Leonid Solomatkin

[1] With a bundle of those sketches in hand, he went to Moscow and presented them to Nikolai Ramazanov, a sculptor, teacher and art critic who was known for his willingness to support young artists.

[2] In 1855, Ramazanov obtained him a place at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he worked until 1860 while studying with Apollon Mokritsky.

While there, he studied the Dutch Masters at the Hermitage and was influenced by the works of Pavel Fedotov.

Perhaps his most popular painting was one of ostentatiously pious policemen who went to the house of a merchant at Christmas to "glorify Christ" and get a tip.

In fact, he often made several copies of his paintings (with variations), and most of them were small, to make this easier.