[2] He graduated in 1797 and became an academician in 1803, following which he was sent to do field work in Rome and came under the influence of Vincenzo Camuccini, who praised the simplicity of his design and coloring.

It was rumored that people would buy his paintings for the number of gold coins that could be laid on the principal figure, and that Pope Pius VII had asked him to remain as a court painter, but he politely refused the offer.

As a man of deep faith, he always considered his religious paintings to be his most important work, although he reluctantly produced portraits of many people in the nobility.

As a father, he refused to give his daughters an education and was very critical of their suitors, kicking one out of the house as a suspected Freemason, simply because of the way he crossed his knife and fork.

[4] In 1840, he was summarily dismissed by Tsar Nicholas I, who was displeased with images of the Holy Trinity he had painted for Catherine's Cathedral.