Lot 2434: Maria Nikolaevna Grand Duchess of Russia (1819 - 1876)

by Enrica Fioroni-Narducci (1806 - 1892)
Gouache and watercolour on ivory. Rome, 1838-1843. The young Grand Duchess sitting in a chair with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in the background. Signed on the right over the backrest "Enrichella Narducci". In beautiful gold plated brass frame (the top cracked), the handwritten inscription "Maria Nikolajewna Zar N I. Tochter, Fürstin von Leuchtenberg" at back. With frame 15 x 13 cm. Very good quality. Damaged at left.
Enrica Fioroni-Narducci, born 1806 in Santa Fiora, died 1892 in Rome. Known for her very fine and delicately painted miniature portraits on ivory. She was a member of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon (Cf. Thieme-Becker XII, p. 6).
Maria Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas I visited Rome and other cities with her husband, Duke Maximilian von Leuchtenberg in 1843.

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