Portrait of Prince Alexander Kurakin

Vigée Le Brun employed oil paint on canvas to achieve a smooth, highly finished surface, particularly evident in the rendering of the fabrics and the flesh tones of the face. The composition is dominated by a rich palette of deep reds, golds, dark greens, and browns set against a near-black, muted brown background. Strong lighting falls from the left, illuminating the prince's face, the gold embroidery, and the white fur trim, while the right side of the figure and the background recede into deep shadow. No landscape or interior setting is visible, focusing the viewer's attention entirely on the sitter's illuminated features and opulent attire.

The portrait was painted in France in 1797, during Vigée Le Brun's travels abroad following her flight from revolutionary France. The painting eventually entered the collection of E.P. and M.S. Oliv before being handed over to the State Hermitage Museum in 1923. It is cataloged under the museum number GE-5664. The work was included in the virtual exhibition titled The Art of Being a Paintress: Female Artists in Europe of the 17th-20th Centuries, scheduled for 2026.

The portrait was created during the period Vigée Le Brun spent traveling through Europe after leaving France in 1789. Her established reputation preceded her, granting her access to elite circles and artistic institutions across the continent. After traveling through Italy, Prague, and Berlin, she arrived in Saint Petersburg, where she was welcomed by Catherine the Great and painted several portraits of the Russian royal family. Although she did not manage to paint Catherine the Great before the empress's death, her time in Russia proved highly productive. The Kurakin portrait reflects this phase of her career, where nearly half of her roughly 1,500 paintings were portraits of European monarchs and nobles.