Portrait of Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Belosselsky-Belozersky

The royal portraitist of the Saxon court painted this likeness of the prince and displayed it at the Academy of Fine Arts on March 5, 1791. Alexander Mikhailovich wears the costume of an imperial chamberlain; the ermine fur lining his coat manifests his exalted princely status. On the back of the painting’s stretcher is a handwritten inventory label reading: “[No.] 31. [Property of] Princess Kochubey.” The label means that this portrait was in the collection of Alexander’s daughter-in-law, Princess Elena Pavlovna, married to Prince Vasilii Viktorovich Kochubey (1812–1850).