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COUNTESS ELENA MIKHAILOVNA ZAVADOVSKAYA FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Creator(s):

Currently in storage


About this object

Of Polish descent through her father, Mikhail Feodorovich Vlodek (1780-1849), and of Russian descent through her mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna Tolstaya (1788-1847), Elena Mikhailovna Zavadovskaya (1807-1874) was one of the beauties of St. Petersburg in the 1820s. She was part of Alexander Pushkin’s circle. In 1824, she married Russian Senate Chief Prosecutor, Count Vasily Petrovich Zavadovsky (1798-1855). The Middleton daughters were also part of Elena’s circle. Difficulties in her marriage led her to spend a great deal of time abroad with her son in the early 1830s, particularly in Paris, where her beauty captivated French high society.

The half-length portrait presents Elena Mikhailovna Zavadovskaya sitting facing left, with eyes looking right, against a wood balcony overlooking woods, mountains, and a blue sky with grey clouds. Her light brown hair is elaborately styled in an Apollo knot. She wears a white dress with a yellow belt and a blue scarf draped along her right shoulder and loosely tied near her waist. Her only jewelry is a pair of pendant earrings.

Object name:
COUNTESS ELENA MIKHAILOVNA ZAVADOVSKAYA FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM
Made from:
Watercolor on paper
Date made:
1824-1835
Size:
H. 8 in., W. 6 1/2 in.

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
52.39.27
Signature marks:
Inscription Comtesse de Zavadofsky, née Vlodek Bottom of page In cursive
Credit line:
Museum Purchase, 2004