Family Dynasty Timeline
Explore the artistic legacy of the Baglioni, Cavos, Benois, Lanceray, and Serebriakova lines across more than three centuries
Founding Families
1702-1797
Francesco Baglioni "Carnace"
fl. 1729-1762
Alberto Giovanni Cavos
c. 1750-1810
Nicolas-Denis Benois
1702-1748
Charles Lanceray
b. c. 1760
Antonio Baglioni
c. 1760s-after 1797
Foundations in Russia
1770-1840Camilla Cavos (Baglioni)
1773-1832
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Louis-Jules Benois
1770-1822
Catterino Cavos
1775-1840
Paul Lanceray
c. 1788-c. 1826
Imperial Builders
1800-1850
Alberto Catterinovich Cavos
1800-1863
Nikolai Leontievich Benois
1813-1898
Ludwig-Alexander Pavlovich Lanceray
1815-1869
Camilla Cavos (Benois)
1828-1891
Imperial Artistic Household
1848-1875
Yevgeny Alexandrovich Lanceray
1848-1886
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Yekaterina Nikolayevna Lanceray
1850-1933
Albert Nikolaevich Benois
1852-1936
Leon Nikolaevich Benois
1856-1928
Alexandre Benois
1870-1960
Silver Age
1874-1900
Nikolay Yevgenyevich Lanceray
1879-1942
Boris Serebriakov
1882-1919
Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lanceray
1875-1946
Zinaida Serebriakova
1884-1967
Zinaida Serebriakova
1884-1967
Biography
The painter at the heart of this collection. Her work connects self-portraiture, family scenes, ballet pictures, peasant compositions, emigration, and the Moroccan series.
Major Achievements
- "At the Dressing Table" (1909)
- Ballet and Morocco series
- International recognition
Notable Facts
- The artist at the heart of this collection
Nadezhda Leontievna Benois
1896-1975
Revolution & Emigre Years
1906-1925
Evgeny Borisovich Serebriakov
1906-1990
Alexander Borisovich Serebriakov
1907-1995
Tatyana Borisovna Serebriakova
1912-1989
Ekaterina Borisovna Serebriakova
1913-2014
Sir Peter Ustinov
1921-2004
Soviet Era
1940-1980
Ivan Nikolaev
1940-2021
Contemporary Stewardship
1962-Present
Anastasia Nikolaeva
1962-Present
Four Families, Two Countries, One Dynasty
Zinaida Serebriakova stood at the meeting point of four remarkable families who came to Russia from France and Italy: the Benois, the Lanceray, the Cavos, and the Baglioni, uniting architects, painters, sculptors, composers, and opera singers across more than two centuries.
Louis-Jules Benois (1770-1822) left France during the Revolution and became chef patissier to Empress Maria Feodorovna. His son Nikolai Benois (1813-1898) was chief architect of Peterhof, and the family went on to produce the painter and Mir iskusstva founder Alexandre Benois, Zinaida's uncle.
A family of Venetian musicians and architects. The composer and conductor Catterino Cavos (1775-1840) came to direct the Imperial opera orchestras; his son Alberto Cavos (1800-1863) designed the Mariinsky Theatre and rebuilt the Bolshoi after the 1853 fire.
Paul Lanceray (c. 1788-c. 1826), an officer in Napoleon's Grande Armee, was wounded and captured during the 1812 Russian campaign and remained in Russia, marrying Olga Karlovna von Taube in Riga; family accounts describe her as a ward of Baron Karl von Taube. Their line produced the sculptor Yevgeny Lanceray, Zinaida's father.
A dynasty of opera singers founded by the bass and impresario Francesco Baglioni "Carnace" (fl. 1729-1762). His granddaughter, the soprano Camilla Baglioni (1773-1832), married the composer Catterino Cavos, joining the Baglioni and Cavos families and, in time, the line that led to Zinaida.
A connection to Mozart
Through the Baglioni branch, the family’s lineage reaches one of the most celebrated names in music. Antonio Baglioni (c. 1760s – after 1797) — son of the soprano Rosa Baglioni and brother of Camilla Baglioni, both Zinaida’s direct ancestors — was the tenor for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (premiered in Prague in 1787) and the title role of Tito in La clemenza di Tito (1791). A generation earlier, the twelve-year-old Mozart had written the role of Rosina in La finta semplice (1768) for Antonio’s aunt, the soprano Giovanna Baglioni — but rival intrigues sank the Vienna production, the opera premiered in Salzburg with a different cast, and she never sang her role.
Explore More
Learn more about individual family members and their contributions to the arts