Portrait of Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev
West-European. 1710
- oil on canvas. 102 x 79 (oval)
Received in 1918 from the Sheremetevs collection- Музей-усадьба "Кусково"
The painting was mentioned in the Inventory of 1839 as “Portrait of Count Boris Petrovich wearing a Spanish wig, oval, signed.” The painting was created in the spirit of European portraits of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The provenance and brushwork of the portrait do not shed light on the artist’s name; but there is no doubt that the painting is an important iconographic document.
Boris Sheremetev (April 25, 1652 – February 17, 1719) Statesman, commander and diplomat. In 1682 he was made Boyar. He took part in the first Azov campaign. He was a close associate of Peter the Great and fought in all the most important battles of the Northen War (Dorpat, Narva, and Riga). He became Field Marshal General in 1701 and was the first Russian count (1706). At the battle of Poltava he commanded the centre of the Russian Army. Peter the Great called Sheremetev his “Turenne” and valued him greatly for his selflessness.