Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna Volkonskaia (Wolkonsky), née Belosselsky-Belozersky

Zinaida was known across Europe for her beauty, musical talent, intelligence, and generosity. She hosted influential literary and musical salons in Moscow and in Rome (in Palazzo Poli and the Villa Wolkonsky). Her guests formed a constellation of figures that defined European and Russian culture of the era. This portrait captures a decisive moment in her life, when the love between her and Emperor Alexander I was transformed into friendship. In the words of her biographer, she became “[a] young woman aware of her strengths, rejoicing in her talents, self-sufficient and free.”