Emmanuil Dmitriev-Mamonov

Emmanuil Aleksandrovich Dmitriev-Mamonov (Russian: Эммануи́л Алекса́ндрович Дми́триев-Мамо́нов; 19 January 1824 in Moscow – 30 December 1883 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian portrait painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a book designer and caricaturist and was a respected art historian who supported the Slavophile movement. Biography His father, Alexander, was an army officer and battle painter who, in 1820, was one of the founders of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. In 1840, he entered the law faculty at Moscow University, alternating classes there with studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts. While there, he also became acquainted with the circle of slavophiles who met at the home of Avdotya Yelagina and created portrait sketches of them. In the 1850s, he became a full-time student at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and, upon graduating, set himself up as a professional portrait painter and soon became very popular among the aristocracy. Among those he portrayed were Konstantin Aksakov, Pyotr Kireevsky, Nikolay Yazykov, Nikolai Gogol and Aleksey Khomyakov, who became a close friend. During these years, he also published his first works on art history, including a controversial essay that was critical of the Dutch Masters.