Georg Christoph Grooth

German painter. Eldest son of Johann Christoph Grooth (1688–1764), court painter to the duke of Württemberg and curator of the royal picture gallery in Stuttgart. Known as “Kleine Grooth,” because of his small height, to distinguish him from his younger brother Johann Friedrich. Studied under his father and other masters in Ludwigsburg and Dresden. Lived and worked in Prague (1739–40). Moved to the Russian Empire with his brother, settling in Reval (1741) and St Petersburg (1743), where he was appointed court painter to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and invited to supervise and restore the imperial painting collections. Helped to design the Triumphal Gates in Moscow celebrating the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1742). Decorated the interiors of palaces, painted portraits of members of the imperial court and icons for the domestic chapel in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (1743–49).