The Romanov family left their descendants a rich photographic heritage. The best photographers of the Russian Empire photographed the imperial family. On trips abroad, they always ordered photographic portraits from famous foreign artists. In the family of Nicholas II, everyone was passionate about photography.

In the photographic heritage of the Romanovs, many photographs are especially associated with the family of Nicholas II. The imperial family was portrayed by many famous photographers. What remains are studio photographs of outstanding masters of Russian photography G. Denyer, S. L. Levitsky, A. Pazetti, C. Bergamasco. While abroad, the royal family was photographed by famous foreign photographers: in Denmark - L. Danielson, M. Steen, G. Hansen, in Poland - L. Kowalski, in Germany - O. Skovranek, F. Telgman and others. When the Romanovs visited the cities of the Russian Empire, the photography was entrusted to the best city photographers: F. Orlov in Yalta, M. Mazur in Sevastopol, V. Barkanov in Tiflis, A. M. Ivanitsky in Kharkov, etc.

Emperor. (rosphoto.org)

Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with their daughters. (rosphoto.org)

The largest collection of photographs of the last Russian emperor and his family was left by the photo studio “K. E. von Hahn and Co. "The atelier was opened in Tsarskoye Selo in 1887. It was owned by the wife of the assistant senior mechanical engineer Kazimira-Ludviga Evgenievna Jacobson, nee Hahn. In 1891, Alexander Karlovich Yagelsky became a co-owner of the atelier, who since 1897 receives the exclusive right to photograph Emperor Nicholas II and his family.

A. K. Yagelsky photographed the emperor during diplomatic receptions and visits, on trips around the country, during military maneuvers and reviews, official court events, on vacation on the imperial yacht “Standart”, in Finnish skerries, in Livadia, while hunting on estates Belovezh also slept. These photographs rarely reached the public and formed the imperial family's own photographic archive. In 1911, A.K. Yagelsky received the honorary title of Photographer of His Majesty's Court.

Parade of troops of the Moscow garrison. Moscow. 1903. (rosphoto.org)

Yagelsky was also the only one who was allowed to film the royal family. From 1900 until his death in October 1916, he was the personal cameraman of Emperor Nicholas II and left a very significant film archive.

Rope tug. Finnish skerries. 1911. (rosphoto.org)

Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia. Tsarskoye Selo. 1903. (rosphoto.org)

The famous reportage photographer K.K. Bulla photographed Nicholas II a lot. In 1904, he received permission to photograph “views of the capital, as well as celebrations in the Supreme presence.” From the Main Headquarters of the War Ministry, Bulla had a certificate of permission to “take photographic photographs during maneuvers and exercises of the Guard troops and the St. Petersburg Military District,” as well as a special certificate from the Main Naval Staff, allowing to take photographs “during maneuvers, reviews, exercises, descents and laying ships and, in general, all events relating to marine life.”

The heir is Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. 1911. (rosphoto.org)

The Romanovs themselves left many personal albums with photographs - the Emperor, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, all children, including the heir, were passionate amateur photographers. Since Nicholas II got his first camera in 1896, he has never parted with it. Some of the albums were filled out by the emperor himself, pasting and signing photographs with his own hands. Each family member had personal photo albums, usually annually or for two or three years together.

The Emperor and Empress in the costumes of Russian tsars of the 17th century. (rosphoto.org)

Another category of the Romanovs’ photographic heritage is the photo albums of their close associates, those who, on duty, were with the emperor and his family on trips around the country and abroad, and especially during vacations. The Romanovs themselves, their personal photographer A.K. Yagelsky and the emperor’s associates took the largest number of family photographs on vacation, when the members of the august family were left to their own devices and less bound by the conventions of court etiquette. This close circle, which had the opportunity to take informal photographs of the family of Nicholas II, included large court officials, members of the emperor’s retinue, ladies-in-waiting, ladies of state, officers of the imperial yacht “Standard” and a number of other people.

Royal hunt in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. (rosphoto.org)

The fate of the photographic heritage of the Romanov family in Soviet Russia is quite complicated and bears the imprint of the tragic fate of its owners. After the execution, documents and photographs of the Romanov house were transferred from archive to archive more than once. The photographic heritage is still insufficiently studied. We do not even know the approximate number of photographic objects in the state repositories of the Russian Federation; It is also unknown what legacy has been preserved in the CIS countries and abroad.

