Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
This is a painting of Aghazar Lazaryan (1735-1801), dating to 1774, although the artist is unknown but that perhaps feels somehow appropriate for an era that produced a lot of ‘important’ men and rather fewer signed canvases. He was something of a prominent figure within the Russian Empire, known for his roles as a state adviser, industrialist and someone that started to push for political projects in Armenia. Born in the New Julfa province of Isfahan (now in Iran), his wealth and presence meant that he exerted significant influence at the Russian court. For his loyal service, he later held noble titles associated with both the Austrian and Russian imperial systems, which does rather sound like a conveniently international arrangement.
I don’t know why the museum specifically wanted to display this portrait, but I imagine that it was because it wanted to show the history of the liberation movement. The first Armenian Republic didn’t come about until 1918, so Lazaryan was ahead of his time here although it was perhaps more political projects in Armenia under Russian patronage rather him being an early supporter of independence.