The board portrait “The Faithful Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky” (XVIII century) came to the museum from the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) in 1941 and was formerly owned by one of the representatives of the ancient noble family of Naryshkins. In 1894, the owners donated it to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, where it stayed until 1917. There are only two board portraits with images of Alexander Nevsky, so the work stored in the Chelyabinsk museum has a great artistic and historical value.

In 2021, it was decided to make a copy of the Chelyabinsk board portrait to transfer it to the abbot of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg during the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of Alexander Nevsky in September 2021.  To this end, the artist Evgeny Kravtsov, the head of the painting and drawing department of the painting faculty of the Moscow Academic Art School (MAXY), was invited from the capital. Evgeny participated in the reconstruction of the Holy Gates of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. According to the painter, it is difficult to copy a board portrait, because it is a transitional genre between the culture of ancient Russia and the new time, it does not correspond to academic principles. 

The work is supported by the Sobranie Cultural Initiative Supporting and Preservation Fund. 

The work on the copy will last until May 5. Visitors can watch the process of Evgeny Kravtsov at the permanent exhibition of the ancient art of the Art Gallery at 92A, ul. Truda. 

The press service of the Chelyabinsk Museum of Fine Arts. Anastasia Dyzhina.

Photos by Ilya Barkhatov