The artist is Akimov
In 1775, the Academic Council of the Academy of Arts appointed Ivan Akimov, who was as a pensioner in Rome, the topic for his picture: "Prometheus makes a statue by order of Minerva". The plot is based on one of the options for the myth of Prometheus, outlined by Ovid in "Metamorphoses". According to the myth, the giant Prometheus, encouraged by the goddess of wisdom of Minerva, created a statue from clay, which, being animated by the gods, laid the foundation for the human race:
So recently, without an image, a rude mass,
Now the land has taken the people of unknown appearance.
This version of the myth was used in connection with the comparison of Catherine II with Athena Pallas, which was common in the 1770s (this metaphor has become especially popular in solemn odes on the occasion of Russian military victories). With this interpretation, the role of Peter I was likened to the role of Prometheus, the founder of civilization.
The picture reveals a virtuoso possession of the artist in all ways of modeling and plastic construction of a naked human body, is distinguished by a calm balance, the hones of the drawing, and freedom in the transfer of angles.
For this picture in 1778, the painter received the title "appointed".
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