Portrait du comte Nikolaï Gouriev

Ingres painted this in 1821, during his long, lean stretch in Italy, when grand commissions were scarce and portraits paid the rent. His sitter was Count Nikolay Guryev, a Russian nobleman who had fought against Napoleon in 1812 and then moved into diplomacy, serving as ambassador in several European capitals. Ingres poses him outdoors against a brooding sky, wrapped in a cloak, one hand tucked in, cool and self-possessed. The glassy finish and the long clean line of the silhouette are pure Ingres. He himself grumbled that portraits stole time from the history paintings he thought were his real calling, and yet works like this are now among the things he is most admired for. It hangs in the Hermitage in St Petersburg.