History of Russia: Exhibition "The Private Life of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II. Photographs from Personal Albums" opened in the Izmailovo Estate in Moscow

The Moscow State Integrated Museum-Reserve and the State Archives of the Russian Federation launched the exhibition project "The Private Life of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II. Photographs from Personal Albums". The exposition spotlights the art of photography of the last imperial family. The fashionable royal hobby serves as a valuable historical source and a documentary reflection of the time.

The exhibition is showcased in the exhibition hall of the Izmailovo Estate.

The tradition of compiling albums with ceremonial photographs arose in the Romanov family at the reign of Emperor Alexander II. However, the family chronicle was enriched with amateur photographs only after the release of Kodak portable cameras and celluloid photofilms.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna created the first photo album of the family of Nicholas II in 1896. Nicholas and Alexandra filmed each other, growing children, traveling, the interiors of their palaces. The personal expenditure reports of the Emperor and Empress for 1896-1911, contain regular information about the bills for film development and printing of photographs.

Thirty-three albums with family photographs are the parts of the personal collections of the Grand Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. A lot of photos are devoted to the rest in Livadia and sailing on the "Standart" yacht.

The last family album was launched in 1914. It includes the pictures of Crimea, a cosy home atmosphere, travel to Odessa and the back way to Tsarskoye Selo, the vacations in the skerries and Peterhof. These are the last pictures of peacetime. Soo, there will be the First World War and the events of 1917.

The original photographs from the royal family collections are rather small ( 5.7 x 5.7 cm). The exhibition features 57 enlarged copies of photographs from the collections of the State Archives. This selection is a part of the collections of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their children - the Grand Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and the heir to Tsarevich Alexei.

The chronological exposition illustrates the everyday life of the royal family for two decades from 1897 to 1917.

The exhibition will run until March 31, 2021.