year medical student - and in the sketches her figure looks much thinner. After graduating from university and working for some time as a surgeon, she left the profession and Soviet years she sang in a Russian choir, took part in dubbing films, got married and began performing in the circus.

Lisa del Giocondo
Leonardo da Vinci, "Mona Lisa", 1503-1519.

Perhaps one of the most famous and mysterious portraits of all times and peoples - this famous Mona Lisa by the great Leonardo. Among the many versions about who owns the legendary smile, the following was officially confirmed in 2005: the canvas depicts Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The portrait may have been commissioned from the artist to commemorate the birth of a son and the purchase of a house.

Together with her husband, Lisa raised five children and, most likely, her marriage was based on love. When her husband died of the plague and Lisa was also struck by this serious illness, one of the daughters was not afraid to take her mother to her place and left her. Mona Lisa recovered and lived for some time with her daughters, dying at the age of 63.