Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburgsky (1837-1898) was a famous Russian battle and genre painter, one of the founders of the St Petersburg Artel of Artists. He studied at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1868, the artist received the title of academician for the painting “Drowned in the Village” (1867, State Russian Museum, St Petersburg). In 1875-1885, he lived and worked in Paris.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, he received the Highest order for a series of battle paintings commemorating the events of the war. He subsequently returned to this subject, creating an extensive cycle dedicated to the Balkan campaign. Today, his paintings of the Russian-Turkish War decorate the Pompeii Gallery of the Winter Palace.
