The mystery of the portrait of Maria Lopukhina: a picture that brought death? Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, Borovikovsky - description Rokotov portrait of Lopukhina

V.Borovikovsky. Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina. 1797

She passed a long time ago, and no longer have those eyes
And that smile is not there, that silently expressed sting
Suffering - the shadow of love, and the thought - the shadow of sadness,
B o r o v i k o v s k i y s a s .
So part of the soul did not fly away from us,
And it will be from the look of it and the charm of the body
To a n e e e p a
Learn to love, suffer, forgive, be silent.

The Russian poet Yakov Polonsky dedicated these wonderful lines 100 years after the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was painted by artist V. Borovikovsky.

The portrait of M.I. Lopukhina is often called the most poetic creation of all the portraits of V. Borovikovsky. It shows a subtle delicate drawing, the correctness of forms and penetration into the very depths of the spiritual world of his heroine, an expression not only of deep thought, but also of sadness ... However, no matter how high the picturesque qualities of the portrait, no matter how characteristic of his era his plan , the work of Borovikovsky could not have retained the strength of its artistic impact to this day if the image itself had not been marked by features of deep and genuine vitality. He managed to embody in the guise of Lopukhina such an intense life of feeling that his predecessors in Russian did not know. portrait painting. At the same time, a feeling of simplicity emanates from the whole picture and the image of the girl, as a unity of man and nature, without giving the model heavy accessories, some expensive feathers and jewelry - as was customary then in the image of ceremonial portraits. A loose white dress tied under her breasts with a blue scarf, a soft lilac shawl, she does not have a wig, but natural hair. Everything is concise and simple, as was typical of the new style and direction in the art of that time - the end of the 18th century, and this style was called “sentimentalism”.

The landscape background, emphasizing the closeness to nature, corresponds to the dreamy mood of a young woman. The portrait is striking in the amazing harmony of the image and means of expression. In the picture, everything is depicted in harmony, in the harmony of all the details: a shady corner of the park, cornflowers among the ears of ripe rye, slightly withered roses, the relaxed pose of a young woman, and a lovely face full of amazing charm. In the morning freshness of the skin, in the languor of the look, in the dreamy smile, even in a certain irregularity of Lopukhina's features, there is genuine beauty, spiritual and lyrical beauty.

The artist, drawing a portrait of Lopukhina, used the traditional technique of a representative portrait - surrounding the character with objects and attributes that help to reveal his image. However, Borovikovsky tried to show not the social status of Lopukhina, but the personal, intimate sides of her character. Maria Lopukhina is standing in the garden, leaning on an old stone console. Her face may be far from the classical ideal of beauty, but it is full of such indescribable charm, such spiritual charm that next to it many classical beauties will seem cold and stiff. The captivating image of a tender, melancholic and dreamy young woman is conveyed by the artist with great sincerity and love. There is practically no affectation and coquetry in the image of Mary, only naturalness and calmness, in her posture one can trace dignity, the ability to behave, this is evidenced by the proud posture developed in girls from childhood. Thoughtful, languid, sad-dreamy, but at the same time open bold look, gentle smile, free ease of a slightly tired pose, smooth lines, soft, rounded shapes, a simple white dress, ashy hair color, green foliage background and, finally, soft the air haze that fills the space - all this plays to create a beautiful and unforgettable image for the viewer.

The portrait of Maria Lopukhina was one of the most vital and successful portraits of Borovikovsky, in the sense that he really managed to convey the direct human appearance of this young woman, something lively and magnetically attractive, and at the same time dramatic in her face and look. Especially in the look. Borovikovsky, among some other painters (Fyodor Rokotov, Dmitry Levitsky) mastered the technique of “painting a look”, not just empty eyes, but with meaning, with inner expression. Lopukhina looks at the viewer thoughtfully, but also slightly distracted, as if immersed in her thoughts, in her mental life. And it is felt in her living spiritual face that this girl is beautiful not only external beauty but has both mind and heart. All this the artist managed to reflect in the portrait, he put a part of his soul into his work. It can be added to everything that the portrait is technically perfect in terms of painting skills - Borovikovsky mastered the technique of “glazing” writing. That is, the underlying layers shine through the upper colorful layers of the painting. This gives a special elegance, a special colorfulness to the color. The portrait is generally beautiful in color. The coloring and its colors are harmoniously built on a combination of faded, delicate tones. This is expressed both in the color of the landscape background of the backdrop, in its soft green tones, and in the soft purple color of the shawl, and in blue color belt tied at the waist, and in Lopukhina's white dress. But these are all details, although very important ones. The main thing is that the artist managed to fill the image of his model with life authenticity, depth of feelings and extraordinary poetry.

However, at the time of Pushkin, young girls were frightened with a portrait of Maria Lopukhina, since she lived a short and unhappy life, and died of consumption three years after painting the portrait. Something in this was seen by many as mystical, as if the portrait had taken the life of a young woman. Her father Ivan Tolstoy was a famous mystic and master of the Masonic Lodge. That is why rumors spread that he managed to lure the spirit of his dead daughter into this portrait. And that if young girls look at the picture, they will soon die. According to the version of salon gossip, the portrait of Mary killed at least ten noblewomen of marriageable age. The philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov, who bought the portrait for his gallery, put an end to the rumors. Since then, this portrait has been admired not only by contemporaries, but also by viewers of the next generations.