Nicholas II in his office, 1900. (rosphoto.org)

X artist Valentin Serov became famous as a master of portraiture. Among his customers were representatives of the imperial Romanov dynasty - Serov painted more than ten portraits of august persons. We invite you to look at the paintings of the famous Russian portrait painter and get acquainted with five representatives of the royal family.

Portrait of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich as a child

Portrait of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich as a child. 1893

About the portrait of his son, painted by Valentin Serov, Alexander III said: “Mishenka is as alive.” The artist managed to capture a brief moment of elusive childhood: in the picture we see Mikhail growing up, almost a teenager. He is a little thoughtful, but there is still a childish dreaminess hidden in his gaze. The Tsarevich is dressed in the fashion of the late 19th century - in a white sailor suit. Thousands of ordinary boys also wore them at the turn of the century.

This painting is a study for a group portrait of the royal family. The painter was given only three sessions to work, during which Mikhail and his sisters Ksenia and Olga posed for him. The rest had to be written from memory. For Serov, this approach was unusual: he usually worked for a long time, several months in a row, paying special attention to detail.

The group portrait was first exhibited in 1894 in the village of Borki, Kharkov province. In honor of the rescue of the royal family in a train accident, a church and chapel were built here. At the celebrations of their consecration, a portrait of the family of Alexander III hung in a separate pavilion, but many spectators mistook it for an icon and stopped to cross themselves.

Today, the portrait of Mikhail Alexandrovich is kept in the State Russian Museum.

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich. 1897

Portrait of Alexander III

Portrait of Alexander III. 1899

Valentin Serov wrote to Alexander III several times. The group portrait of the imperial family from 1893 was the only painting painted during the monarch’s lifetime. The appearance of Alexander III in the 1899 painting had to be recreated from memory. Valentin Serov also relied on photographs of the imperial photographer Sergei Levitsky.

In the painting, Alexander III looks both majestic and good-natured. He is depicted against the backdrop of Fredensborg Palace in Copenhagen, wearing the uniform of an honorary colonel of the Danish Royal Life Guards. This title was awarded to the Emperor by King Christian IX in 1879. Since then, during his visits to Denmark, Alexander III always wore an officer's uniform: a cocked hat with a blue and white plume and a scarlet ceremonial uniform. On it, in addition to the Russian highest awards, you can also see Danish ones: a blue ribbon, a star of the Order of the Elephant, a star and a cross of the Order of Danebrog.

The artist traveled to Denmark several times to make sketches from nature. One of the sergeants posed for him near the palace instead of the emperor. The original imperial portrait is kept in Copenhagen, in the officer fund of the Royal Life Guards.

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II. 1900

The artist created a home portrait of Nicholas II, a gift to Alexandra Feodorovna, in just two meetings with the emperor. The original version of the painting has not survived: the revolutionaries who captured the Winter Palace ripped open the canvas with bayonets. However, Serov, having barely finished the portrait in 1900, immediately made a copy of it. He was worried about the fate of the painting because the Empress did not really like it. During the sessions, Alexandra Feodorovna closely watched the artist and generously gave advice on how to “correct” the face of Nicholas II in the portrait. In the end, Valentin Serov could not stand it, handed the empress a palette with brushes and invited her to finish the work herself.

The portrait of Nicholas II looks unfinished: it is painted with wide, free strokes without subtle light transitions, the details of the canvas are not worked out. But the execution of the film reflects the idea of ​​Valentin Serov. The artist wanted to show first of all a person - tired at work, who came home after work. The canvas lacks the usual attributes of royal portraits - ceremonial interiors, ceremonial clothing, and highest awards. Nicholas II is depicted in the jacket of the Life Guards Regiment, which he wore every day.

The canvas is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's exit from Matins

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's exit from Matins. No later than 1901

Typically, 19th-century artists created portrait drawings as studies for large paintings. But the watercolor and pencil works of Valentin Serov are independent works of art.

The portrait of Alexandra Feodorovna is made in three colors: black, white and red. The artist constructed the composition of the painting in such a way that the viewer looks at the image from the bottom up, because of this the empress seems more majestic. Passing by the servants, she distantly responds to their signs of attention. Using smooth lines, Valentin Serov drew the strict and sophisticated cut of her dress, the airy cape dropped from her shoulders. On the contrary, he depicted those around him with emphatically straight and broken lines, their faces are practically indistinguishable, and their figures are angular.

