"Vladimir Loukitch BOROVIKOVSKI (1757-1825), attributed to. Portrait of Nicolas Nicolaïevitch Raïevski (1771-1829) at the age of 24, then commander of the Nijni-Novgorod dragoons, dressed as a superior officer and wearing the orders of Saint-Georges and Saint-Vladimir 4th class. Oval miniature painted in oil on metal, apparently unsigned (indistinct signature on the back of the plate?), made in Saint Petersburg around 1795 according to two labels on the back of the frame. This miniature is preserved under glass in a rectangular frame of varnished wood and 875 thousandths silver elements (84 zolotniki) decorated with flower buds and ribbon bows. Work by Andrei BRAGIN, Saint Petersburg, 1899-1908. Part of the silver ribbon is missing from the frame at bottom right, small accident to the glass at top left, and the miniature is slightly missing and damaged. Frame size: H. 18 x W. 16 cm; Miniature size: H. 9 x W. 7.5 cm. Gross weight: 264 g. Provenance: former Nicolas Nicolaïevitch Raïevski collection (1771-1829), then by descent to the penultimate owner. History: originally from Scandinavia, the Rayevskys owed their entry into the Russian pantheon to the young man depicted in this miniature. Son of Nicolas Semionovitch Raïevski (1741-1771), colonel commanding the prestigious Izmaïlovski regiment, and Ekaterina Nikolaïevna Samoïlova (1757-1825), related to the Narychkine family and niece of Grigori Potemkine, Nicolas Nicolaïevitch Raïevski enlisted as a young man in the Semionovski regiment. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787 and the Polish Campaign of 1792. It was during these conflicts that his behavior earned him the orders of St. George and St. Vladimir 4th class, as well as the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Back in St. Petersburg, at Catherine II's instigation, he married Sofia Alexandrovna Konstantinova, only daughter of a court librarian and granddaughter of Mikhail Lomonossov, to whom the empress had given a gigantic estate near Oranienbaum. After the death of Catherine II in 1796, Nicholas Raevsky distanced himself from the court in abhorrence of the new Tsar Paul I (1754-1801), but the accession to the throne of Alexander I (1777-1825) recalled him to his military duties. In the summer of 1801, he was promoted to major-general, marking the start of his rise to glory. Of their eight children, only four survived: Nicolas, future lieutenant-general, born in 1801 (of whom we also present several portraits), Elena born in 1804, Maria born in 1805 and future Princess Volkonsky (wife of the Decembrist), and Sofia born in 1806. Nicolas Raïevski took part in many Napoleonic battles, including Austerlitz and Friedland. The Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 did not give him the respite he had hoped for, however, and he took part in the Russo-Swedish and Russo-Turkish wars of 1806-1812. During Napoleon I's Russian campaign in 1812, he took part in the battles of Smolensk and Borodino. It was at the latter that he became part of Russian national legend. Accompanied by his two sons, aged 16 and 11, he charged a French position, victoriously capturing its flag. This earned him the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky. In 1814, he took part in the French campaign, and in 1815 sat on the Congress of Vienna, before retiring from the military in 1824. In 1825, the failed Decembrist revolt led to the exile to Siberia of his great friend and son-in-law, Prince Serge Grigorievitch Volkonski (1788-1865), followed voluntarily by his wife Maria, the general's youngest daughter, much to the latter's despair. General Raevsky died in 1829 at his Ukrainian estate of Boltychka, having been appointed a member of the Imperial Council of State under Nicholas I (1796-1855). Comparative works: for miniatures, see the portrait of Count Alexis Ivanovitch Vasiliev (1742-1807), Sotheby's London sale of 21/11/2018 under lot 305, sold for £85,000; the portrait of Adam Adamovitch Menelas (1753-1831), Christie's London sale of 30/11/2005 under lot 108, sold for £26,000; the portrait of Madame Nadezhda Ilyinichna Lvova, née Berezina, Artcurial sale of 20/03/2024 sold for €23,000. For portraits of members of our subject's family by Borovikovski, see the portrait of N. N. Raïevski's mother, Ekaterina Nikolaïevna Davydova (widow Raïevskaya), at an unknown date but probably before our miniature (National Pushkin Museum, Inv. KP13216, II. 8450) and the portrait of his wife Sofia Alexeïevna Raïevskaya (1769-1844), dated 1813 (National Pushkin Museum, Inv. KP13194, II. 3429). Bibliography: Christine Sutherland, La princesse de Siberie: Histoire de Maria Volkonski, Librairie académiq