Ipatiev Basement artwork

I haven't posted a picture here on AP yet, so I thought I'd try it out in this quiet little thread. I made the picture a few months ago. Emotionally, it's the hardest picture I've ever done. I'm sorry if it upsets or offends... it certainly upsets and offends me. I know they were'nt wearing medals or jewels (other than the hidden jewels, of course), but I couldn't bring myself to not show some. I got where each victim is standing/sitting from the diagram on the romanov-memorial.com site. At least it shows them all and, facially, they look something like they did in life, as near as I can get. The clothing is merely a guess, but I have read Tsarevich Alexei was probably wearing his white belt since that was found at the mine. I think the room itself is pretty accurate (more or less) but the proportion of the victims in relation to the room is just a best-guess. I'm not an artist... I just cheat a lot. I hope you'll resist flaming me for this.

Well, that didn't work. I wanted the picture so that if you clicked on it you'd be taken to photobucket for a bigger version. I used the "insert image" button. I'll try the "insert hyperlink" button instead now and see if that works.

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg592/John_Honestly/All%20of%20Them/AllOfUsExtendedTest.jpg

That didn't work either. *sob*

The link works for me and I hope for others because it's even more remarkable when it's larger! ...and I think I can guess where the photos are from.  Good choices...the only thing , Marie should be taller ...but that is nit pic =)

[Mathematic, art and history in ♥]

I like the photo, well done!

Dear John,

May I ask what prompted or compelled you to do the picture? its really not a criticism its just seems as if you have worked something through emotionally by doing so. Its a very arresting image as it does bring home the horrible reality of what happened that night.

The only thing I would add is that there are witness testimonies from the family's last weeks that suggest the Tsarevitch had quite a growth spurt at this time. Although he never fully walked again some witnesses stated when standing he had become taller than the Tsar. Also if you look at the last picture of him on the 'Rus' with GD Olga his face has lengthened and matured from that of child so at the point the family died the Tsarevitch was physically on the cusp of manhood, no longer a small child as one usually imagines.

.the only thing , Marie should be taller

When I revisit the picture, sometime, I'll move Maria up a bit then. Was she about Olga's size then?

I like the photo, well done!

Thank you very much Nena :)

Nitpicking again. There is a photograph taken in Tobolsk where Alexei looks a little shorter than Nicholas but not much - 2-3 inches. Alexandra and Nicholas were similar heights - in hats Alexandra often looked taller - so when seated she and Alexei should be about the same height rather tyhan alexei being noticeably shorter.

Ann

May I ask what prompted or compelled you to do the picture? its really not a criticism its just seems as if you have worked something through emotionally by doing so.

I wanted a picture of the scene for a couple of videos I was doing on YouTube, but couldn't find any artists impressions online that fitted the bill for me. I was very reluctant to put the scene together myself... I didn't want to be there in that room and obviously the people I was putting in there didn't want to be there again either. Most times I enjoy colouring and playing around with Romanov pictures, but not this one. But yes, I did work through something personally emotional too. I had close friends in the Army who met a similar fate.

The only thing I would add is that there are witness testimonies from the family's last weeks that suggest the Tsarevitch had quite a growth spurt at this time. Although he never fully walked again some witnesses stated when standing he had become taller than the Tsar. Also if you look at the last picture of him on the 'Rus' with GD Olga his face has lengthened and matured from that of child so at the point the family died the Tsarevitch was physically on the cusp of manhood, no longer a small child as one usually imagines.

Alexandra and Nicholas were similar heights - in hats Alexandra often looked taller - so when seated she and Alexei should be about the same height rather tyhan alexei being noticeably shorter.

Thanks guys! When I revisit the picture I expect I can make Alexei's body wider and taller, and maybe I'll try his picture on the Rus for the face and see if i can make it work here. I mightn't manage that since he's more sideways on in that pic, but it's worth a try.

Things designed by a committee are always bad :))

Fantastic "John", and not the least bit startling...

Aside from the comments already made about the height of Maria and a more "developed" Alexei the attention to detail here is terrific...right down to the expressions on each of their faces! Quizzical, perhaps with some concern (and a little tired for being woken up and moved in the middle of the night), but far from emotionally prepared for the awful terror that awaited them moments later...

Question on the height of the Tsarevich. No reason to believe that afflicted with hemophilia and being bed ridden for weeks on end did anything to stunt his growth is there? Otherwise it doesn't surprise me at all that he could have just about caught his father in height by the time he was a month from his fourteenth birthday. I believe Nicholas was considered small for a Romanov...perhaps those family genes, specifically those passed down from the much larger Alexander III, simply skipped a generation and Alexei was well on his way to becoming a sizable grown man.

Things designed by a committee are always bad

Sorry, I meant to say: Things designed by a committee are'nt always bad. no offense meant anywhere. D'ohh

Fantastic "John", and not the least bit startling...

Thanks "Ed"! (lol) To people who know what happened next this scene is enough, I think... Seemingly just a group of not very happy people posing, but kind of sinister at the same time. It's as far as I'm prepared to go with the event. I sometimes get annoyed with seeing the same various feature film clips of the murders over and over again included in YouTube videos about the Romanovs, where not one of them shows all eleven victims, and do we need to see those scenes so often? Once was bad enough.

I've read Nicholas was 5' 6" tall, so it's not a suprise he was being caught up with by Alexei. That said, they were both "giants" of history, I'm sure we all agree. :)

.the only thing , Marie should be taller

When I revisit the picture, sometime, I'll move Maria up a bit then. Was she about Olga's size then?

at least Olga's size, but more like TN. Marie and Tatiana  were the tallest daughters. The photo their faces are  from ( the one with tennis rackets  and the flower pot=) Marie is closer to the camera and appears shorter...and she might have been a bit shorter then...but by July 1918 she would be as tall as TN I believe. We have really one suitable photo of those with the family and in each case, you used that one well! Great job! 

at least Olga's size, but more like TN. Marie and Tatiana  were the tallest daughters.

Thanks Anne! D'Ohh, I made her taller last night, but not quite tall enough then. Whaaa. I'll move her up a touch more tonight. She's getting a bit cross with me. Nobody should get on the wrong side of Maria, if they know what's good for them :))

I hope I'll have the picture cracked by dawn, and then plonk it on here to see if we all agree. I've made Alexei look bigger and have tried to mature his face by a couple of years. I hope people will think it still looks like Alexei. At least I don't have to wait for the paint to dry like you do! Teehee