It was often said about Alexandra Fedorovna, a foreigner by birth, that her relationship with the court did not work out. During the ceremonies, the empress behaved with restraint: she was embarrassed to communicate with strangers. However, official events were an obligatory part of the life of the court. Nicholas II wrote about one of them in his diary: “At 2 o’clock in the Winter Palace the ladies’ steelyard began - 550 ladies! My dear Alix looked remarkably beautiful in Russian dress.” In those years the ceremony of kissing hands was called steelyard.

A drawing depicting Empress Alexandra Feodorovna can be seen in the State Russian Museum.

Abdicating the throne, Nicholas II tried to negotiate the fulfillment of certain conditions for himself and his family. At that moment, the Romanovs were not yet going to be sent to Tobolsk, so the abdicated emperor insisted on the absence of tight security and unhindered travel to his family in Tsarskoye Selo. Most of all, Nikolai hoped that the children would be able to stay at home for a long time without risking their own safety. At that time they were suffering from measles and any travel could worsen their condition. Romanov Sr. also asked for permission to travel to England for himself and his family.

First, the Provisional Government agrees to fulfill all the conditions. But already on March 8, 1917, General Mikhail Alekseev informed the Tsar that he “can consider himself, as it were, under arrest.” After some time, a notification of refusal comes from London, which previously agreed to accept the Romanov family. On March 21, former Emperor Nicholas II and his entire family were officially taken into custody.

A little more than a year later, on July 17, 1918, the last royal family of the Russian Empire would be shot in a cramped basement in Yekaterinburg. The Romanovs suffered hardships as they moved closer and closer to their grim end. Let's look at rare photos of members of the last royal family of Russia, taken some time before the execution.

1. After the February Revolution of 1917, the last royal family of Russia, by decision of the Provisional Government, was sent to the Siberian city of Tobolsk to protect them from the wrath of the people. A few months earlier, Tsar Nicholas II had abdicated the throne, ending more than three hundred years of rule by the Romanov dynasty.

2. The Romanovs began their five-day journey to Siberia in August, on the eve of Tsarevich Alexei's 13th birthday. The seven family members were joined by 46 servants and a military escort. The day before reaching their destination, the Romanovs sailed past the home village of Rasputin, whose eccentric influence on politics may have contributed to their dark ending.

3. The family arrived in Tobolsk on August 19 and began to live in relative comfort on the banks of the Irtysh River. In the Governor's Palace, where they were housed, the Romanovs were well fed and they could communicate a lot with each other, without being distracted by state affairs and official events. Children staged plays for their parents, and the family often went to the city for religious services - this was the only form of freedom they were allowed.

4. When the Bolsheviks came to power at the end of 1917, the regime of the royal family began to tighten slowly but surely. The Romanovs were forbidden to attend church and generally leave the territory of the mansion. Soon coffee, sugar, butter and cream disappeared from their kitchen, and the soldiers assigned to protect them wrote obscene and offensive words on the walls and fences of their home.

5. Things were getting worse and worse. In April 1918, a commissar, a certain Yakovlev, arrived with an order to transport the former tsar from Tobolsk. The Empress was adamant in her desire to accompany her husband, but Comrade Yakovlev had other orders that complicated everything. At this time, Tsarevich Alexei, suffering from hemophilia, began to suffer from paralysis of both legs due to a bruise, and everyone expected that he would be left in Tobolsk, and the family would be divided during the war.

6. The commissar’s demands to move were adamant, so Nikolai, his wife Alexandra and one of their daughters, Maria, soon left Tobolsk. They eventually boarded a train to travel through Yekaterinburg to Moscow, where the Red Army was headquartered. However, Commissar Yakovlev was arrested for trying to save the royal family, and the Romanovs got off the train in Yekaterinburg, in the heart of the territory captured by the Bolsheviks.

7. In Yekaterinburg, the rest of the children joined their parents - they were all locked in Ipatiev’s house. The family was placed on the second floor and completely cut off from the outside world, with the windows boarded up and guards posted at the doors. For the rest of their days, the Romanovs were allowed to go out into the fresh air for only five minutes a day.

