Fedor Solntsev was born in Verkhne-Nikulskoye [ru] a village near Rybinsk in the Yaroslavl Governorate. His parents were serfs of CountIvan Alekseyevich Musin-Pushkin [ru].[6] His father, Grigory Konstantinovich Solntsev, worked as a box-office attendant for the Imperial theaters in Saint Petersburg and travelled to the village very infrequently while his mother, Elizaveta Frolovna Solntseva, was a peasant and lived all her life in the village. Fedor spent his early life with his mother and siblings.[1] After discovering his artistic ability, his master freed the Solntsev family, which allowed Fedor to enter the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg in 1815[1][7] and became a pupil of Alexei Yegorov and Stepan Shchukin.[7] Later, Fedor's younger brother, Yegor Solntsev also graduated from the Imperial Academy of Art and became a notable painter.[5]
Fedor graduated from the Academy in 1824 receiving a "Lesser Gold Medal" for his painting A Peasant Family.[1][7] In 1827 he received the "Greater Gold Medal" from the Academy for his painting Render unto Caesar.[1][7] In 1836 he became a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts for his work Meeting of Grand Duke Sviatoslav with John of Tzimiskes.[1] In 1876 Solntsev was appointed Professor of the Academy.[8]
Olenin commissioned Solntsev to describe archaeological and historical artifacts of Russian state.[1][7] Solntsev started to work in 1830. He made more than 3000 highly detailed drawing of different artifacts including the record of all the Kremlin's riches. Seven hundreds of those drawings made the core for the six-volume publications titled Antiquities of the Russian State.[1][7] The encyclopedia was published after Olenin's death using the funds provided by Nicholas I.[5] Solntsev also provided a detailed chronicle of Old Russian style in his book Clothing of Russia.[9]
Solntsev died on 3 March 1892 and was buried in Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.[1]
Voyce, Arthur . (1954). "The Moscow Kremlin : its history, architecture, and art treasures". The Slavic and East European Journal. 2 (3). University of California Press: 262–264. JSTOR305162.