JORDANVILLE, NY: July 26, 2018
"The Last Days of the Last Tsar" exhibit opens at Holy Trinity Monastery

Last Days of the Last Tsar Exhibition Commemorates 100th Anniversary of Tsar Nicholas II’s Death

Last Days of the Last Tsar, an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of Tsar Nicholas II, his family and attendants opened on July 17, 2018 at the Russian History Museum on the grounds of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.

On the night of July 17, 1918, Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, their five children, and four loyal attendants were led to the basement of the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Siberia. There they were brutally murdered by their Bolshevik captors. Last Days of the Last Tsar narrates the events leading up to this grim finale and portrays the family whose life and tragic fate have fascinated the world for a century. This is the first exhibition in North America dedicated exclusively to the final months of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

The exhibition follows the royal family from the opulence of the imperial court to the increasing austerity and confinement under house arrest and in exile. Beginning with Nicholas’s magnificent coronation, the exhibition depicts the Romanov dynasty at the turn of the 20th century, and offers a glimpse into the life of the Tsar’s close-knit family. It goes on to present a chain of somber and fateful events: the outbreak of World War I, the upheaval of the February Revolution, and the Tsar’s abdication. The family’s time in the Alexander Palace under house arrest, their exile in Siberia, and, finally, their death are illustrated by objects and materials that they took with them and were recovered during the investigation of their murder. While the family’s quality of life deteriorated and material possessions steadily diminished, their ideals and core values of faith, family, and service to the fatherland remained constant until the end. The exhibition concludes with the murder’s aftermath and the memorialization of these historic events.

Drawn from the rich museum, archival and library collections of the Russian History Foundation, the exhibition highlights the unique objects and documents collected by Nikolai Sokolov during the 1918-1919 investigation of the royal family’s murder. The Foundation’s artefacts are supplemented by loans from a dozen U.S. collections, which range from splendid coronation gifts and luxurious objets d’art by Fabergé to modest personal effects found during Sokolov’s investigation. After being dispersed for a century, these objects are brought together, many of them displayed for the first time. The exhibition is also the first to publicly present recent findings of a DNA analysis conducted by the FBI that shed light upon the ongoing investigation into the identification of the remains of Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and their faithful attendants.

The exhibition will be on view until March 8, 2019. For information on hours and admission, please visit the Russian History Foundation website: http://www.russianhistoryfoundation.org/

 


Official website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
© 2019 Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
Republication or retransmission of materials must include the reference: "The Official Website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia."
E-mail for technical information: englishwebmaster@russianorthodoxchurch.ws E-mail for content information: englishinfo@russianorthodoxchurch.ws