He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Andrey Ivanovich Ivanov, Alexei Yegorov and Vasily Shebuyev; graduating in 1824, having received several medals.

He received a gold medal and a stipend for a study trip outside of Russia in 1830, as recognition for his painting "Socrates, Before his Death, Talking with Students About the Immortality of the Soul".

[1] He visited Dresden and Rome, copying frescoes and paintings, notably those of Raphael, as well as producing his own.

One of his most prominent is "Joseph Meeting his Brothers in Egypt", in the attic of Saint Isaac's Cathedral.

He also performed the drawings and composition for the depiction of the Trinitarian God on the ceiling of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, although the actual work was executed by Ivan Makarov, Ivan Kramskoi, Nikolay Koshelev and Bogdan Wenig.