Vladimir Borovikovsky was an artist who specialized in portrait and ecclesiastic painting. He learned painting from his father, a Cossack and a minor member of the nobility, but his career took off in St. Petersburg, where he was supported by a group of literary figures who were his patrons. Under their influence, his concept of portrait painting matured and he became a prominent master. Borovikovsky's most famous work was his portrait of Catherine II, which was the first emergence of sentimentalism in painting.

During the following decade, Borovikovsky's images became more complex and psychologically ambiguous, and sentimentalism came fully to the fore. He created some of his best works during this period, including the Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina. Borovikovsky was preoccupied with the question of Christian moral duty, and he sought further moral enlightenment by becoming a member of a Masonic lodge and a mystic sect, both of which ultimately disappointed him. Despite this, his students described him as a man of great generosity of spirit.