Ilya Repin depicts the marriage of Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) and Princess AlixVictoria Helena Luise Beatrice of Hessen (1872–1918). Alix converted to Russian Orthodoxy as Grand Duchess Alexandra Fyodorovna (1894). She and Nicholas were married at the Winter Palace chapel on 14 November 1894. The chapel is filled with members of the Imperial family, foreign diplomats and members of the Holy Synod and the State Council.The young man stand-ing next to Alexandra Fyodorovna is the Tsar s youngest brother Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich (1878–1918), in favour of whom he later renounced. To the right of the tsar is his mother Dowager Empress Marie Fyodorovna (1847–1928). This ceremony occurred soon of the passing of Emperor Alexander III, who was against his son s choice for a wife and gave the young couple his blessing shortly before his death.

Repin Ilya

Repin, Ilya Yefimovich
1844, Chuguyev (Kharkiv Province) - 1930, Kuokkala (Finland)
Painter, draughtsman, watercolour painter, portraitist, history painter. Studied under local artists at the School of Military Topography in Chuguyev (1854-57), under Ivan Kramskoi at the School of Drawing, Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1863) and at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1864-71). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Italy and France, lived mostly in Paris (1873-76). Academician (1876). Professor, full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1893). Member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1878, exhibited from 1874). Headed a studio at the Higher School of Art, Imperial Academy of Arts (1894-1907) and taught at Princess Maria Tenisheva''s school of art (1895-98). Lived in St Petersburg and Moscow, settled in Kuokkala (1900).