Portrait of an Unknown Man in a Fancy Dress of Neptune
1720s
- oil on canvas. 88 х 68
Received in 1931 from the Gatchina Palace-Museum- State Tretyakov Gallery
One of the Preobrazhensky Series portraits. The person depicted is a member of the Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters, a mock undertaking of the young tsar Peter, established “following an ancient barbaric custom.” The member of the Drunken Synod is dressed like “the god of seas, all springs and waters;” he is wearing a light brown gown, and there is a heavy carved crown atop a red cap on his head. He holds a traditional trident in his hands. He may have been a celebrant attending a costume party organized in Moscow to celebrate the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad. In January 1722, Moscovites were treated to amusements with a “fleet” that cruised around the snow-covered streets in sleighs. The emperor himself, together with his generals and admirals, sat amongst the gilt-decorated galley, as the sea emperor pranced in front of them. The hypothesis claiming that the person depicted is Semyon Turgenev has not yet been confirmed.