A unique picture in Zaporizhzhia
The picture has been stored in the funds of Khortyts National Reserve for over 50 years. In 1972, a unique find came to Zaporizhzhia from the Voroshilovgrad Art Museum (now Lugansk). It is known that since 1938 the painting was in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Petro Zakharovich Zakharov-Chechenets is a painter of Chechen origin. In 1819, during the war in the Caucasus, a dead woman and a wounded three-year-old child were found in the Chechen aisle of Dadi-Yurt. In 1822, the boy was baptized by Cossack Zahar Nedonosov, on behalf of this Cossack he received his surname and patronymic. At the age of 17, Zakharov joined the Academy, which he graduated in 1835, receiving a diploma as a freelance artist.
Chechen artist Petro Zakharov drew attention at MacDougall's auction, where his canvas "Portrait of Anna Ermolova with Children" (1840) was sold for £ 258,500.
Soon enough, Zakharov became a famous portrait painter. His clients were the beloved daughter of Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and her future husband Maximilian, Duke of Leichtenberg. In 1837 he was accepted into the public service as an artist of the Military Department. In 1843, Zakharov received a gold medal and the title of academician from the Academy of Arts for the portrait of General Alexei Yermolov.
Today, about 100 Zakharov's works are known, his paintings are stored in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, and private collections.
Zakharov's picture will be stored in the Khortyts National Reserve Fund. Researchers plan to carry out further work and set a date for both writing.
