His mentor there was Professor Fyodor Zav'yalov [ru], who invited him to be an assistant for decorative work that was being done in the entrance hall of Kremlin Palace.

[1] Some of his paintings were shown at the Imperial Academy of Arts, where they received a silver medal.

In his rush to be named a "Free Artist", he accepted a silver medal and passed up the opportunity to compete for a gold one.

Among other notable works at this time were "Finnish Smugglers", one of the first two works purchased by Pavel Tretyakov for his gallery,[1] and "Persecution of Christians in the East", purchased by Tsar Nicholas I as a gift to King Otto of Greece.

In 1856, he visited France and Italy; staying in Paris, Rome and Naples for about four years while continuing to execute commissions for members of the Russian nobility.