Ivan Argunov

In 1746–1749 Ivan Argunov studied painting with a German artist named Georg Grooth who at the time was in the employ of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia.

His earliest known portraits were of Prince Ivan Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky (1752) and Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya (1754).

Among his subjects were Russian royalty and of course Argunov's masters the Sheremetevs as well as their relatives the Lazarevs and the counts Tolstoy.

The identity of the sitter for the painting remains uncertain, whilst studies have suggested that she was the serf actress and singer of the counts Sheremetev, Anna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova, it has equally been supposed that it was not in fact an official portrait of her, but rather an image of an unidentified wet nurse, taken from amongst the Seremetevs' serfs.

[1] Between the second half of 1780s until his death in 1802 Argunov did not paint but spent all his time managing different estates and businesses of the Sheremetevs.