A portrait of Michael V.Lomonosov
Middle of the XIX Century
Canvas; oil paints
138 х 103,5 cm
Receipt: as a part of collection of M.N.Yermolova in 1915
Open storage
Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711–1765) was an educator, scientist-encyclopedist, naturalist, historian, philologist, poet and artist. He made a significant contribution into formation of the national secular culture, development of science and establishment of the national scientific school. The first Russian academician of the St.Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1745). Member of the Academy of Arts (1763). This Portrait is one of the few copies of the only lifetime pictorial images of Michael V. Lomonosov. It was made in 1755 by the Austrian artist G.K.I. von Prenner who worked in Russia. Till 1917 the original portrait was kept by the descendants of the great scientist, but later it was lost.
More information...Besides the typical for a portrait of scientist in the XVIII Century objects – a globe, a compass and other tools for drawing, the artist depicted in the foreground a box with samples of colored smalt, and far outside the window could be seen one of the buildings of the factory of colored glass, founded by Lomonosov in 1753 in Ust-Ruditsa near St. Petersburg. The factory became a favorite brainchild of a scientist who dreamed of the revival of mosaic art in Russia and considered it a matter of great national importance. It is known that Lomonosov had personally developed recipes for various types of colored glass, resolved the problem of obtaining a rich palette of shades of colors through the skillful use of a relatively small number of available dyes. He made thousands of experiments, invented machines for glass processing and did not hide his recipes from anyone those who wanted to learn.
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