This portrait of Nicholas II is displayed just off the Picture Hall inside Catherine Palace. He reigned from 1894 until 1917 and was the last emperor of Russia. The art by Vladimir Kuznetsov was painted in 1914. Four years later, Nicholas II of Russia, his wife, five children and a few attendants were executed by the Bolsheviks founded by Lenin. The event marked the end of the Russian Empire and gave way to the rise of the Soviet Union. In 1981, Nicholas and his family were canonized as saints by the Russian Orthodox Church.