The portrait of Lopukhina was in the collection of relatives for a long time, it was kept by her niece Maria, the daughter of her older brother Fyodor Tolstoy, the “American”. The portrait was highly regarded as heirloom. And it was in this house that Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov saw the portrait. How he managed to acquire a family heirloom, now it’s hard to know for sure. This happened already at the end of the 1880s, and it was then that the painting ended up in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. I must say that Pavel Tretyakov bought relatively few works by Borovikovsky, but the portrait of Lopukhina among them is a real gem. When visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery come to the Borovikovsky Hall, they immediately pay attention to it. The portrait almost never leaves the walls of the gallery. He visited only two exhibitions, and even then within Moscow. Many viewers come to the Tretyakov Gallery to admire the portrait of Maria Lopukhina. There is so much charm in the appearance of a young lady, the magnetism of her gaze attracts lovers and connoisseurs of painting. There is also a certain mystery in this portrait, a mystery that cannot be completely comprehended.

ARTIST

Vladimir Borovikovsky at the time of the creation of the portrait of Lopukhina was 40 years old. He is a mature man, a recognized master, the author of many portraits and icons. Moreover, in 1795 he received the title of academician of painting, and was literally loaded with orders from the capital. In 1797, the artist also received an order for portraits of the imperial family, that year was very significant for him. He had already lived in St. Petersburg for several years, where he arrived in 1788 from Mirgorod. In Mirgorod, Borovikovsky not only comprehended the basics of icon painting, but also managed to serve in the army, having retired as a lieutenant. The presence of an officer's rank subsequently made it much easier for him to communicate with stiff Petersburgers. Among other things, the origin of the artist was of a sufficiently high level, he was a nobleman - along with his family he was included in the noble genealogical book of the Yekaterinoslav province.

In St. Petersburg, Borovikovsky was patronized by one of the most educated people of that time - the architect, poet and musician Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lvov. Himself a good draftsman and engraver, Lvov had a noticeable influence on the formation of the young painter, introduced him to the circle of St. Petersburg artists.

Thanks to him, Vladimir Lukich met Dmitry Levitsky, who by that time was a recognized portrait painter. Borovikovsky undoubtedly used the advice of Levitsky, and in his early works even imitated him. But until the beginning of the 1990s, icon painting was the main focus of Borovikovsky's work, since Lvov helped him receive profitable orders to participate in the design of new churches, which were then built a lot.

In the early nineties, Vladimir Lukich painted thirty-seven icons for the main cathedral of the Borisoglebsky Monastery in Torzhok, but their whereabouts are unknown. According to contemporaries, during their execution, the master departed from the traditional icon-painting style and painted images in a manner close to secular painting.

In the autumn of 1795, the artist was awarded the title of academician of painting for the portrait of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. Since that time, portrait painting has finally taken the main place in his work. Thanks to Borovikovsky, we can admire not only the portraits of members of the imperial family and the highest dignitaries of Russia, but also see many representatives of literature and art of the 18th century. By 1797, he had already established himself as a fairly popular artist and received an order for portraits of the daughters of Emperor Paul the First, and then Empress Maria Feodorovna, and later painted the emperor himself.

And so, in this significant year for him in 1797, the artist received an order to create a portrait of Maria Lopukhina from her husband - apparently, immediately after the wedding, Stepan Avraamovich Lopukhin wanted to give his young wife a good gift.

Portrait of the artist V.L. Borovikovsky Ivan Bugaevsky-Blagodatny

Maria is 18 years old, she is quite young and pretty. Of course, the artist was extremely captivated by her appearance, he could not remain an indifferent contemplator. This young woman concealed in herself so much tenderness, poetry, purity and beauty of human feeling, and at the same time, sadness and, as it were, a premonition of tragedy. And the tragedy happened - Maria, three years after writing the portrait, suddenly died of consumption, at that time it was an incurable disease. Most likely, while posing for the artist, she was already suffering from some initial signs of the disease, and he knew and saw this. It is known from the testimony of contemporaries that Borovikovsky was very worried about her illness. And as an artist, he simply could not help but succumb to the magic and charm of her image. The motif of flowers is felt in the picture - as a symbol of the blossoming, young age of the heroine. After all, she herself is like a blossoming tender plant, and here one can feel the artistic flair of the author. Borovikovsky was clearly captivated by her when he painted this portrait. It is felt that the artist put a part of his soul into this work. But also part of my sadness.

It seems that the artist painted a portrait somewhere in the park. In fact, this is a decorative background, like all other works by Borovikovsky painted on landscape backgrounds. Such was the tradition of creating a portrait of the era of Sentimentalism at the end of the 18th century. Usually the background and other details were added to the image later - as a rule, the posing artist gave the artist no more than two or three sessions, and this happened either in the owner's or mistress's house, or in the workshop. If in the case of drawing a portrait of Lopukhina, the session took place in the artist’s studio, then, of course, a certain intimacy was involuntarily created, perhaps that is why so much feeling and attractiveness are reflected in the portrait, in the face of the girl and in her whole appearance. But it is not known for certain where exactly the sessions took place, how many there were, and what the artist and his model were talking about at that time. There is no evidence of this.

The personal life of the artist himself did not work out, he did not start a family. Most likely because he was a talented painter, he invested himself in his work, he was constantly in an intense spiritual search. He painted not only secular paintings, but also carried out numerous orders for icons and iconostases of provincial and metropolitan churches.

In subsequent years, Borovikovsky went into mysticism, in 1802 he joined the Dying Sphinx Masonic Lodge, which already included his artist friends. Already in his later years, in 1819-24, he joined the sect of Baroness Ekaterina Fedorovna Tatarinova - the Union of Brotherhood. This was a religious, mystical community. Such a life required complete spiritual and physical dedication. Members of the sect read church books, sang spiritual psalms. And then their communication ended with the so-called zeal, or jubilation. That is, when people, men and women, dressed in white spacious clothes, began to perform ritual dances - they circled and uttered the so-called prophecies.

