Literature: Not in Le Blanc; IFF: 1 (III/IV). Watermark: Letters. Excellent, sharp impression of the third state, before the change of the lettering into Paul Compte de Stroganoff and the cleaning of the plate margins. In fresh and untouched condition, with large margins all around. Three printing creases in the lower part of the plate are not affecting the image. Paul Stroganoff (1772-1817) was the son of Alexander Sergeevich Stroganoff (1733-1811), art collector and President of the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts. Alexander lived in Paris from 1771 to 1778, and was familiar with artists such as Jean Baptiste Greuze, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and Hubert Robert, whose paintings joined the collection he assembled for his palace in St Petersburg. This wealthy collector probably commissioned Greuze to paint a portrait of his young son (Martin 1247). Greuze, though better known for his genre scenes, was also a brilliant and much sought-after portrait painter. His particular sensitivity to the portrayal of childhood is evident in this and the following plate, which were probably intended as pendants.