Portrait of the Actual State Councillor Ivan Lazarev

Executed in oil on canvas, the portrait follows realist conventions, emphasizing precise rendering of texture—from the sheen of medals to the embroidered detailing of the jacket. Pluchart employs subtle chiaroscuro, allowing light to model Lazarev’s face and chest, creating a three‑dimensional presence against the muted background.

Created by Pluchart, a painter of French ancestry born in Saint Petersburg in 1809, the portrait entered the Hermitage’s holdings at an unspecified date. Pluchart later relocated to Dresden, where he worked around 1880, but the painting remained in Russia, eventually becoming part of the museum’s permanent collection.

The work reflects the mid‑19th‑century Russian practice of commemorating civil officials through formal portraiture, a genre that reinforced hierarchical structures within the empire. Pluchart’s realist approach aligns with contemporary European trends, integrating Western techniques while documenting Russian state figures.