Background
Ivan Nikitin was born in Moscow to a family of an Orthodox priest.
Ivan Nikitin was born in Moscow to a family of an Orthodox priest.
He received his first artistic lessons from a Dutch artist Schwonbek at the engraving shop of the Kremlin Armoury. In 1711 the Armory together with Ivan Nikitin was moved to Saint St. Petersburg. The brothers learnt the art of painting at Florence and Venice.
He worked in Moscow and Saint St. Petersburg.
Ivan was tortured, for five years imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, then whipped and exiled to Tobolsk. In 1740 Anna of Russia signed an amnesty for the brothers.
The amnesty came into force in 1741. By request of the new Empress Elizabeth of Russia, Nikitin travelled back from Tobolsk to Saint St. Petersburg and died somewhere on the road either in late 1741 or in early 1742.