A portrait of a gentleman abroad in gay Paris.

Comte Gregoire Czernichew.
After the painting by J. Grassi. Engraved by J. Pichler. Vienna [n.d. c.1780.]

Very fine & scarce mezzotint full length portrait of the Count wearing period walking attire. He looks to his left. as he leans on a rock beneath a tree. Right hand in waistcoat pocket, his left hand holds hat and cane. Good dark impression with large margins.
Title in Russian and French with Czernichew coat of arms below image. French lined matt, glazed, black and natural-wood frame.
Plate size: 19 3/4 x 12" (50 x 30.5 cm) Frame 27 1/4 x 19 1/4"

76 Ref. DW34 /GN/ s.andr > ELN          PRICE CODE C      Click for Price code guide.

Forsaking the long cold Russian winters, the grinding poverty in the streets of its cities and serfdom of its rural peasants, Count Gregoire Czernichew arrived as Russian ambassador extraordinairé to the court of King Louis XV's France in 1763.  That period of celebration which followed the Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years War and the Treaty of Versailles 1783 which recognized American Independence. 
He is portrayed seen in this fine ca.1780 mezzotint enjoying the sublime Paris spring weather. He is wearing fashionable walking attire. Standing lounging against a tree. His left hand in waistcoat pocket and hat and cane in the other, befitting a diplomat of his age, aristocratic stature and leisure, abroad in one of the gayest cities in Europe. Paris was then a time of pleasurable parties and social engagements for the wealthy. Alive to the strains of fashionable Hyden's 'Toy' symphony and amused by the satirical cartoons of Gillray - these were heady times indeed. Handsomely presented in a French line and wash mount and frame.
He was married to Countess Natalia Czernichew. His brother was Count Zachary Czernichew also of the eighteenth century Russian court.  

Josef Grassi (1757 -1838). Austrian painter. He was the son of a craftsman from Udine and the brother of the sculptor Anton Grassi (1755-1807). In 1768 he started as a student at the Akademie der Bildenden K?nste in Vienna, to which he owed his entire education. His ambitious nature soon ensured that he entered aristocratic circles, where he became a favoured portrait painter, particularly of women, whom he painted in oils and in miniature. His most frequent type was the half-length portrait of young women, generally portrayed with hands crossed on their breast. With pale tones and a liberal use of highlights he achieved a velvety softness of texture and a sentimental atmosphere of dreaminess, which is evident in this fine relaxed portrait of Czernichew.