Portrait of Nikolai D. Olsufyev (1779-1817) (3rd)

Dawe employs chiaroscuro to model the figure, allowing the light to fall on the face and the ornate details of the uniform while the muted brown background recedes. The brushwork renders the texture of the fabric and metal insignia with clarity, emphasizing depth and three‑dimensional presence.

After completing the portrait in 1826, Dawe incorporated it into the extensive series of military portraits commissioned for the Winter Palace. The painting entered the State Hermitage Museum’s holdings, where it remains on display as part of the museum’s Russian portraiture collection.

Dawe, an English‑born artist trained by his father, a mezzotint engraver, moved to Russia in 1819. His reputation grew among Russian artists and literary figures, including Alexander Pushkin, leading to a prolific output of officer portraits that documented the Russian military elite of the early nineteenth century.