Aleksey Antropov

Aleksey Antropov was born in Moscow in 1716. He was the son of a government official who worked in the Armory and the Chancellery of Buildings. He showed an early talent for painting and was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg in 1732. He studied under Andrey Matveyev, a relative and a court painter, and later under Ivan Vishnyakov, a landscape painter. He became a member of the painting team of the Chancellery and participated in the decoration of various palaces and buildings in Saint Petersburg. He also learned portrait painting from Louis Caravaque, a French painter who worked at the court. He received the rank of the Painter's Apprentice in 1749 and the Master Painter in 1758. He painted many portraits of the members of the royal family and the nobility, as well as religious and historical scenes. He was especially skilled in depicting the details of clothing, jewelry, and furniture. He also painted some cityscapes and landscapes, influenced by the Italian vedutisti, who painted realistic views of cities. He traveled to several European countries, such as Italy, Germany, and France, and painted many views of their cities and monuments. He also painted some scenes of the Russian countryside and the villages. He was one of the most popular and successful Russian painters of his time, and received many awards and honors from the Academy of Arts and the Empress Catherine II. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1795. His works are displayed in many museums and galleries in Russia and abroad. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the cityscape genre in Russian painting.