Lot 114: FRIEDRICH RANDEL (MAGDEBURG 1808-1886 BERLIN) Portrait of Count Peter Andreyevich Kleinmikhel (1793-1869), Minister of Public Works in Russia, half-length, in a dark uniform with golden epaulettes decorated with several military orders inlcuding

FRIEDRICH RANDEL (MAGDEBURG 1808-1886 BERLIN) Portrait of Count Peter Andreyevich Kleinmikhel (1793-1869), Minister of Public Works in Russia, half-length, in a dark uniform with golden epaulettes decorated with several military orders inlcuding Nikolas' I, executed as an oval, signed "Randel" (lower right) Pastel heightened with white on paper, 45 by 36.5 cm.
Count Peter Andreyevich Kleinmikhel served in the Russian army as a General and played a major role in the suppression of the Polish rebellion in 1831; however, he is best known for his achievements as a Minister of Public Works. In the late 1830s he was in charge of the reconstruction of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, after the fire; in recognition, he was rewarded with the title of Count by Tsar Nicolas I. Kleinmikhel also contributed to the development of the railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow.