RUSSIAN SCHOOL (CIRCA 1790) Portrait miniature of an Officer c.1790, probably Stepan Stephanovich Apraksin, Степан Степанович Апраксин (1757-1827), wearing a Light Cavalry uniform, epaulets of figel, adjutant of Catherine the Great and Order of Saint Anne first class Watercolour on ivory Gold frame, the reverse glazed to reveal woven brown hair Oval, 53mm (2 in) high Provenance: Private European collection Stepan Stepanovich Apraksin, Степан Степанович Апраксин was born on 24th June 1757 in Riga, the only son of Stepan Fedorovich Apraksin, a famous military commander in the Russian army. His military career began at the age of ten, after being admitted to the Semenovsky Regiment. Initially serving with the rank of ensign, he received military training there and in 1772 he started active service with the army in the rank of Captain. He was transferred to Kiev, where he served as an officer in the local infantry regiment. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 with his unit and was promoted to the rank of Colonel for his service in the Crimean campaign in 1777. He rose quickly through the ranks of the tsarist army and in 1783 was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in the 20th Astrakhan Regiment, with which he fought with distinction in the Caucasus. In 1786 he was again promoted, this time to the rank of Major General. Appointed the commander of Astrakhan Dragoon Regiment, he took part in the famous siege of Ochakov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792. After the end of hostilities, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and in 1794 he took part in suppression of Kościuszko's Uprising in Poland. Following the Third Partition of Poland, he commanded the border troops at the new frontiers with Austria and Turkey. The same year that Apraksin took up his position as Lieutenant General in 1793 and was involved in the suppression of Kościuszko’s Uprising in Poland, he also married Princess Ekaterina Vladimirovna Golitsina, Екатерина Владимировна Апраксинаa twenty-three-year-old woman of great wealth and beauty. Ekaterina was the daughter of ‘Princesse Moustache’ Natalia Petrovna Golitsina (1741-1837) who is thought to have been the grand-daughter of Peter the Great. The couple’s marriage was happy, settling in Moscow and enjoying their country estate in Olgino, they had three daughters and two sons. On 14th December 1796 he became Commander of the Astrakhan Dragoon Regiment and oversaw border troops a the new frontiers of Austria and Turkey following the Third Partition of Poland. In 1798, at the age of 41, he retired from the army due to illness. However, soon after the coronation of Alexander I of Russia in 1801 he returned to the army. In 1803 Apraksin was made Governor of Smolensk and during the Napoleonic Wars he was a front-line Commander of the 16th infantry division. After 1809 he finally retired and settled in Moscow, where he ultimately died in 1827. Although the artist of this portrait miniature is unknown, it is a fine example of Russian painting from the late eighteenth century. There is also a portrait of Stepan Stephanovich Apraksin by the Austrian-Italian historical painter and portraitist Johan Baptist Lampi in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow which dates to 1793.