Portrait of Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova

E. R. Dashkova (ne Vorontsova) was a stateswoman of the Russian Empire, one of the most prominent figures of the Russian Enlightenment, writer and teacher. A long-time friend and associate of Empress Catherine II, who played a significant role in the latters accession to the throne in 1762.
The portrait is not entirely formal, but not entirely everyday either. I tried to portray Catherine Romanovna at the moment of writing her memoirs or letters, recalling her finest hour, when she and the future Catherine the Second, at the head of a 12,000-strong army, headed from St. Petersburg to Peterhof to overthrow Peter III on June 29, 1762. I copied the face from the portrait of D. G. Levitsky from 1784. In my portrait, she involuntarily clenched her left hand into a fist. Of course, it is unlikely that Dashkova constantly wore orders and a red maid of honor ribbon, but this is a tribute to tradition, as she is depicted in all ceremonial portraits.
The memoirs of E.R. Dashkova served as a source of inspiration for me to paint this work https://artnow.ru/en/gallery/3/23714/picture/45/675465.html