8. At the beginning of July 1918, the Soviet authorities began to prepare for the execution of the royal family. The ordinary soldiers on guard were replaced by representatives of the Cheka, and the Romanovs were allowed to go to church services for the last time. The priest who conducted the service later admitted that none of the family said a word during the service. For July 16, the day of the murder, five truckloads of barrels of benzidine and acid were ordered to quickly dispose of the bodies.

9. Early in the morning of July 17, the Romanovs were gathered and told about the offensive of the White Army. The family believed that they were simply being moved to a small, lighted basement for their own protection, because it would soon be unsafe here. Approaching the place of his execution, the last Tsar of Russia passed by trucks, in one of which his body would soon lie, not even suspecting what a terrible fate awaited his wife and children.

10. In the basement, Nikolai was told that he was about to be executed. Not believing his own ears, he asked: “What?” - immediately after which the security officer Yakov Yurovsky shot the Tsar. Another 11 people pulled their triggers, filling the basement with Romanov blood. Alexei survived the first shot, but was finished off by Yurovsky’s second shot. The next day, the bodies of members of the last royal family of Russia were burned 19 km from Yekaterinburg, in the village of Koptyaki.

Nicholas II is a controversial personality, historians speak very negatively about his rule of Russia, most people who know and analyze history are inclined to believe that the last All-Russian Emperor had little interest in politics, did not keep up with the times, slowed down the development of the country, was not a visionary ruler, was able to catch the current in time, did not keep his nose in the wind. And even then, when everything practically went to hell, dissatisfaction was already building not only among the lower classes, but also at the top, and even then Nicholas II was unable to draw any correct conclusions. He did not believe that his removal from governing the country was real; in fact, he was doomed to become the last autocrat in Rus'. But Nicholas II was an excellent family man. He should be, for example, a Grand Duke, not an emperor, and not delve into politics. Five children are no joke; raising them requires a lot of attention and effort. Nicholas II loved his wife for many years, missed her in separation from her, and did not lose either physical or mental attraction to her even after many years of marriage.

I collected many photographs of Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Princess Victoria Alice Elena Louise Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of Ludwig IV), their children: daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, son Alexei.

This family loved to be photographed, and the shots turned out very beautiful, spiritual, and bright. Look at the attractive faces of the children of the last Russian Emperor. These girls did not know marriage, never met their lovers and could not know the happiness and sorrows of love. And they died a martyr's death. Although they were not guilty of anything. Many people died in those days. But this family was the most famous, the highest-ranking, and her death still haunts anyone, a black page in the history of Russia, the brutal murder of the royal family. The fate destined for these children was this: girls were born in turbulent times. Many people dream of being born in a palace, with a golden spoon in their mouth: to be princesses, princes, kings, queens, kings and queens. But how often was the life of blue-blooded people difficult? They were imprisoned, killed, poisoned, strangled, and very often their own people, close to the royals, destroyed and occupied the vacant throne, which attracted with its limitless possibilities.

Alexander II was blown up by a Narodnaya Volya member, Paul II was killed by the conspirators, Peter III died under mysterious circumstances, Ivan VI was also destroyed, the list of these unfortunates can be continued for a very long time. And those who were not killed did not live long by today’s standards; they would either get sick or undermine their health while running the country. And it was not only in Russia that there was such a high mortality rate for royalty; there are countries where it was even more dangerous for reigning individuals to be there. But all the same, everyone was always so zealous for the throne, and they pushed their children there at any cost. I wanted, although not for long, to live well, beautifully, go down in history, take advantage of all the benefits, live in luxury, be able to order slaves, decide the destinies of people and rule the country.

But Nicholas II never longed to be an emperor, but understood that being the ruler of the Russian Empire was his duty, his destiny, especially since he was a fatalist in everything.

Today we will not talk about politics, we will just look at photographs.

In this photo you see Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna, as the couple dressed for a costume ball.

In this photo, Nicholas II is still very young, his mustache is just emerging.

Nicholas II in childhood.

In this photo, Nicholas II with his long-awaited heir Alexei.

Nicholas II with his mother Maria Fedorovna.

In this photo, Nicholas II with his parents, sisters and brothers.

“Komsomolskaya Pravda” for the first time publishes rare photographs of the emperor from his personal album, which spent almost a century in the storage rooms of the Ural Museum [KP exclusive]

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To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a real relic was brought to Yekaterinburg - a photo album that belonged to Nicholas II. It contains 210 rare photographs of the royal family, most of which have never been published before. Almost all the photos were taken by Nikolai Alexandrovich or his children.

