Portrait of the Duke of Cumberland

The miniature represents a man wearing a red army jacket; the inscription placed on the back "Ritt. Portrait du Duc de Cumberland XVIII" suggests he is that person but his features are not the same of the two Dukes lived in that period, if we consider other portraits. "Ritt" could be referred to the illuminator Augustin Ritt that was born in St. Petersburg in 1766, son of a German man who immigrated in Russia at the time of the queen Catherine the Great. From 1781 to 1795, he studies at A.B. Queertmort in Antwerp.The following year he goes to Paris and he becomes student of André François Vincent. In 1792 he comes back to St. Petersburg and has got success as an Court illuminator and member of the Academy and in 1799 he exhibits at the Paris Salon. Thanks to the diary he wrote over the course of his life, we know he realised about 700 works, among which there are lots of portraits and miniatures. The critic has compared him to the great illuminators of that time, as Hall and Fuger. Although the miniature is well-refined, it cannot be related to this artist.