Portrait of the Young Countess Schouvalof
(Elizabeth Vladmirovna)
- 1797
The sitter may actually be Princess Natalia Ivanovna Kourakin, née Countess Golovine. See the story below.
oil on canvas
The Val A. Browning Collection of
European Masterworks Permanent Collection of the
Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Acquired by UMFA in 1994
Painted while living in St. Petersburg, Russia.
View a large image of this painting.
UMFA Newsletter - "A Mystery Solved" .
Angela Demutskiy - 9 April 2007 - Current Research
The sitter is most likely Princess Natalia Ivanova Kourakine
I was going through some pictures I had taken a few years ago from the Utah Museum of this painting. I had saved some detailed shots I took of the music book the sitter is holding. Last night I was able to research the words:
Se non ti moro allato by Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782)
Se non ti moro allato,
idolo del cor mio,
col tuo bel nome amato
tra' labbri io morirò.
Addio mia vita, addio,
non pianger il mio fato,
misero non son io,
sei fida ed io losco,
misero non son io,
sei fida ed io losco,
dunque mon pianger il mio fato,
addio, mia vita, addio.
The highlighted part (idolo del cor mio, col tuo bel nome amato) is what can be easily made out from the detail I took. Metastasio wrote the libretto of Adriano in Siria originally for Antonio Caldara. Which has been set to music by numerous composers since 1732. Unless VLB faithfully copied the music, identifying the composer will be impossible.
I thought that the music book could be a significant clue to her identity. I went through Russian listings, reread Nikolenko's article and came across the notation of Princess Natalia Ivanova Kourakine being a talented musician and singer. Not only that but the Princess was a composer as well. Music of Russian Princesses: From the Court of Catherine the Great
Update 9 Jul 07:
Here is an update on the portrait of Princess Kourakine. The museum is moving up their date to display her to August 13th, and were happy with the synopsis I wrote. Luke is going to mail me their newsletter about the painting. As far as researching, I think I know how she was confused for Countess Shouvaloff. It looks as if whoever researched the provenance for Newhouse relied on Blum's book, to find a connection to the seller's Estate. They in turn assumed that the name above "the young Countess Shouvaloff" was that of the sitter, and not the owner Countess Elizabeth Vladimirovna Shuvalova, who at the time was in possession of the portrait of "Count Paul Andreevich Shouvalov". (Paul Shouvalov was the older brother of Countess Dietrichstein nee Shouvalov.)
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