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Portrait of Nicholas II (reigned 1894-1917),
Painted by Ernst Karlovich Lipgart, 1900
Oil on Canvas
Tsarskoe Selo Museum-Preserve
Inv. No. ED-555-X,

This portrait of Russia's last Tsar shows him in the White Hall of the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. Nicholas stands as a controversial political figure. Reigning during a period of Russian history which was one of its most culturally important, Nicholas was also in power during Russia's most critical political periods. Although known as a religious, tranquil and family-loving man, failure in the Russo-Japanese war heightened his unpopularity, and in 1905, a revolution deprived him of absolute power. Further unrest brought about the February and October revolutions which resulted in his abdication in 1917 and assassination in 1918.