The artist's notes have been preserved, in particular, and related to that time. He kept a diary, where he daily described his stay in this sect of Tatarinova. And he mentioned whose portraits of church leaders he painted, what religious works he created ...

The lines of his work - religious and secular - are his two incarnations, they are inseparable. It can be seen from the notes that, at first, being in a sect, he felt some kind of unity among people who also tried in doubts and spiritual quests to find unity with God, with religion. And he tried to find himself in this in his own way - by searching for new religious images. But over time, the artist, apparently, experienced disappointment, being in this sect, even in his notes it sounded. Borovikovsky wrote about it this way: “Everything seems alien to me: one arrogance, pride and contempt. Not one sincere to me now. And I don’t see a single one that I would like to imitate.” This is a clear evidence of his bitter disappointment and suffering - in the society where he ended up, he found neither true faith, nor sincerity, nor true friendly participation. It was not easy to leave this sect, there were some laws of their own, their own circumstances. But soon Tatarinova's sect was banned and closed. And by 1824, almost all the members dropped out of it.

The last year after leaving the sect and in fact Last year of his life, Borovikovsky was engaged in secular painting, but also worked on two images for St. Anthony's Church of Kharkov University. They remained unfinished: apparently, he was already feeling unwell, he was sick. His student Alexei Gavrilovich Venetsianov, later a famous Russian artist, helped in the work on these two icons. These icons have not survived to this day, and perhaps they have survived, but their location has not been found to date.

Borovikovsky painted several beautiful portraits of leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. The master worked a lot on the interior design of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, completing six images for the Royal Gates and four images for the iconostasis.

There is practically one known portrait of the artist himself - a portrait of the work of his student Bugaevsky-Blagodarny, small in size. It can be seen that Borovikovsky was a purely outwardly handsome man, with a very pleasant, soft, kind look. A person who is on a spiritual quest.

The life of the wonderful artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky ended on April 4, 1825. He was buried at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Borovikovsky's paintings are stored in Tretyakov Gallery, in the Russian Museum, in the Hermitage, in the Kiev Museum of Russian Art, and in many Russian museums. And also abroad - in the Louvre, in Paris, in Hamburg, in private art collections.

LIFE AND FATE

Maria Lopukhina (1779-1803) - a representative of the Tolstoy count family, the sister of the famous adventurer and duelist Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, the wife of the Jagermeister S.A. Lopukhin. She was the eldest daughter of Count Ivan Andreyevich Tolstoy and Anna Fedorovna Maykova. Maria's father served in the Semyonovsky regiment, went from sergeant to brigadier and major general. And, in addition, he was known as the leader of the Kologriv nobility. Maria Ivanovna had four sisters: Vera, Anna, Alexandra and Ekaterina, as well as two brothers - Fedor and Peter. But perhaps the most odious figure in this family was Fyodor Tolstoy, Maria's older brother, nicknamed "The American", famous for his duels and adventures. With whom only he did not shoot! Even tried with Pushkin. But then the poet did a famous trick, began to eat cherries and spit out the seeds - they say, he is busy, I don’t have time for a duel now. This episode was the basis for the plot of Pushkin's story "The Shot".

Maria Ivanovna in 1797 married Stepan Avraamovich Lopukhin, a master of the hunts and a real chamberlain at the court of Paul the First, in fact, an unremarkable officer. However, the Lopukhins were representatives of prominent Russian noble families, very famous people. In the same year, shortly after the wedding, a portrait of Mary was ordered by her husband to the artist V. Borovikovsky. He was already a very popular and fashionable painter, and, apparently, Lopukhin turned to him not simply, not by chance.

Mary was barely 18 years old. According to the traditions of that time, the marriage was betrothed, and contemporaries spoke of this marriage as unhappy for both parties. The husband was 10 years older than his wife, which is not so much, but apparently this marriage was unequal both emotionally and in terms of feelings, as often happened in betrothed marriages, and the husband did not have to expect special love from such a young girl . They were destined to live together very little. The marriage was childless. And short-lived - the young wife died of consumption three years later. And, perhaps, not only from consumption, but from the lack of love, which she dreamed of, like every girl of her age.

So the fate of Maria Lopukhina was unhappy. Her husband buried her in the Lopukhins' family tomb in the Spas-Andronnikov Monastery, in Moscow. This is the current museum and the Andrei Rublev Center for Ancient Russian Art. A few years after her death, her husband also died and was buried in this tomb next to her. There is a mystery in his imminent death - maybe he loved Mary so much that he could no longer live without her.

This is briefly the life and fate of Maria Lopukhina. But if you go deeper into the history of not only this lovely girl, but also her family, amazing and interesting things will open up. Not only tragedy is revealed short life Mary, but also the fate of other people close to her.

All four sisters of Mary successfully married worthy people and formed their own families. So, despite the childless marriage of Mary, the Lopukhins family continued in descendants. The most famous family story is connected with the personality and fate of Maria's older brother, Fyodor, the “American”. In 1803, he went with Kruzenshtern on a trip around the world, as a volunteer, of his own free will, at his request. But during the voyage, Fedor proved himself to be a very undisciplined guest of the ship, and for repeated misconduct and too free behavior, he was landed on the shore of a Russian colony. After living there for some time, Fyodor Tolstoy visited the Aleutian Islands, where he was forced to live among wild local tribes. And then he returned to Russia by land, after which he received the nickname "American". He was a charismatic and very adventurous person, brave and desperate. In addition, after his many duels, Fedor Tolstoy was stripped of his officer rank and demoted to the soldiers. But during Patriotic War In 1812, he fought bravely as a warrior in the militia and restored his officer rank.

