Portrait of Dmitry S. Dokhturov (1756/59-1816)

Executed in oil on canvas, the portrait demonstrates a deliberate contrast in brushwork. The face is rendered with smooth and refined handling, allowing for subtle modeling as light falls evenly across the subject's features and chest. In contrast, the background and the metallic elements of the uniform feature more textured handling. The background is indistinct, composed of brown, green, and golden tones with soft transitions between warm and cool dark hues, creating an atmospheric setting that pushes the illuminated figure forward. The material application varies to distinguish the softness of skin from the reflective quality of gold embroidery and epaulettes.

The portrait was created in 1819, following the death of Dmitry Dokhturov in 1816. Sources indicate the composition was derived from an engraving by Alexei Agapovich Osipov made around 1817. The painting is attributed to George Dawe and his workshop, reflecting the collaborative nature of the broader Military Gallery commission. The work was created no later than 1825 for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. It remains in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, maintaining its original institutional context.

The portrait belongs to the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, a vast project conceived to immortalize the generals who played pivotal roles in the Napoleonic Wars. George Dawe was commissioned to produce this extensive gallery, which necessitated the heavy involvement of his workshop to meet the scale of the project. Because many of the subjects were deceased by the time of the commission, Dawe and his assistants frequently relied on existing engravings and prior portraits as source material, as evidenced by the use of the Osipov engraving for this likeness of Dokhturov. This practice was standard for the gallery's creation.