Vladimir Loukitch Borovikovsky (1757-1825). Portrait of Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky, commander of the Nizhny Novgorod dragoon regiment, wearing the orders of St. George (4th class), and St. Vladimir (4th class). Saint Petersburg, circa 1795. Oil on zinc. 8.5 x 7 cm. Portrait formerly - and erroneously!- placed in a round brass frame bearing two inscriptions at the top and bottom: "Prince Potemkin" and "by Colson". The same error was written (mid-19th c.?) on the back of the zinc plate, with the fanciful date 1765. Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829), son of Nikolai Raevsky and his wife Catherine Samoilova, who was the niece of the famous Prince Potemkin. He became a cavalry general and a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812; Alexander Pushkin was proud of his friendship. But here, our hero is only 23. Despite his youth, he had already taken part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791, from which he returned with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He took part in the Polish campaign of 1792, and for his exploits was awarded the Order of St. George (4th class) and the Order of St. Vladimir (4th class). In 1794, he was appointed commander of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, then stationed in the Caucasus town of Georgievsk. In December 1794, Nicholas Raevsky took several months' leave, which he spent in St. Petersburg. He married Sofia Alexeevna Constantinova, granddaughter of historian & scientist Michel Lomonossoff. By this time, Vladimir Borovikovsky was at the height of his fame. In 1794, during a walk in the Tsarskoye Selo park, he painted a portrait of Catherine II, for which he was honored by the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts; in 1795, the Academy received him as a member for his portrait of Grand Duke Constantin Pavlovich. That same year, 1795, Borovikovsky was working on a portrait of Nikolas Raevsky's mother, Catherine Nicolaevna Davydova, née Samoïlova, niece of the famous Prince Grigori Potemkin. It was therefore most probably in the course of 1795 that Catherine Davydova commissioned Borovikovsky to paint two miniature portraits of her son, who had just married and would soon be leaving for the Caucasus. It's worth noting the long-standing relationship between Vladimir Borovikovsky and the Samoilov-Raevsky family. In addition to the aforementioned portrait of Catherine Davydova, in which she holds a miniature portrait of her brother A. Samoilov, Borovikovsky also painted Nicolas Raevsky's wife. Samoilov commissioned Borovikovsky to paint the portrait of Elisabeth Temkina, daughter of Catherine II and Prince Potemkin, whose guardian he was. In our miniature, we find all of Vladimir Borovikovsky's artistic techniques: oil painting on a metal plate, the general composition, a certain posture of the figure represented, the landscape in the background (in our case, a mountain landscape, which can be interpreted as a reminder of the Caucasus where Nicholas Raevsky served) and, of course, astonishing pictorial skill. In particular, the same typical Borovikovsky posture can be found in portraits of Menelas, Derjavine, Empress Catherine II strolling through Tsarskoye Selo, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, Alexander Kurakin, Borovsky, Narychkina, Labzin, Golubtsov and others. Finally, comparison with another portrait of Nicholas Raevsky, also painted by Vladimir Borovikovsky, leaves no doubt that the two miniatures belong to the same master and depict the same officer; in the 1960s, this other miniature was part of the collection of Pyotr Mikhailovich Raevsky, the model's great-grandson and family historian (Military Bulletin no. 21, May 1963, p. 13).