Despite the adventurous nature and love of "free life", Fyodor Tolstoy was a great lover of literature, literature, art, and made friends with many Russian writers and poets. In particular, with Batyushkov, with Pushkin, with Pushkin's uncle Vasily Lvovich, with Baratynsky, with Vyazemsky, with Griboyedov. Griboyedov immortalized his image in his immortal comedy “Woe from Wit” with the following words: “But we have a head that we don’t have in Russia, You don’t have to name it, you will recognize it from the portrait: Night robber, duelist, Was exiled to Kamchatka, Returned as an Aleut, And strong unclean in hand." From what Griboyedov proceeded with his last phrase is now unknown. But the poet knew better.

Fyodor's sister, Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, a representative of the ancient Tolstoy family, which gave Russia many statesmen, remained known only thanks to the beautiful portrait of Borovikovsky. Perhaps if her life had lasted longer, she would have left other interesting and significant memories for the world and posterity.

The image of Maria Lopukhina is very consonant with Lermontov's poem, addressed not to her, but so close to her appearance and her unfortunate fate.

Surrounded by a happy soul,
D a y s e a s s a t i o n s , full of attention,
Youth is bright, old age is calm,
Heartless peace of mind…

Model

The portrait shows Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina(1779-1803), representative of the Tolstoy count family, sister of Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, wife of the Jagermeister S. A. Lopukhin, daughter-in-law of the Oryol governor A. S. Lopukhin.

Description

The artist used the traditional technique of a representative portrait - surrounding the character with objects and attributes that help to reveal his image. However, Borovikovsky tried to show not the social status of Lopukhina, but the personal, intimate sides of her character. The main theme of the portrait was the harmonious fusion of man with nature, characteristic of the aesthetics of the late 18th century, which was formed under the influence of sentimentalism. The artist expresses this fusion through compositional-rhythmic and coloristic relationships. Lopukhina is depicted against the backdrop of a landscape, largely conditional and decorative, but typical features of the Russian national landscape are already traced in it - birch trunks, ears of rye, cornflowers. The landscape echoes the appearance of Lopukhina - the curve of her figure echoes the bowed ears, the white birch trees are reflected in the dress, the blue cornflowers echo the silk belt, and the soft purple shawl echoes the drooping rosebuds. The artist managed to fill the image of his model with life authenticity, depth of feelings and extraordinary poetry. This portrait was admired not only by contemporaries, but also by viewers of the next generations. So, the Russian poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky almost a hundred years later devoted the following lines to the portrait:

During the time of Pushkin, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was one of the main "horror stories". The girl lived a short and unhappy life, and after painting the portrait she died of consumption. Her father Ivan Tolstoy was a famous mystic and master of the Masonic Lodge. That is why rumors spread that he managed to lure the spirit of his dead daughter into this portrait. And that if young girls look at the picture, they will soon die. According to salon gossips, the portrait of Maria killed at least ten noblewomen of marriageable age... The philanthropist Tretyakov, who in 1880 bought the portrait for his gallery, put an end to the rumors.

Provenance

The portrait, created by Borovikovsky in 1797, was in the collection of relatives for a long time. It was kept by the niece of Maria Ivanovna, daughter of Fyodor Tolstoy. The portrait was highly valued as a family heirloom. And it was in the house of Tolstoy's daughter, who became the wife of the Moscow governor Perfiliev, that Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov saw this portrait in the late 1880s, and from there the picture ended up in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Sources

Polonsky Ya.P. Poems. Poems. - M .: Pravda, 1986.
State Tretyakov Gallery. Art of the 12th - early 20th centuries. - M .: ScanRus, 2007. - S. 102-103. - ISBN 978-5-93221-120-5
World art. Russian painting. - St. Petersburg: LLC SZKEO Kristall, 2007. - S. 25. - 192 p. - ISBN 5-9603-0064-8
Transmission of the radio station "Echo of Moscow" "Collection of the Tretyakov Gallery" from 04/20/2008 http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/tretiakovka/508671-echo/
“Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina" in the database of the Tretyakov Gallery

Literature

Alekseeva T. V. Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky and Russian culture of the XVIII-XIX centuries. - M.: Art, 1975.
Alekseeva T. V. About some little-known works of V. L. Borovikovsky // Art. 1982. No. 8. S.54-61.
Benois A. N. The history of Russian art in the XIX century / Comp., entry. article and comment. V. M. Volodarsky. - M.: Respublika, 1995.
Vdovin G. Formation of "I" in Russian culture XVIII century and the art of portraiture. - M.: Our house, 1999.
State Tretyakov Gallery. Collection directory. Painting XVIII century. - M.: Red Square, 1998.
State Russian Museum. Painting. XVIII century. Catalog. T. 1. - St. Petersburg, 1998.
Ilyina T.V. Russian art XVIII century. - M.: Higher School, 1999.
History of Russian Art / Ed. I. E. Grabar. T. 7. - M.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961.
Markina L. Vladimir Borovikovsky. - M.: White City, 2001.
Pryadilshchikov I. A portrait of triple historical significance // Miracles and Adventures. - 2002. - No. 7.
Chaikovskaya O. G. “Like a Curious Scythian…”: Russian Portrait and Memoirs of the Second Half of the 18th Century. - M.: Book, 1990.
Shumova M. N. Russian painting of the first half of XIX century. M., Art. 1978.

Categories:

Pictures in alphabetical order
Paintings from 1797
Paintings by Vladimir Borovikovsky
Paintings from the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery
portraits
Lopukhins

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And now let's turn to another amazing painting by a contemporary of Levitsky - Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky.
Portrait of Maria Lopukhina.

A bit of history with a biography

In 1797, the well-known Russian portrait painter Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, who at that time painted a portrait of the imperial family, received a new order. The Jägermeister at the court of Paul I wished to capture for centuries the image of his beautiful bride - the eighteen-year-old Countess Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina.

