L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Friday, June 22, 2018

Twelve miniature portraits of the Zubov / Suvorov family, unknown artists, late eighteenth - early nineteenth centuries


The various artists are unknown.

These twelve miniatures represent various members of the family of Count Nikolai Zubov (1763-1805) and his wife, Natalia Zubova, née Suvorova (1775-1844). Alexander Suvorov was one of the greatest military leaders in Russian history; Nikolai Zubov served under him and married his only daughter, Natalia. Both families benefited when, at only twenty-two, Nikolai's younger brother Platon became the final favorite of Catherine the Great and, contrary to expectation, instead of being a passing fancy of the aged monarch, soon found himself the most powerful man in Russia; he was made a prince, and his brothers, counts. Catherine's death in 1796 meant exile for both Platon and Nikolai. Platon would die in exile, but Nikolai returned to Russia five years later as one of the conspirators in the murder of Emperor Paul. He survived the tsar by just four years, dying at the age of only forty-two.

General Alexander Suvorov (1730-1800) and his wife, Varvara Suvorova, née Prozorovskaia (1750-1806), parents of Natalia Zubova.
Presumably Avdotya Suvorova, née Manukova (?-circa 1740), and Vasily Suvorov (1705-1775), parents of Alexander Suvorov.
Arkady Suvorov (1780-1811), son of Alexander Suvorov, brother of Natalia Zubova.
Count Nikolai Zubov (1763-1805), husband of Natalia Zubova, née Suvorova.
Natalia Zubova, née Suvorova (1775-1844), daughter of Alexander Suvorov, wife of Count Nikolai Zubov, sister of Arkady Suvorov.
Prince Platon Zubov (1767-1822), brother of Count Nikolai Zubov and - famously - the last favourite of Catherine II.
Presumably the sons of Count Nikolai Zubov and Natalia Zubova: Alexander (1797-1875), Platon (1798-1855)... 
... And Valerian (1804-1857). Count Alexander Zubov (1727-1795), father of Nikolai and Platon Zubov.



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