The Eighteenth Century
In fact, some of Rokotov's portraits are in no way inferior to the famous works of these masters. Here belong the somewhat coarse-grained portraits of Pete III strongly reminiscent of Rotari, as well as the wonderfully painted and very bold portraits of Catherine II in white satin crinoline (the coronational—in the Academy of Arts). Here also belongs the somewhat motley profile portrait of the Empress, in Gatchina, the portraits of I. I. Shuvalov, P. I. Shuvalov, I. G. Orlov, and others. Sometimes Rokotov soared to a height which brought him near to the greatest European portrait painters: to Gainsborough, Nattier Latour. Such is his portrait of Countess Santi, one of the most astonishing productions of the eighteenth century both for the delicacy of characterisation and for colour, with its charming combinations of olive and pink hues. A corsage of modest field flowers on the bosom of the lady lends to the work an intimacy exquisite in its simplicity, such as can seldom be found in Levitzky and Borovikovsky.
The portraits of Levitzky (1735–1822) are equally interesting to the historian and to the painter. He painted a great many of the prominent leaders of the brilliant reign of Catherine, and he depicted them with perfectly convincing vividness. He succeeded, like no one else in Russia, in expressing the characteristic tone
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