ZAKHAROV, PETR (1816-1846) Family Portrait , signed "Zakharov.Da=/daiurtskii.-" and dated "18 IV/X 40". Oil on canvas, 67 by 54.5 cm. Provenance: Collection of Yan Shapiro, Moscow. Important private collection, Europe. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the experts L. Markina and I. Lomize. Exhibited: Vystavka P. Z. Zakharova-Chechentsa, Museum of V. A. Tropinin and Moscow Artists of His Time, Moscow, December 1986–June 1987 (label on the stretcher). Literature: N. Shabaniants, “Poiski i nakhodki. Taina zagadochnykh bukv”, Groznenskii rabochii, No. 266, 19 November 1978, illustrated and mentioned in the text. T. Mazaeva, The Artist Petr Zakharov (Chechenets), PhD thesis, Leningrad, 1982, pp. 334–335, illustrated. L. Markina, “Raboty khudozhnika Petra Zakharova v sobranii Tretiakovskoi galerei”, The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine, No. 3, 2011, p. 90, illustrated. K. Ibragimov, Akademik Petr Zakharov, Grozny, Izdatelstvo M. i V. Kotliarovykh, 2013, pp. 167 and 168, illustrated. Related literature: For similar works, see N. Shabaniants, Akademik zhivopisi P. Z. Zakharov, Grozny, 1974, p. 16, mentioned in the text. Portraits of members of the family of General Petr Ermolov occupy a special place in the oeuvre of the remarkable 19th century artist Petr Zakharov. His work has long been dispersed among the major museum collections – the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Tropinin Museum and others – but is extremely rarely encountered in private collections. Accordingly, the appearance on the market of this portrait of Anna Grigorievna Ermolova may be regarded as a unique phenomenon. If we are to believe the words of a contemporary of Zakharov, “Briullov regarded him as the best portrait painter after himself”. Family Portrait, however, is a work that certainly bears the stamp of “The Great Karl’s” influence. The portrait’s composition with its mass of carefully-rendered details, despite a certain constraint in the treatment of the children, is distinguished by its exquisite pearlised palette and may be considered one of the artist’s best works. The work boasts exceptional provenance – it belonged to the famous Moscow art collector Yan Shapiro.