The New Age woman (history of pupils’ portraits of the Smolny Institute in Saint-Petersburg)

Abstract

The article examines a series of pupils’ portraits of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens by the artist D.G. Levitsky. This series reflected the principles of the Enlightenment in the field of women's education in Russia. The Smolny Institute was created by Empress Catherine II as a place for pedagogical innovations. As part of the education of the "homo novus" the goal was to create a "woman of the new time." D.G. Levitsky (master of the 18th century ceremonial portrait) revealed the images of tars using the technical means of painting at that time. The article traces the fundamental characteristics of the period of the second half of the 18th century in the portraits and biographies of the portrayed girls: a combination of the classic Enlightenment and the frivolous rococo. In the portraits of the Smolny Institute pupils expressed of the noble class girls’ character traits, caught in the cultural situation of the transformation of modern Russian society.