Countess Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, nee Tolstaya, was the eldest daughter of Count Ivan Andreevich Tolstoy and Anna Feodorovna Maykova. Count Tolstoy served in the Semyonovsky regiment, first as a sergeant, then as a brigadier, and finally rose to the rank of Major General. And, besides, he was the leader of the Kologriv nobility.
Maria Ivanovna was not the only daughter in the family, she had 4 sisters: Vera, Anna, Alexandra, and Ekaterina. Maria also had two brothers: Fedor and Peter.

Figure one

The most unusual person in this family was Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, Maria's older brother, nicknamed "The American", infamous to his contemporaries for his duels and adventures.

There is a legend that once he tried to shoot himself even with Pushkin himself. However, the great poet suddenly began to eat cherries and spit out the bones with a straight face. By this, he completely cooled the ardor of the American, who, in order to feel complete triumph, needed the confusion and fear of an opponent. Pushkin later used this famous episode in the plot of the story "The Shot".

However, God bless them, relatives, it's not about them, let's get back to the portrait of Maria Lopukhina. He stands alone in the gallery of portraits of the famous portrait painter VL Borovikovsky. What is it that attracted attention to her? Let's try to figure it out.

Figure two

The painting depicts a young girl leaning slightly on the parapet, which gives her posture a certain relaxation and thoughtfulness. The flexible, soft line of her silhouette is reminiscent of antique sculptures. The folds of her dress, similar to the robes of ancient goddesses, reinforce this impression. The gentle and soft features of her face, perhaps, do not correspond to the ideal canons of beauty, but the viewer is captivated by her image, full of naturalness and harmony.
The picture captures the ratio of details, their connection with the image of the girl. Her tenderness is similar to the tenderness of a rose lying nearby, curly hair resembles the curly crown of a tree standing behind, the bend of Lopukhina's figure exactly repeats the slope of a young birch tree seen in the distance.

Classic vinaigrette

Of course, the picture was not painted in nature, the landscape was modeled by the artist himself. The nature surrounding Lopukhin seems to be "assembled piece by piece". This is not a park, because ears of rye and blue cornflowers are clearly visible in the background, exactly repeating the color of the belt on the dress. But not a field either, otherwise, where would the wild lilies growing in the shade of a tree come from.
The whole landscape was created artificially, perhaps in order to emphasize the diversity of Lopukhina's qualities - external and internal. It echoes the image of a girl, denoting the harmonious fusion of her pure soul with nature itself. And lilies and roses, the color of which echoes the scarf, emphasize the sophistication, tenderness and grace of Maria Lopukhina. In addition, the details of the landscape could wear and symbolic meaning. Lilies are a symbol of purity and innocence, roses are a symbol of prosperity and matrimony. (IN ancient rome showered the bed of the newlyweds with rose petals and violets. The rose was an attribute of Venus-Urania - the goddess of sublime love and honest marriage). Such a "vinaigrette" was quite in the spirit of classical painting, and was inherited by Rococo and sentimentalism, prominent representative which was Borovikovsky. Lilies and roses have also been considered the flowers of the Virgin Mary since ancient times.
But the image of Maria Lopukhina is far from religious associations. Some see in him a carefully disguised, or rather even veiled sexuality, others - an image of the innocent charm of youth, but not carefree, but filled with hidden meaning. A charming, light young beauty looks at us with a strange, "unopened" smile, and her eyes are serious and sad.
When looking at this picture, conflicting feelings arise, the countess's expression seems to change: either the girl looks at you with aristocratic arrogance, or childishly defenseless and touching.
It is not surprising that the girl made a strong impression on the forty-year-old artist. He painted a portrait showing the depth and complexity of the inner world of Maria Lopukhina, he painted it so penetratingly that her image excites us to this day.

V.L. Borovikovsky. self-portrait

Reality and fiction...

Shortly after the portrait was painted, Maria married Lopukhin. Alas, their marriage turned out to be childless and unhappy, and a few years later, in 1803, Maria Lopukhina died suddenly of consumption ... The girl was only 24 years old.
Having heard about her beauty and sad fate, representatives of the world who had not previously known her personally began to besiege the house of Lopukhina's relatives (first a widower, then a niece) in order to see the beautiful Mary at least in a portrait. And, imagine, many of the young romantic visitors soon also fell ill with consumption and died suddenly. Numbers up to ten young noblewomen were called.
There was a terrible rumor about the portrait of Lopukhina ... According to rumors, the deceased looked from the canvas so realistically, mysteriously and vividly that people began to imagine that her father, the master of the Masonic lodge, as well as the famous mystic, Count Ivan Tolstoy, lured the soul of his daughter into her portrait. But there was certainly no mysticism in this. Just consumption in those days was quite common, and, alas, almost completely incurable disease.
Lopukhina's niece soon became the wife of the Moscow governor. In order to stop all talk about the harmful effect of the image of the portrait on the health of Moscow brides, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was "exiled" away from people's eyes and gossip, to the governor's country estate.

Only after almost 80 years the portrait was bought by the famous philanthropist and collector P.M. Tretyakov, who quite by chance saw him in this estate. After Tretyakov acquired the painting, the rumors about its mystical impact finally dissipated.
In 1885, the poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky wrote immortal lines dedicated to the image of Maria Lopukhina.

She has long passed, and there are no longer those eyes
And there is no smile that was silently expressed
Suffering is the shadow of love, and thoughts are the shadow of sorrow,
But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.
So part of her soul did not fly away from us,
And there will be this look and this beauty of the body
To attract indifferent offspring to her,
Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, be silent.

She has long passed, and there are no longer those eyes
And there is no smile that was silently expressed
Suffering is the shadow of love, and thoughts are the shadow of sorrow,
But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.
So part of her soul did not fly away from us,
And there will be this look and this beauty of the body
To attract indifferent offspring to her,
Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, be silent.

