ORIGIN, STYLE and LOCALITY
The scene of Italy on the left entitled Verandah with a Trained Grapevine was painted in 1828 by the Russian Silvestr Shchedrin. Shchedrin was one of a number of Russian artists who worked for long periods in Italy in the first half of the nineteenth century, often overstaying their study-leaves from the St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts. Many of their paintings were bought by traveling Russians, and found their way back to Russia to satisfy a growing fashion for scenes of Italy. The scene on the right looks very Dutch but is by another Russian, Aleksei Voloskov, and depicts a country estate near St. Petersburg. It is tempting to see a connection between the un-Russian name of the estate, Marienhof, and the style in which its owner had it painted. Click on either painting to see an enlargement.
