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Varvara Ivanovna Ladomirsky-1800
Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 55.2 cm, 25 x 21 3/4 in
Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
Vigée Le Brun painted Madame Varvara Ivanovna Ladomirsky, later Narychkin (May 17, 1785, died November 26, 1840) in Moscow in 1800. The "perfectly
Greek" features of this young woman encouraged the artist to dress
the sitter in a classically inspired costume. She married Ivan Dimitrievitch Narishkin (born April 17, 1776, died April 15, 1848). Her parents were Ecaterina Petrovna Stroganoff, nee Princess Troubetskoy (1744-1815) [the estranged wife of Count A.S. Stroganoff, whom Vigee Le Brun painted when she was very young (Art Page 99) and her lover, Ivan Nikolaevitch Rimsky-Korsakoff. The four children of this union were granted the name of an extinct noble Polish family, Ladomirsky.
Reference Kimbell Exhibition Catalog Number 51 for more details. This portrait was displayed in the 2015 Paris Exhibition.
I received a note from a close relative of Madame Narishkine: "On your page there is a portrait of my great-great-grandmother Varvara Ivanovna Narishkina nee Ladomirsky, you wrote that she married Prince Narishkin. This is erroneous. The Narishkins never were princes, even though our social rank is higher than that of princes. Indeed, we have always refused titles - there were one or two exceptions who accepted the title of count, but it is a point of honour in our family not to accept titles. As our forefather stated - "The czar can make all the princes, barons, dukes, counts, that he wishes, but he cannot make a Narishkin". Please remove the reference to "Prince" and include Ivan Dimitrievitch in its stead. My great-great-grandmother married my great-great-grandfather Ivan Dimitrievitch Narishkin. Their son was my great-grandfather Dimitri Ivanovitch Narishkin, and their daughter was Zinaida Ivanovna Narishkina who married Prince Yusupov and was the great-grandmother of Prince Felix Yusupov, my cousin.The beautiful Varvara had a horrible accidental death as a result of a building fire. On a more cheerful note, it was Varvara who brought the beauty genes into the Yussupov family and added some to the Narishkin family. Best regards,Vera Vadimovna Narishkina".
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