The Russian poet Yakov Polonsky dedicated these wonderful lines 100 years after the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was painted by artist V. Borovikovsky.

The portrait of M.I. Lopukhina is often called the most poetic creation of all the portraits of V. Borovikovsky. It shows a subtle delicate drawing, the correctness of forms and penetration into the very depths of the spiritual world of his heroine, an expression not only of deep thought, but also of sadness ... However, no matter how high the picturesque qualities of the portrait, no matter how characteristic of his era his plan , the work of Borovikovsky could not have retained the strength of its artistic impact to this day if the image itself had not been marked by features of deep and genuine vitality. He managed to embody in the guise of Lopukhina such an intense life of feeling that his predecessors did not know in Russian portraiture. At the same time, a feeling of simplicity emanates from the whole picture and the image of the girl, as a unity of man and nature, without giving the model heavy accessories, some expensive feathers and jewelry - as was customary then in the image of ceremonial portraits. A loose white dress tied under her breasts with a blue scarf, a soft lilac shawl, she does not have a wig, but natural hair. Everything is concise and simple, as was typical of the new style and direction in the art of that time - the end of the 18th century, and this style was called “sentimentalism”.

The portrait of Maria Lopukhina was one of the most vital and successful portraits of Borovikovsky, in the sense that he really managed to convey the direct human appearance of this young woman, something lively and magnetically attractive, and at the same time dramatic in her face and look. Especially in the look. Borovikovsky, among some other painters (Fyodor Rokotov, Dmitry Levitsky) mastered the technique of “painting a look”, not just empty eyes, but with meaning, with inner expression. Lopukhina looks at the viewer thoughtfully, but also slightly distracted, as if immersed in her thoughts, in her spiritual life. And it is felt in her lively spiritualized face that this girl is beautiful not only with external beauty, but also has a mind and a heart. All this the artist managed to reflect in the portrait, he put a part of his soul into his work. It can be added to everything that the portrait is technically perfect in terms of painting skills - Borovikovsky mastered the technique of “glazing” writing. That is, the underlying layers shine through the upper colorful layers of the painting. This gives a special elegance, a special colorfulness to the color. The portrait is generally beautiful in color. The coloring and its colors are harmoniously built on a combination of faded, delicate tones. This is expressed in the color of the landscape background of the backdrop, in its soft light green tones, and in the soft purple color of the shawl, and in the blue color of the belt tied at the waist, and in Lopukhina's white dress. But these are all details, although very important ones. The main thing is that the artist managed to fill the image of his model with life authenticity, depth of feelings and extraordinary poetry.

The portrait of Lopukhina was in the collection of relatives for a long time, it was kept by her niece Maria, the daughter of her older brother Fyodor Tolstoy, the “American”. The portrait was highly valued as a family heirloom. And it was in this house that Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov saw the portrait. How he managed to acquire a family heirloom, now it’s hard to know for sure. This happened already at the end of the 1880s, and it was then that the painting ended up in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. I must say that Pavel Tretyakov bought relatively few works by Borovikovsky, but the portrait of Lopukhina among them is a real gem. When visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery come to the Borovikovsky Hall, they immediately pay attention to it. The portrait almost never leaves the walls of the gallery. He visited only two exhibitions, and even then within Moscow. Many viewers come to the Tretyakov Gallery to admire the portrait of Maria Lopukhina. There is so much charm in the appearance of a young lady, the magnetism of her gaze attracts lovers and connoisseurs of painting. There is also a certain mystery in this portrait, a mystery that cannot be completely comprehended.

A slight smile and sadness, simplicity and naturalness, unity with nature and daydreaming. This is Maria Lopukhina.
The portrait of Maria Lopukhina by V. Borovikovsky is in the Tretyakov Gallery. This is a real masterpiece of national painting. Such a Russian image, it was painted in 1797. Mysterious smile, innuendo and tenderness. This is Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, nee Countess Tolstaya, a relative of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Tolstoy is her cousin. In the year the portrait was painted, Maria was given in marriage to Stepan Lopukhin, who was the master of the hunt and the actual chamberlain at the court of Paul the First. However, the portrait by Borovikovsky, already famous at that time, is Lopukhin's wedding gift to his 18-year-old wife.
Family life did not make Maria Ivanovna happy. Her husband was rude, and sincere conversations with him did not work. They had no children, and at the age of 23 she died of consumption, a cure for which had not yet been invented. Her grave was the family tomb of the Lopukhins in the monastery. A couple of years later, her husband also found the last shelter there.
At the time of painting the portrait, the artist Borovikovsky was 40 years old. He was a favorite painter, received a lot of orders, even from the imperial family. The portrait of Maria Lopukhina became one of the artist's best, and, undoubtedly, the most famous. This is a portrait of the era of sentimentalism, which cultivated living feelings, emotionality and morality. The naturalness of beauty and the beauty of naturalness, man in nature. The girl in the picture is depicted against the background of the park, and this is an addition to her image. Nature is here as part of the youngest woman. A gentle blush that touched her cheeks, and roses, blue flowers and a blue belt, a curved figure and a leaning tree. Blurred contours, iridescent shades of a delicate palette, enhanced repetitions - all this creates the unity of man and nature. The girl is a little sad, but sad beautifully, dreamily. Next to her, echoing her melancholy, a rose withers, perhaps being the subject of the artist's thoughts about the transience of beauty. Mary's dress is simple and again natural. Her hair falls in curly curls and is modestly thrown back.
This picture awakens the imagination, and asks to think about the solution to the mystery. A love story, a secret. She, as the embodiment of a Russian intelligent beauty, is an inspiration for many of her connoisseurs.

