Portrait of Prince Alexander Bezborodko (mid- to late 1700s): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Prince Alexander Bezborodko (mid- to late 1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Pierre-Charles Cior (French, 1769–1840).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This portrait of Alexander Bezborodko, chancellor of Russia from 1747 to 1799, was painted by Pierre-Charles Cior in the final years of the 18th century. Previously a foreign minister for Catherine the Great, the prince became grand chancellor of the Russian empire upon the 1797 accession to the throne of Catherine's son Paul I. In this position, Bezborodko reformed the post office, regulated the banking systems, and constructed roads. Here he is shown dressed in a blue uniform with the blue sash of the Order of Saint Andrew over the red and black sash of the Order of Saint Vladimir. Pinned over his left breast are stars and badges of the Order of Saint Andrew as well as the Maltese cross. Around his neck is the decoration of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, which is encrusted with diamonds. Bezborodko holds a miniature of Paul I in his right hand while resting his left arm on a leopard pillow. He poses in front of a lavish green curtain and classical colonnade. Trained under the Spanish miniaturist Juan Bauzil, Cior became the official miniaturist of the king of Spain and a court painter in Russia, likely creating this portrait during his extended stay in Saint Petersburg. His depiction of Bezborodko is unusual; when compared to the rest of the prince's body, his legs appear diminutive, as if the artist failed to leave enough room for them when painting. This miniature dates from early in Cior's career, and Bezborodko's small lower body may be a result of the immature artist experimenting with composition. The tiny portrait of Paul I that Bezborodko holds in his right hand relates to a late 18th-century oil painting of the king attributed to A. F. Mitrokhin. Cior's inclusion of the miniature of Paul I demonstrates how miniatures were handled by their owners and how they could be used in portraits to lend credibility or show allegiance.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Prince Alexander Bezborodko
• Date: mid- to late 1700s
• Creator attribution: Pierre-Charles Cior (French, 1769–1840)
• Culture: France
• Type: Portrait Miniature
• Technique: watercolor on ivory in a 19th-century gilt metal frame
• Dimensions: Diameter: 8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.); Diameter of frame: 10.2 cm (4 in.)
• Collection: P - French 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1966.383

Collection credit

Gift of Ellen Wade Chinn, Elizabeth Wade Sedgwick and J. H. Wade III in memory of their mother Irene Love Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Annual Report for 1966." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 6 (1967): 168–170.
• "Year in Review." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 10 (1967): 302-46.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.