Portrait of an unknown woman

21 October 2015

This famous painting is appealing, of course, for those of us interested in Russian dress as it is such a striking depiction of the distinctive kokoshnik headdress, embroidered with metal thread.  The artist Ivan Argunov (1729-1802) was a serf belonging to Count Sheremetev and is considered to be a founder of the Russian school of portrait painting.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Russian Dress. 1784. Oil on canvas. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

I am not usually the kind of person to go soppy about cats, but I must say this next picture pleases me. Maybe there’s a gap in the market for designer pet cones?

Some of the other ideas of Svetlana Petrova, the Russian creator of Fat Cat Art, are equally amusing. Quite a few of them feature Russian paintings.  Here are some of the originals, for comparison…