8 best works of the famous Russian portrait painter Orest Kiprensky

He is best known for his iconic portrait of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, but he also painted many of Russia's most prominent people.

Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836) became popularly known as the "Russian Van Dyck". He was the illegitimate son of the landowner Adam Dyakonov and his serf woman. Unable to officially recognize the child, the father considered him a member of the family of his serf mother.

From a very early age, Orest showed a talent for drawing, so his father enrolled him in the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. The administration of the academy saw the gifted young man, allowed him to live in the boarding house of the academy after graduation, and provided him with an allowance for traveling abroad.

Kiprensky traveled through Switzerland, France and Germany, and, of course, Italy, where he spent several years of his life taking lessons from the best artists. He even married an Italian named Anna Maria Falcucci and converted to Catholicism. He died in Rome (before seeing his daughter, who was born after his death) and was buried in the local church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.

Below are some of the most famous portraits of Orest Kiprensky.

8 PHOTOS