The state’s crime was “beyond measure”; they had killed defenseless people, many more than those that lay there “tossed in a hole without any respect, like animals.” But “neither you nor I nor anyone capable of feeling will allow their sacrifice to be made in vain. They fell, but their deaths will be the beginning of the end for this corrupt regime. Vladimir, there are children here, women, and the elderly too. Do you see? They want to make Russia a slaughterhouse. They eat, drink, and cele brate, paying for their luxuries with the lives of our people. They’ll turn all of Russia into a common grave. Enough! No more! No more!”

“You and I, Vladimir, what we should be doing is eating the rich. Let’s go eat the rich!”

33. The Reason for the Proposed Purchase

33. The Reason for the Proposed Purchase

It wasn’t the caliber of the painting or the notoriety of its subject that prompted the portrait’s inclusion in the imperial collection. The painter has become wildly popular and acquired immense prestige. He’s esteemed by friends and enemies alike. It’s only natural that they’d be scouring the earth and the heavens for more of his work.

This sudden wave of interest in the artist was started by another Mikhailov, a somewhat high-ranking functionary in the Special Corps (formerly the Okhrana, or secret police), the son and sole heir of Mikhailov the artist. He’s the one who’s been pulling strings to create interest in his father’s work, with the sole intention of elevating its price. That’s why he’s been instigating the acquisition of some of his paintings, and that’s how the portrait of Anna Karenina came to receive so much attention. When all is said and done, the son is a good policeman, but not a reader—he hasn’t read Anna Karenina, not a single one of Tolstoy’s works (this is worth mentioning in passing, though it’s not a critical point); in general, he doesn’t give a damn when it comes to art in any form. His wallet, on the other hand …

But the things Mikhailov has done out of greed, are they the reason for the wild enthusiasm of the renowned museum director and his pair of critics? Have they been influenced by the wave of popularity the artist’s work is enjoying? Have they been swayed by the market? If that were the case, how could we explain the fact that the director’s good-hearted wife, Ekaterina Dmitrievna, melted like snow in the sun when she set eyes on the canvas?