For the first time in Russian art, the national Russian landscape is depicted. In muffled lyrical tones, he writes out white trunks of birches, golden ears of corn, cornflowers, roses, lilies. And against their background, the flexible figure of a girl in simple clothes and without a complicated hairstyle is such a harmonious image of unity with nature...
This graceful pose, hand, face, eyes - Borovikovsky managed to truthfully express the emotional life of a person, write a look - meaning on a living face, and this happened for the first time in the history of Russian painting. Mentally, the artist penetrated into the very depths of the spiritual world of the heroine, the nuances internal state, created an aesthetic ideal ...
“The elusive mobility of the figure, the variability of facial expressions, the mysteriousness of a smile ...” With similar phrases, the audience expresses their impression when they see the famous “Mona Lisa” by the great Leonardo da Vinci. A similar impression is made by the portrait of M.I. Lopukhina. An incredibly large range of feelings, thoughts, questions about love and death, the ephemeral nature of being and its eternity, the struggle and unity of good and evil can cause both one and the other picture...
In the Borovikovsky Hall in the Tretyakov Gallery, the portrait of M.I. Lopukhina is a real gem, the audience immediately pays attention to it. Through the general inconspicuousness of the portrait, a look emerges, it is it that attracts attention to itself, keeps it in suspense, beckons, attracts, tells to stay. This enigmatic look either changes from somewhat arrogant to tender, or expresses aristocratic arrogance, or the touching childishness of a young beautiful girl, or suddenly unexpectedly and anxiously prophesies a near tragic end ... And to this day, the portrait has retained the power of its extraordinary artistic impact. Visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery have a belief, peering into the image in the portrait, to think about the future by the expression of the face and eyes of Maria Ivanovna. They say that she is especially disposed to couples in love, sometimes she can even wink friendly - for good luck ...

(Materials from the Internet)

Borovikovsky V. "Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina"

The 18th century went down in the history of Russian art as the “age of the portrait”, one of its best portrait painters is Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky.
An important role in his fate was played by the journey of Catherine II to the Crimea in 1787. Palaces and triumphal gates were erected on the way of the empress.
For one of these palaces, which was intended to receive the Russian empress, the Mirgorod leader of the nobility instructed V.L. Borovikovsky to write several allegorical paintings.
The queen especially liked two of them. On one, she herself was depicted in the form of Minerva, surrounded by seven ancient Greek sages, to whom she explains her mandate, on the second - Peter I, plowing the land, on which, again, she sows seeds, in some places already bearing fruit. Having learned the name of the artist, the Empress invited him to go to St. Petersburg.

V.L. Borovikovsky was incredibly industrious, he painted a lot of portraits, and he was instructed to paint portraits of all members of the imperial family.
The thoughtfulness of the picture, the skillful use of the brush, the freshness of color, the ability to depict all kinds of fabrics and clothes put V.L. Borovikovsky in a number of well-known portrait painters, although he did not receive a thorough classical education.
In the portraits of V.L. Borovikovsky shows the tenderness of the brush, the thin delicate drawing, the correctness of the forms and always the expression of thought on the face depicted by him. The portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina is the most poetic and feminine of all created by the artist. At the same time, he discovers the established moral and aesthetic ideal of V.L. Borovikovsky

The image of M.I. Lopukhina captivates the viewer with gentle melancholy, unusual softness of facial features and inner harmony. This harmony is conveyed by the entire artistic structure of the picture: both by the turn of the head and the expression on the woman's face, it is also emphasized by individual poetic details, such as roses plucked and already drooping on the stem. This harmony is easy to catch in the melodious smoothness of the lines, in the thoughtfulness and subordination of all parts of the portrait.

The face of M.I. Lopukhina, perhaps, is far from the classical ideal of beauty, but it is full of such inexpressible charm, such spiritual charm that next to it many classical beauties will seem like a cold and inanimate scheme. The captivating image of a tender, melancholy and dreamy woman is conveyed with great sincerity and love, the artist reveals her spiritual world with amazing persuasiveness.
Thoughtful, languid, sad-dreamy look, gentle smile, free ease of a slightly tired pose, smooth, rhythmically falling down lines, soft, rounded shapes, white dress, lilac scarf and roses, blue belt, ashy hair color, green foliage background and finally a soft airy haze that fills the space - all this forms such a unity of all means of pictorial expression, in which the creation of the image is revealed more fully and deeper.
M.I. Lopukhina is standing in the garden, leaning on an old stone console. The contour flowing around her figure - now lost, then appearing in the form of a thin, flexible line - evokes the contours of ancient statues in the viewer's memory. Falling, converging or forming smooth folds, the thinnest and most spiritual features of the face - all this makes up, as it were, not painting, but music.

Paints on the ground V.L. Borovikovsky applied a thick, but thin and even layer, achieving a kind of color vibration. When writing this portrait, the artist preferred a cold range - lilac-yellow and white, pale blue and yellow, muted green and ashy colors.
The figure of M.I. Lopukhina is surrounded by an airy haze of the landscape, but it does not merge with it, but acts as a clear plastic volume, rhythmically connected with it: hanging branches and tree trunks, depicted in the background, seem to echo the bowed torso and the position of the hand. Subtly models shapes and soft, gliding light.

