Emperor Nicholas I

[grandduchessella]

Here's what it says in Camera and the Tsars:

'The earliest surviving daguerreotypes of the imperial family, taken from life, date from the end of the 1840s. The State Hermitage in St Petersburg owns two: one of Nicholas I and one of his eldest daughter...taken by unknown photographers. There may have been other early photographs which have not survived....Nicholas may not have cared much for photography beyond its novelty value: his interests inclined always to the past. He was also a keen patron of the arts. The miniature watercolour portrait was fashionable in Russia at thsi time and the Tsar was both generous to his artists and knowledgable about their work--he may not have wished to encourage an invention that would threaten their future....The Royal Collection in Windsor holds a daguerreotype of him on his deathbed...'

[Mihailo]

Thank you for your responses everyone!
I didn't find the photo on the Hermitage site, so I guess there's no photo of him online...

[leanora]

Hello  

You can read this in the introduction of "the camera and the tsars" from Charlotte Zeepvat: "the earliest surviving daguerreotypes of the imperial family taken from life, date from the end of the 1840s. The State Hermitage in St Petersburg owns two: one of Nicholas I and one of his eldest daughter, Grand Princess Maria Nikolaevna, taken by unknow photographers. There may have been other early photographs which have not survived...... But Nicholas may not have cared much for photography beyond its novelty value: his interests inclined always to the past..... Nicholas died in february 1855. The Royal collection in Windsor holds a daguerreotype of him on his deathbed which has deteriorated badly. Its provenance is unknown and it is a curious item to find in this particular collection for, at the time of the tsar's death, England and Russia were at war....."

[leanora]

sorry granduchesse ella, I had to read all the replies before post

[RomanovsFan4Ever]

He didn't poison himself, nor would he have. I think he was stressed, strained, and life weary after the Crimean War, as well as getting older, so it's natural he came down with an illness that led to death. I think his attitude may have been rather life weary, but I think that's the extent of it. His death was natural, whatever he was feeling, poisoning himself woudn't have occured to him.

Agree with you, I don't believe that he poisoned himself, from what I read his health began to deteriorate some time before his death (as well as the health of Empress Alexandra), and also he was completely demoralized by the tragic news that came from the war in Crimea, if I recall correctly Sevastopol was under siege, and the situation was desperate.
According to historian Henri Troyat, the Tsar stopped to take care about his health, but his death was natural.

[Sara Araújo]

With his wife Alexandra Feodorovna:


Again with his wife and his son Alexander II:

[violetta]

the emperor and the empress enter moscow

[violetta]

coronation of nicholas I is announced publicly on the Red Square

[violetta]

the tzar in a prussian uniform




the tzar with his son iin law, the duke of leichtenberg

[violetta]

[violetta]

[Dru]

Nicholas I on his deathbed, by Hau.

[Ally Kumari]

http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/bo4kameda/post258827741/

[Dru]

I am seriously jumping up and down screaming right now!  Nicholas I on his deathbed, with the angels of his daughter Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna, and his granddaughter Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna.  By Vladimir Ivanovich Hau, from vk.com.

[Ally Kumari]

That is indeed a rare image! Also only third picture of Alexandra Alexandrovna I have seen (the other two being her well known portrait and the illustration showing her and her baby brother Niks)