Rotari, Pietro Antonio 1707 Verona - 1762 St. Petersburg Portrait of a Young Woman. Oil on canvas, mounted on wood. 44.5 x 35cm. Framed. "As a historical painter and independant from his teachers Trevisani and Solimena, Rotari developed a unique, if slightly monotonous, portrait style. This manner embues the subjects with a marionette-like quality, and had no small influence on the painter's Russian students Argunoff, Antropoff and Rokotoff. Especially charming are the portraits of girl's faces representing the various peoples of Russia, of which Rotari produced hundreds at the request of the Zarin." Raffaello Brenzoni: Pietro Antonio Rotari. In: Thieme, Ulrich; Becker, Felix: Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. 29. Volume. Leipzig 1935. Pg. 82f.