Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich

Giovanni Battista Lampi II (1775–1837) after Giovanni Battista Lampi I

First quarter of the 19th c. Oil on canvas

Portraits painted by a professor of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Johann Baptist (Giovanni Battista) Lampi the Elder (1751–1830) from Austria, had a strong influence on contemporary Russian art. Guided by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, he depicted his models as virtuous men and women aspiring to higher ideals. This approach is present in the double portrait of the grand dukes Alexander and Konstantin; the portrait of the future Emperor Alexander I in the collection of the Kadriorg Museum is a partial repetition of the double portrait. It was probably painted by the artist’s son, Johann Baptist Lampi the Younger, who arrived in Russia together with his father.
The large original painting, commissioned by Empress Catherine II in 1795, depicts the grand dukes in the festive attire of the two most important orders of Russia: Alexander in the attire of the Order of St. Andrew and Konstantin in the attire of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky; both are wearing the respective medals. The double portrait was designed to manifest the empress’s far-reaching political and military objectives. The person who commissioned the portrait must have wished to see the young grand duke as the next successor to the throne, rather than his father Paul, as he chose this painting to serve as the model.