Portrait of Maria Alekseevna Dyakova Dmitry Levitsky (Levitzky) (1735-1822)

Description of the painting "Portrait of Dyakova" by Dmitry Levitsky

"Portrait of Dyakova" is one of Levitsky’s many portraits. Disregarding means of expression such as backgrounds, ornate clothing, or symbolic objects that give the picture a second or even third semantic layer, he found the models’ differences in a barely noticeable turn of the head, a tilt of the shoulder, a smile or a serious look.

Putting a human being at the center of his work, he was going from a human being, doing everything to show his personality, his soul, using the meager set of expressive means that he himself had limited himself to.

Dyakova came from a large family with a passion for art. Her lively mind, education, beauty and cheerfulness attracted people to her. Poets dedicated poems to her, artists painted her portraits. The story of her marriage is touching. Her husband was poor, and her parents did not want such a son-in-law. Upon learning of this, the young couple were married in secret and did not tell their family for a long time. The deception was revealed only a few years later, and the parents, effectively confronted with the fact, were forced to give their blessing.

The picture depicts Dyakova as she was in life. Her hair, tucked into a ponytail, is slightly curly. Her bright eyes look slightly sideways, her lips touched with a slight smile. She is dressed simply, in a light dress, and her whole image expresses lightness, the ability to perceive life as an intricate game, cheerfulness and liveliness. It is as if she is ready to rush out of her seat right now, to run out into the garden, to start dancing or singing. Her house (she and her husband had five children) was always the center of cultural life in St. Petersburg.

Judging by how pleasant Dyakova looks in the portrait, every guest in her living room was nice and cozy. No one was forgotten. No one felt lost. She could engage people in conversation, amuse them and make them laugh, and she attracted them, including unsociable ones, like a magnet or a shining warm sun.