LE PRINCE, Jean-Baptiste
(b. 1734, Metz, d. 1781, Saint-Denis-du-Port)

The Russian Baptism

1765
Oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Eighteenth-century ties between France and Russia were particularly close during the reigns of Peter the Great and especially Catherine the Great. Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, from Lorrain, worked at St Petersburg and after spending many years in Russia, made local scenes his speciality.