Портрет П.И. Репниной

P.I. Repnina was portrayed by Levitzky in 1781, the same year as several of his other important female commissions, in a canvas now at the Russian Museum. The Repnin family was one of the great aristocratic dynasties of Catherine II's Russia, with Field Marshal Nikolai Repnin serving as one of the leading military and diplomatic figures of the era. A portrait of a woman with this surname in 1781 likely represents a member of this extended family circle, perhaps a wife or daughter connected to the household of one of Russia's most distinguished dynasties. Levitzky's treatment of such subjects followed the conventions he had established for noble women of rank: formal dress, attention to jewelry as social signifier, and a face painted with sufficient psychological individuality to distinguish the sitter from a generic type. The Russian Museum's collection preserves dozens of such canvases, collectively documenting the visual culture of Catherine II's aristocratic society.

Oil on canvas following Levitzky's refined female portrait method. The face employs his characteristic cool half-tones in the shadow areas with warm light tones on the cheekbones and forehead, while the dress is handled with attentive differentiation of fabric textures — silk, lace, and whatever decorative embellishments mark the wearer's social position.