Mikhail Ivanovich Lebedev (1811–1837) was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n painter.

Lebedev was born in Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

 into the family of an impoverished serf. In the 1820s, serfdom was abolished in his region and the young Lebedev got an opportunity to study at a nearby school. His artistic endeavours attracted the attention of the Count Pahlen

Fyodor Petrovich Pahlen

Count Fyodor Petrovich Pahlen was a Russian diplomat and administrator.-Biography:Fyodor was the youngest son of Petr Alekseevich Pahlen, a prominent Russian courtier. He worked at Russian diplomatic missions in Sweden, France and Great Britain...

, who sent Lebedev to the Academy at Saint Petersburg with a full scholarship. In the Academy, Lebedev studied under Maxim Vorobiev

Maxim Vorobiev

Maxim Nikiforovich Vorobiev was a Russian Romantic landscape painter.-Early life:Vorobiev was born into the family of a soldier, who on retirement became a guard in the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg...

. In 1833, he got the major gold medal for the painting View of Ladoga.

In 1834, he travelled to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 on a pension and was met by the Russian artistic colony there, notably the native Karl Brullov. Lebedev loved to paint Italy’s natural landscapes; his landscape paintings are full of coloristic contrasts. Notable paintings derived from this period are "Ariccia

Ariccia

Ariccia is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, central Italy. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs...

 near Rome" and "View of Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo is a small Italian town or comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 15 miles south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope. It is an Italian town with the population of 8834...

 near Rome" Lebedev’s landscapes had an immediate success with the public. Tragically in 1837, Lebedev went to work in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, where an epidemic of cholera started. The artist became ill and died at the age of 26.