The offered lot was apparently commissioned in order to commemorate the young General Flevitsky's appointment as Director of the prestigious Engineering Academy founded by Emperor Nicholas I. The portrait is important in that it is the first representation of the Civil uniform which was worn by the students and graduates of this academy. These graduates later served as the Civil Engineering Corps, and were responsible for many of Imperial Russia's industrial achievements, the first of which was the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway.

The portrait passed to the sitter's son, and remained in the family's St. Petersburg residence until it was removed before the First World War to the family's Paris residence. After the Second World War, the painting passed to General Flevitsky's Great-Granddaughter, the present owner.

Christie's is grateful to Mme. Larisa Dukel'skaya, Curator of Western European Art, Print Division, of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, for her assistance in the authentification and researching of this painting.