Alexander Pushkin

What it is

This oil portrait of Alexander Pushkin was painted by the artist Orest Kiprensky in 1827. It shows Pushkin with dark curly hair, arms crossed, wearing a dark coat and a plaid shawl, with a small bronze statue of a lyre-holding figure beside him. It is now held at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Why it matters

This portrait was made while Pushkin was alive and is considered the standard image of him, reportedly approved of by the poet himself. The statue of the figure with a lyre in the background is a symbol of poetry, linking Pushkin's image directly to his identity as Russia's leading poet. Portraits like this shaped how later generations pictured Pushkin, long before photography existed.

Look closer

• Why might Kiprensky have included the small statue with the lyre in the painting?
• What mood or personality does the artist suggest through Pushkin's pose and expression?
• How might a portrait painted from life differ from one made after someone has died?