For an extensive account on Stroely at the court of Tsar Paul I, see L. Pulikova, ‘Nemetskiy miniatyurist pri dvore Pavel I’, Russkoe Iskusstvo, 3/2007, pp. 82-86. A similar portrait miniature of the sitter by Stroely was sold Christie’s, London, 7 December 2004, lot 388.
On the basis of the sitter’s uniform, which had a relatively short existence in the Russian Guard, the present miniature can be dated between March and August 1799. We are indebted to Dr Dimitry Gorchkoff for his assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry.