Portrait of Prince Alexander Bezborodko
mid- to late 1700s
Medium
watercolor on ivory in a 19th-century gilt metal frame
Dimensions
diam. 8.6 cm · diameter of frame 10.2 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Ellen Wade Chinn, Elizabeth Wade Sedgwick and J. H. Wade III in memory of their mother Irene Love Wade
Accession Number
1966.383
Tags
About this artwork
This portrait of Alexander Bezborodko, chancellor of Russia from 1747 to 1799, was painted by Pierre-Charles Cior in the final years of the 18th century. Previously a foreign minister for Catherine the Great, the prince became grand chancellor of the Russian empire upon the 1797 accession to the throne of Catherine's son Paul I. In this position, Bezborodko reformed the post office, regulated the banking systems, and constructed roads. Here he is shown dressed in a blue uniform with the blue sas...