His father was the decorative painter, Ivan Karlovich Scotti [ru] (originally, Giovanni Battista Scotti), who was probably born in Northern Italy and brought to Russia at the age of ten by his father, Carlo [ru], also a painter, who was invited there by Giacomo Quarenghi.

[3] For a time, he worked on the Shepelev [ru] estate, near Ardatov, giving drawing lessons and painting icons.

[2] Shortly after, he went to Italy, by way of Germany with Count Pavel Kutaisov, chairman of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and remained there until 1844.

[2] His students there included Konstantin Makovsky, Nikolai Nevrev, Vasily Perov and Sergei Gribkov.

He also continued to paint numerous religious works; notably at the Annunciation Church in Saint Petersburg, under the direction of its designer, Konstantin Thon.