(1781–1829)
Portrait of Philip Osipovich Paulucci (1779–1849) in the uniform of a Russian Adjutant General,
oil on canvas, 73 x 64 cm, framed, (W)

The present work is a copy of the painting executed for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg by the famous English portraitist, George Dawe (1781-1829).

Filippo Paulucci de Roncole was a Piedmontese marquis who served in the Sardinian, Austrian, Italian and Russian army.
The son of a noble family of Modena, he entered the service of the King of Sardinia in 1785 where he began his military career in the War of the First Coalition.
After a brief service in the Austrian and Italian army, he joined the forces of Russian Czar Alexander 1 (1777-1825). There, fighting the Ottoman Empire, he had the opportunity to demonstrate his talents as a strategist and military commander. As a reward for his services Paulucci, who was now a colonel, was named Governor of Georgia and later of Livonia.
After the death of the Czar Alexander I, with whom he had a friendly relationship, his situation at court changed and, after 20 years in the service of the Russian Empire, he returned to Piedmont. There, King Charles Felix (1765-1831) made him head of the Sardinian Army with the task of reorganising and reforming it; a role he kept until the king’s death when he was dismissed by the newly appointed monarch, Charles Albert (1798-1849). For the following years, Paulucci acted as the Governor of Genova, before he passed away in Nice in 1849. Filippo Paulucci is represented here with the Cross of Saint George 3rd Class, the Order of Alexander Nevsky breast star, the cross and breast star of the Order of Saintt Vladimir 2nd Class and the star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. In the centre, we recognize the green-enamelled cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.
Incidentally, Paulucci is a character in ‘War and Peace’, the famous novel by Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910).