V.L. Borovikovsky had previously introduced landscape backgrounds into his portraits. But right now, developed with all care, they become an important component for the artist. portrait characteristics get real meaning. Ears of ripe rye, delicate greens, cornflowers - everything is designed to emphasize not only the "simplicity" of the image, but also to express its dreamy mood. (Despite the fact that art historians note some conventionality in this landscape with “rural” signs.)
They also notice a share of some artificiality in the casually thoughtful pose of a woman. But at that time, the heroes themselves, as it were, demonstrated their ability for lofty feelings and heartfelt feelings, and after them, the artists (including V.L. Borovikovsky) had to depict these feelings, which were signs of a worthy and virtuous soul.
It is known that M.I. Lopukhina was never happy; a year after VL Borovikovsky painted her portrait, she died. But this woman concealed and carried in herself so much tenderness, love, purity of poetry, beauty of human feeling, which The poet Y. Polonsky's first impression of the portrait he saw was heartfelt poetic lines:

Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina by Borovikovsky, one of my favorite paintings, is also in the Tretyakov Gallery.

The picture, which depicts the wife of the Jägermeister S. A. Lopukhin, the young Countess Maria Ivanovna, nee Tolstaya, the sister of the famous adventurer, Fyodor Tolstoy "The American", is often compared with the exciting and beautiful Mona Lisa.

Describing the famous creation of Da Vinci, they often say that Gioconda is mystically mysterious, her smile is elusive, and her eyes seem to be alive, and it seems that the girl is looking directly at you ... Similar sensations arise when you look at the portrait of Lopukhina.

In 1797, the famous portrait painter Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, who was working at that time on a portrait of the imperial family, received another order. The Jägermeister at the court of Paul I wished to capture his beautiful bride, eighteen-year-old Countess Maria Ivanovna.

Borovikovsky V.L.

The cheerful, light young beauty made a strong impression on the forty-year-old Borovikovsky. Her natural charm and spontaneity prompted the artist to paint a portrait showing the deep, intimate sides of the girl's character, revealing her tender soul...

Looking at this picture, a huge range of opposing feelings and thoughts arises, the countess's expression every second seems different: either the girl looks at you with the arrogance of an aristocrat, or, practically, childishly touching.

This effect that exposes inner world heroine, Borovikovsky achieved by using the traditional technique of a representative portrait, when a character is depicted surrounded by attributes and objects that reveal his image.

Only earlier such portraits were intended to indicate the social status of a person, his importance and viability. Borovikovsky, on the other hand, placed the beautiful Mary in a wonderful garden, partly decorative and conditional, but in which the features of the Russian landscape are traced.

Behind a delicate girl with a simple hairstyle, dressed in a light, simple dress with an azure belt, one can see the white trunks of Russian birches, blue cornflowers and ears of rye. The naturalness of the landscape echoes the simplicity of the image of the Countess, denoting the harmonious fusion of the pure soul of the girl with nature itself.

Scenery

The lines of the landscape repeat the curve of Lopukhina's fragile frame, the light birch trees are reflected in her dress, the golden ears of corn in the decoration on her arm, the cornflowers echo the delicate belt on her dress, and the light shawl on her shoulders exactly repeats the color of the rosebuds located in the right corner of the painting. the beauties who stare at us from the canvases of the great painters will forever remain just like that: young, charming and full of vitality. However, the true fate of beautiful models is not always as enviable as it might seem at first glance.

It is very easy to see this in the example of this famous portrait. Maria Lopukhina, descended from the count family of Tolstoy, immediately after her own wedding (she was 18 years old) posed for Vladimir Borovikovsky. The portrait was commissioned by her husband. At the time of writing, Maria looked just great. Her face radiated so much charm, spirituality and dreaminess ... There could be no doubt that the charming model was waiting for a long and happy life. An incomprehensible fact, but Mary died of consumption when she was only 23 years old. .

After her death, the portrait began to acquire mystical rumors. The dead woman looked so realistically, vividly and mysteriously from the canvas that people began to think that her father, the master of the Masonic lodge and the famous mystic, Ivan Tolstoy, managed to lure his daughter's soul into this picture.

It was said that if a young girl looked at the portrait, she would soon die. According to the version of secular gossip, the picture killed at least a dozen beautiful maidens.

The portrait, meanwhile, was kept in the house of Lopukhina's niece, daughter of Fyodor Tolstoy, and was revered as a family heirloom. It was here that Pavel Tretyakov first saw him in 1880. The magnificent picture made an indelible impression on the patron, and he did everything to buy it for his gallery.

Since then, the terrible rumors about the portrait have ceased. Now people admired this magnificent work of Borovikovsky, filled with depth of feelings, life authenticity and extraordinary poetry. …

Portrait of Lopukhina

In 1885, the poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky wrote immortal lines about this beautiful girl, who will be admired by many more generations in the future:

“She has long passed, and there are no longer those eyes

Suffering is the shadow of love, and thoughts are the shadow of sorrow,

But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.

So part of her soul did not fly away from us,

And there will be this look and this beauty of the body

To attract indifferent offspring to her,

Teaching him to love, suffer, forgive, be silent.

Portrait of Lopukhina Once, almost a hundred years ago, the poet Polonsky saw a portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina painted by Borovikovsky at his acquaintances. The portrait by that time was also almost a hundred years old. The poet remained in thought for a long time in front of a small canvas. He knew next to nothing about this woman. He only knew that for some reason her life had turned out unhappily and that she died quite young.

The poet thought: "What a miracle - painting! All long ago would have forgotten this beautiful Lopukhina if not for the painter's brush..."

And verses began to form in his head:

She has long passed - and there are no longer those eyes
And there is no smile that was silently expressed
Suffering is the shadow of love, and thoughts are the shadow of sorrow.
But Borovikovsky saved her beauty...

Of course, this is why we remember Lopukhina because Borovikovsky wrote it. Well, if we did not know who is depicted in the portrait, would we like him less or touch us less? Probably, not. That is why this portrait will forever excite us, that the artist not only similarly portrayed the long-forgotten Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, but also created beautiful image women of sad and bright beauty, pure and tender souls.
THANK YOU
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