Abstract: The subject of the research is the modern trends in studying portrait painting of the XVIIIth century against the background of a lengthy history of Russian science on Russian culture of the aforesaid period. The object of the research is numerous monographies that relate to different branches of humanities: art history, history of philosophy, semiotics, aesthetics and anthropology, that allow both to present particular researches of portrait art in terms of interdisciplinary studies but also to demonstrate the variety of methods used in such researches. Application of the comparative historical method and particular analysis of historiography allows to define the main stages of Russian art history research as well as to define key approaches and issues outlined by scientists of different generations. In-depth analysis of monographies allows to make a conclusion about the succession of research topics in art history and philosophy as a result of a special interest towards the role and feeling of human within culture. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author discovers favorable interaction between philosophy of art and history of art in terms of the anthropological problem at the present stage. This contributes to the extension of the methodological framework in researches of the portrait painting of the XVIIIth century and becomes a promising perspective for future researches.