Portrait of S. M. Rayevskaya

This painting can be found in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia The Hermitage identifies the artist by one of the alternative spellings: 'Shtemberg'.  

The American descendants of the artist traveled to Russia in 2006 to visit their homeland and to find, identify and enjoy paintings of their Great Grandfather. A curator of the Hermitage escorted the family to a Gallery that was a replica of the Czars private family quarters where they were thrilled to find three of Stember's paintings on display.                        

The reference number for this painting in The Hermitage is #1395. Provenance: Acquired from the State Museum of Ethnography of the USSR in 1941; previously in the private collection of the Raevsky family.

Previous Exhibition: St. Petersburg, 1994, Cat. 36

In 1996 an Exhibition of 'Nicholas and Alexandra The Last Imperial Family of Tsarist Russia' toured several cities in America.  3 of Stembers paintings, including this one were featured in the Exhibit.  2 were in the 'Court Life ' tableau Rayevskaya and # 123: Baroness D.E. Grevenits and one in ' The Military' # 191: Count D.A. Sheremetev, Cornet of the Horse-Guards Regiment. 

The biography of this person is given as:

Sophia Mikhailovna Raevskaya was the daughter of Major-General M.N. Raevsky; she was a lady-in-waiting to the empress and sister of P.M. Raevsky

As recounted to the family by the curator we spoke to at the Hermitage, this painting was from the collection of the family of Gargarin, from which the Russian astronaut was descended.