Johann Heinrich Schroeder (1757-1812), Attributed to - Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and his second wife Maria

This pastell on pergament, created ca. 1800-1802 and due to the personality of the sitter , style , technique and time of creation attributed to the hand of renown german portrait painter Johann Heinrich Schroeder (1757-1812). With the large probability it is author`s version of the famous pastel portrait by J.H.Schroeder , depicting Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna also, which was situated in the City Castle Potsdam and since end of WWI is valid as missing.(illustrated in the monography "Preussische Porträts"; for comparison with our painting see additional image of this portrait).The sitter of our portrait - Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (Russian: Великая Княжна Елена Павловна; 24 December 1784 – 24 September 1803) was a daughter of Grand Duke, later Tsar Paul I of Russia and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (later Tsarin Maria Feodorvna). After marrying the son and heir of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin she became spouse to the heir and thus dropped her Russian title.Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was born in Saint Petersburg, capital city of the Russian Empire. The arrival of a second daughter was happy news to her father, Tsarevich Paul Petrovich, who had lost his first wife Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt in childbirth, eight years before. She was also said to be very beautiful so her grandmother, the Empress Catherine, named her after Helen of Troy.Elena was a sister of: futured tsar Alexander I , Grand duke Constantin, Grand Duchesses Alexandra and Catharine.