Portrait of Mikhail Andreyevich Arsenyev 1825

George Dawe painted this portrait of Mikhail Andreyevich Arsenyev, a Russian General, in the early 19th century. It’s an oil painting and it now resides here in the Hermitage Museum. Dawe’s images of Russian military figures offered a visual rhetoric of Russian Imperial power following Napoleon’s defeat. The artist made over 300 portraits of Generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812, which are displayed in the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. Consider the institutional history here: the Hermitage, founded by Catherine the Great, had a commitment to collecting the art of Western Europe. Russian artists like Dawe were offered a place in that context. This is how the image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. To learn more about this artwork, we could explore the archives of the Hermitage Museum and study the socio-political context of early 19th century Russia. By doing so, we can gain a deeper understanding of the values and beliefs that shaped the creation and reception of this portrait.