Caravaque, Louis

Born at the end of the 17th century; died June 9 (20) or 15 (26), 1754, in St. Petersburg. French painter.

From 1716, Caravaque lived in Russia. He worked from 1718 in the government Bureau of Construction, where he had Russian pupils. He painted decorated ceilings and panels (not preserved), battle scenes (The Battle of Poltava, 1717, Hermitage, Leningrad), and numerous portraits in the baroque style, which were uninspiredly drawn but bright in color (Portrait of Empress Anna Ivanovna, 1730, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow). Cara-vaque’s works had some influence on Russian portrait painting of the mid-18th century.