24 December 1876] 1877) was a Russian Imperial artist of Baltic German descent.

Following his graduation, he travelled and divided his time between his native Estonia, Italy and Saint Petersburg, the Imperial capital.

[1] The portrait was apparently well received as he from this time onward became tied to the court, and made a career as an artist working for the higher echelons of society.

[2] In 1846, he was made an honorary member of the Academy of Florence and after finishing the decoration of parts of the iconostasis of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, was nominated to become a member of the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts.

[2][3] As a court artist, von Neff was appreciated as a portraitist and painter of typically academical subjects which were then popular, notably odalisque-like nude bathers and nymphs.