Portrait of the chess player A. D. Petrov

This late portrait of Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov — the first great Russian chess master, who dominated Russian chess from the 1820s until his death in 1867 — is dated 1907, which means it is either a posthumous portrait based on earlier likenesses, or the date refers to when Myasoyedov completed or revised it. Petrov's 'Petrov's Defense' (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) remains a standard opening in chess to this day, named after him. The Chess Museum's acquisition of this portrait places it within a tradition of commemoration of chess figures through portraiture. Myasoyedov's interest in cultural and intellectual figures of Russian life was consistent with the Peredvizhniki's broader ambition to document Russian society across all its significant dimensions — not only peasant hardship but also intellectual achievement.

A posthumous portrait based on photographic or painted sources would show different technical character from a life portrait — the painter works from fixed reference rather than a living model, which can produce a slightly static quality in the face. Myasoyedov's handling in his late portraits tends toward a broader, more summary brushwork than in his detailed genre scenes, reflecting both age and the changed priorities of a mature painter less concerned with demonstrating technical facility.