{{short description|Russian painter}} {{Infobox person | native_name = Михаил Петрович Боткин | name = Mikhail Botkin | image = БОТКИН Михаил Петрович.jpg | image_size = 200px | birth_name = Mikhail Petrovich Botkin | birth_date = {{birth date|1839|06|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = Moscow, Russian Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1914|01|22|1839|06|26|df=yes}} | death_place = Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire | resting_place = Novodevichy Cemetery, Saint Petersburg | alma_mater = {{Imperial Academy of Arts|Alumni|1858}}{{sfn|Kondakov|1915|p=22}} }} '''Mikhail Petrovich Botkin''' ({{langx|ru|Михаи́л Петро́вич Бо́ткин}}; 26 June 1839 – 22 January 1914) was a Russian painter, engraver, art collector, archaeologist and philanthropist. Vasily Botkin, the writer, and Sergey Botkin, the physician, were his brothers.
== Life and career == Botkin was born in Moscow, the son of Anna Ivanovna (''née'' Postnikova) and Pyotr Kononovich Botkin,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRttDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Petr+Kononovich+Botkin%22&pg=PT54|title = The Collector: The Story of Sergei Shchukin and His Lost Masterpieces|isbn = 9780300241075|last1 = Semenova|first1 = Natalya|last2 = Delocque|first2 = André|date = 11 September 2018}}</ref> from a family of merchants who were engaged in the tea trade.<ref name="F">[http://funeral-spb.narod.ru/necropols/novodev/tombs/botkinmp/botkin.html Funeral-SPB: Biography]</ref> His mother died when he was two and, when he was fourteen, his father died so his upbringing was completed by his older brother Vasily. In 1856, he entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under {{ill|Fyodor Zavyalov|ru|Завьялов, Фёдор Семёнович}} and Fyodor Bruni. Two years later, he decided to travel, spending several years in Germany, France and Italy.<ref name="F" /> thumb|left|200px|The Mourning Virgin When he returned in 1863, he presented two paintings on Classical subjects at the academy and was awarded the title of Academician.<ref name="F" /> He also received the Order of Saint Stanislaus, Third Degree (later First Degree). In 1870, he was presented with the Order of St. Anna, Third Degree (later First Degree) and the Order of the Crown (Prussia) for his work with the German Archaeological Institute in Rome.
In 1879, he became a member of the board at the academy and, in 1882, served on a committee of the Ministry of the Imperial Court devoted to restoring the Cathedral of the Annunciation.<ref name="A">[http://amsmolich.livejournal.com/131464.html Alexander Smolich: Mikhail Botkin and his Collection]</ref> Shortly after, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, Fourth Degree (later Second Degree). Six years later, he helped create the Russian pavilion at the Nordic Exhibition of 1888 and was named a Grand Commander in the Order of the Dannebrog.
In 1896, he became the Curator at the museum of the "Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts" and was consulted as an expert on restoring the frescoes at the Cathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod, and the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov. Two years later, he served on the committee that planned the renovation of Mikhailovsky Palace and, together with Nikolay Likhachyov, wrote the first catalogue for the ancient art collection at the Russian Museum.<ref name="A" />
In addition to his artistic activities, he served in administrative positions on the boards of a bank, Russia's first insurance company and a steamship line.<ref name="F" /> He was also a member of the Saint Petersburg City Duma.<ref name="R">[http://www.roerich-encyclopedia.facets.ru/personal/botkin.html Roerich Encyclopedia: Biography] </ref>
== His art collection == In 1882, he bought a mansion on Vasilievsky Island, where he housed his collection in five small rooms in the attic. On Sundays, it was open to the public, free of charge.<ref name="R" /> The collection included a wide variety of objects, spanning several centuries, from many locations around the Mediterranean as well as Russia. During his many trips to Italy, he acquired rare paintings by Pinturicchio, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna and many others.<ref name="F" />
In 1917, his widow deposited thirty-two sealed boxes of especially valuable artworks at the Russian Museum (presumably to protect them during World War I) with the provision that they would become the museum's property if she had not reclaimed them within a year of the war's end. She died later that same year.<ref name="A" /> Accordingly, the museum took possession. After the Russian Revolution and Civil War, some of the artworks and books in the boxes were transferred to the Hermitage Museum. Over 200 pieces of gold cloisonné were sold by the Soviet government to collectors in Europe and the United States, supposedly from Botkin's collection, but their authenticity has been questioned by technical experts, based on chemical analysis.<ref>Helfenstein, Eva (et al.) [https://www.iiconservation.org/node/3413 Technical examination of enamels from the Botkin collection]</ref> [[File:Georgia Khakhuli triptych.jpg|thumb|300px|The Khakhuli triptych]]
==Publications== * {{Cite book |last=Botkin |first=Mikhail P. |url=https://viewer.rsl.ru/ru/rsl01003610602 |title=Александр Андреевич Иванов: Его жизнь и переписка, 1806–1858 гг. |date=1880 |publisher=Mikhail Botkin |location=St. Petersburg |language=ru |oclc=27355439}}
==References== {{reflist}}
== Sources == * {{Cite book |last=Bakaldina |first=Yelena V. |script-title=ru:Академик живописи М. П. Боткин |trans-title=Mikhail Petrovich Botkin, Academician of Painting|date=2019 |publisher=Roerich Institute |isbn=978-5-907223-13-4 |location=Saint Petersburg |language=ru |type=artbook / exhibition catalogue |oclc=1137832584}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Botkin |encyclopedia=The Dictionary of Art |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofart04turn/page/489/mode/1up |last=Howard |first=Jeremy |date=1996 |editor-last=Turner |editor-first=Jane |volume=4 |page=489 |isbn=1-884446-00-0 |oclc=1033646743 |via=the Internet Archive}} * {{cite book |first=Sergei N. |last=Kondakov |author-link=:ru:Кондаков, Сергей Никодимович|url=https://viewer.rsl.ru/ru/rsl01004180464?page=27 |script-title=ru:Юбилейный справочник Императорской Академии художеств. 1764–1914 |trans-title=Anniversary Directory of the Imperial Academy of Arts, 1764–1914 |location=Saint Petersburg|date = 1915|publisher=Golike and Vilborg|volume=2|page=22|language=ru|oclc=707072219}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Боткин, Михаил Петрович |encyclopedia=Художники народов СССР |publisher=Iskusstvo |location=Moscow |date=1972 |editor-last=Voltsenburg |editor-first=Oskar E. |editor-link=:ru:Вольценбург, Оскар Эдуардович|display-editors=etal |volume=2 |pages=51–52|language=ru}}
==External links== {{commons category|Mikhail Botkin}} * [https://rah.ru/the_academy_today/the_members_of_the_academie/member.php?ID=52558 Mikhail Botkin] at the Russian Academy of Arts' official website {{in lang|ru}} * [http://amsmolich.livejournal.com/131464.html Alexander Smolich: Mikhail Botkin and his Collection]. Includes a large number of photographs of the Museum and its collection, as well as a comprehensive history.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Botkin, Mikhail}} Category:1839 births Category:1914 deaths Category:Art collectors from the Russian Empire Category:19th-century engravers from the Russian Empire Category:19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Category:Russian male painters Category:20th-century Russian painters Category:19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire Category:20th-century Russian male artists Category:Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)