The Rovinsky Collection

Unknown artist. Portrait of the painter and architect Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi. Etching, burin engraving. 1680s

The noteworthy collection of the engraved and lithographed sixteenth- to nineteenth-century portraits was bequeathed to the library by Dmitry Rovinsky(1824 - 1895) in 1895. The historian, connoisseur and collector of prints, Dmitry Rovinsky purchased prints from Russian and foreign second-hand booksellers and antique-dealers and at various auctions, ultimately accumulating 40,200 items. The collecting of printed portraits was in vogue for centuries and some publishing-houses even specialized in them.

Rovinsky's bequest includes imaginary depictions of ancient heroes and likenesses of European humanists made in their lifetimes. Indeed the whole thing is a sort of historical gallery in which one can find kings, nobles, clergymen, generals, politicians, scholars, writers, poets and artists.

P.Aubrey. Portrait of the poet and playwright Martin Opitz. Etching, burin engraving. 1630s

Johann Christian Benjamin Gottschick. Portrait of the playwright Ludwig Holberg. Dotted line. 1820s.