Portrait of Countess Ekaterina Samoylova
1790s
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Location in museum
The St Michael’s Castle
Open the panorama of the hall in the virtual tour
Room 203 - Period 18th century
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Ekaterina Samoilova (née Princess Trubetskaya, 1763-1830), Lady in Waiting to Catherine II (1782). In 1786 she got married to the famous statesman, Procurator General Count Alexander Samoilov (1744–1814), a nephew of His Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin. Like the other nieces, she enjoyed his particular favour and during the Second Turkish War of 1787-1791 she stayed with her husband at the main quarters of the Prince in Bender. The beautiful Countess Samoilova had a lot of admires. The cold relationships between husband and wife were known at the court. Samoilova was an active and authoritative by character but tender and loving as the mother. Knowing what influence the world could have on young girls she didn’t allow her daughters to go away anywhere without her permission.
The art historian and bibliographer Petr Petrov suggested that the head in the portrait was painted by Johann Baptiste Lampi I and the rest by Karl Brullov. The art technological research into the painting held in the museum has approved the Petrov’s suggestion that one artist painted the face and the other - the rest.