The portrait belongs to the series of portraits of Smolyanok – pupils of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens, written by the artist commissioned by the emperors Catherine II. The portrait of teenage girls playing the scene from the comic opera “The vagaries of love, or Ninetta at court” is very successful.
The playful ten-year-old Khrushchov who plays the male role, and the shy Khovanskaya, who timidly gazes at her “gentleman,” are seen by Levitsky in all immediacy, peeking through memorized theatrical gestures. E. N. Khrushcheva and E. N. Khovanskaya are depicted in theatrical costumes during the performance of a pastoral scene from a performance in the theater of the Educational Society of Noble Maidens. Admiring the shyness and grace of teenage girls, the artist paints a scene with the utmost integrity of color and the exquisite harmony of each tone. Ekaterina Nikolaevna Khrushchev, in marriage von Loman. Daughter of Major General Nikolai Vasilievich Khrushchev and Praskovya Mikhailovna, nee Princess Volkonskaya.
Pupil of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens, who graduated with honors. Her success in studies was marked by Catherine II and King Gustav III of Sweden, who awarded the girl with jewels. Ekaterina Nikolaevna Khovanskaya – a princess, in marriage, Neledinskaya-Meletskaya, belonged to an ancient princely family. Daughter of Colonel Prince Nikolai Vasilievich Khovansky and Princess Maria Nikolaevna, nee Schepotyeva. From 1767 to 1779 she was brought up at the Smolny Institute, which she graduated with Catherine II’s cipher. Since 1786 – the spouse of Yu. A. Neledinsky-Meletsky, poet, state secretary of Emperor Paul I, senator, honorary guardian of the St. Petersburg Educational House.
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