Grigory Novikov. Portrait of Prince N. B. Yusupov

Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov (1750–1831) was the creator of Arkhangelskoye and one of the greatest Russian collectors of his day. In this three-quarter-length portrait he sits in an armchair with his hands on the armrests, wearing a short powdered wig and the dark green uniform of the Academy of Arts. He wears a diamond epaulette, the sash of the Order of St Andrew, the Order of St Anne at his neck and the Maltese Cross, while the mantle of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called is thrown over his shoulders and knees.

The regalia recall a long career at court. Yusupov directed the Imperial Theatres, was in charge of the Hermitage under Paul I and served as supreme marshal at the coronations of three emperors. He was elected an honorary amateur of the Academy of Arts in 1794, received the Order of St Andrew the First-Called in 1797 and became a commander of the Order of Malta in 1798. In 1810 the prince bought Arkhangelskoye, and his collection became the basis of the estate museum's holdings.

The portrait is by the Yusupovs' serf painter Grigory Ivanovich Novikov (about 1802–1837). According to the museum's researchers, in 1833, after the prince's death, his son Boris Nikolayevich commissioned Novikov to paint portraits of his father. The young painter was expected to become keeper of the picture gallery in St Petersburg, but soon after moving there he fell ill and died. Oil on canvas.