(? – 1703) In the early 1660s an Armenian envoy delivered gifts to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Among other items was an engraved copper board that caught the eye of the tsar. A few years later, in 1666, Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to have Bogdan Saltanov brought from the Armenian colony in Persia to Moscow for teaching the Armory artists.

While nothing is known about Saltanov’s life before his arrival to Russia, the master came to Russia as an experienced artist. He received a high salary as a foreigner and was hired into tsar’s service.

Bogdan Saltanov painted the tsar palace in Kolomenskoe, decorated household articles, produced book illustrations and shared the secrets of his mastership with his apprentices. In 1674 Bogdan Saltanov converted to Russian Orthodoxy and adopted a new name Ivan. First pieces of evidence of his cooperation with Ivan Bezmin can be found in the chronicles of that time. They worked together for many years. Saltanov was one of the first masters in Russia to have painted in oil colors on the canvas and used artistic techniques in his artwork. Among his most famous works is a portrait of Russian Tsar Feodor Alexeevich (1686).