Portrait of Princess Natalia Petrovna Golitsyn, born Tjernysjev

Alexander Roslin from Malmö was one of the preeminent painters at the court of King Louis XV of France. He learned to paint in Stockholm and in the mid-1740s he was court painter at Bayreuth before traveling to Italy and in 1752 Roslin came to Paris. He was elected to the French Academy the same year and had a studio and residence at the Louvre. Roslin was renowned for his extraordinary technical skills, especially in the depiction of drapery, and intimate characterizations of his sitters. His cool tones, keen observation, and rococo grace made him one of greatest official portraitists in France at that time. Roslin then spent the rest of his life in France, except for two years in the service of Catherine II in St Petersburg. The portrait of the Russian Princess Natalia Petrovna Golitsyn is painted graciously smiling and in the latest fashion of the period.