Joseph Charlemagne, Officer Riding in a Droshky in St. Petersburg,” 1858

Signed in Latin letters and dated at lower right

Watercolor and pencil on paper

7 1/4 x 9 11/16 in. (18.5 x 24.5 cm) (visible)

Inv. no. ab_10623

Joseph Charlemagne (or Iosif Iosifovich Sharleman, 1824-1870) was a member of a family of architects and artists of French descent. He was the grandson of Jean Baptiste Charlemagne-Baudet (1734-1789), an ornamental sculptor who had been invited to Russia in the late eighteenth century by Catherine II (“the Great”) to work on the exterior of Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. He remained in Russia, establishing an artistic dynasty.