The emperor was very fond of photography and got his wife Alexandra Fedorovna and children addicted to it,” historian and employee of the Patriarchal Compound Museum Milena Bratukhina tells KP. - There was even a photo workshop in one of the park pavilions in Tsarskoye Selo. Nikolai Alexandrovich shot mainly with American cameras, and the Empress ordered photographic equipment from Great Britain.

The photographs are dated 1913-1916. The album contains many shots of army life. Then the First World War was going on, and the Tsar and his heir Alexei often visited the troops. But the main value of this album is the cards from the daily life of the royal family. Among the pictures there is even a photo with an elephant. It turns out that the first zoo in Tsarskoye Selo Park in St. Petersburg appeared under Nicholas I. It closed in 1917. The children of Nicholas II often came to the Tsarskoye Selo elephant sanctuary with their parents. The Emperor wrote about this in his diary: “He and Alexei brought an elephant to our pond and had fun bathing it.”

The album has been in the Zlatoust Local History Museum since the 30s of the last century. For many years it was carefully stored in storage rooms, and only a few knew about its existence. When the “royal” theme came out of the ban, the album was presented to the general public. But you can’t just watch it - only a few people can touch the album. Once a day they turn only one page and immediately put it under glass: museum staff fear for the safety of the photographs.

How the album ended up in Zlatoust is a mystery, says Nadezhda Prikhodko, director of the museum in Zlatoust. - Everyone knows that the royal family spent the last days of their lives in Yekaterinburg, which is 300 kilometers from our city. There is a version that the director of the Museum of the Revolution, Comrade Chevardin, brought the relic from Yekaterinburg. The museum was located in the house of engineer Ipatiev, and it was there that the august persons lived before their death. In 1933, Chevardin was transferred to Zlatoust, and he may have brought the album with him to save it from destruction. According to the second version, the photograph was transported by a revolutionary nicknamed Kasyan, also known as Dmitry Mikhailovich Chudinov, one of those who escorted the royal family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. He lived in Zlatoust. And after the terrible reprisal against the Romanovs, he appropriated some of their belongings, and it is possible that this album, too.

“KP” thanks the Chrysostom Local Lore Museum and the Yekaterinburg Diocese for the photos provided.

1914 The royal family traditionally went on a summer trip to the Black Sea on the yacht “Standart”. But the photographs: Grand Duchesses Tatiana, Maria Olga, (from left to right) and Anastasia (in the center). The girls have been accustomed to this yacht since childhood. When they grew up, their parents allowed them to bathe on their own. The Grand Duchesses loved to fool around on deck and communicate with officers and courtiers.

1914 Peterhof. The Emperor poses on the shore. Most likely, this photo was taken by one of his children.

1916 Nicholas II and his youngest daughter Anastasia are relaxing in the city garden of Mogilev (during the First World War there was the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief). The Grand Duchess is 15 years old. And don’t let this shot shock you - at that time smoking was not something immoral. In 1915, Anastasia, when the Tsar was at Headquarters and she was in St. Petersburg, wrote to her father: “I’m sitting with your old cigarette that you once gave me, and it’s very tasty.” Of course, the Grand Duchesses did not smoke in public. And this photo is more of a joke.

1916 Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in one of the parks in Tsarskoe Selo. In the hands of the heir to the throne is his beloved black spaniel Joy (translated from English as “joy”). The dog was with Alexei until the end of his days. The boy took him with him into exile. The dog outlived its owner - after his death, the spaniel was sent to London to Buckingham Palace. Please note: the shadow of the author of the photo, the king, is visible in the photo.

1916 The Emperor plays with his son on the banks of the Dnieper. The two of them arrived in Mogilev on October 1, 1915. The Tsar believed that this trip would benefit the future heir to the throne - instead of ordinary classes with a teacher within four walls, Alexey could see the life of ordinary boys.

1914 Tsarskoye Selo. The Tsarevich and his teacher's children are playing war. Alexey spent his entire childhood with them. The boys played together, drew, made snowmen and went canoeing.

1914 Tsarskoye Selo. Nicholas II and his son ride a boat in a local pond. The Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Maria are waiting for them on the shore. Nicholas II devoted a lot of time to his children, especially his only heir.