Religious Procession in Kursk Governorate disenfranchised members of Russian society are represented by, amongst others, the old and young peasants in the left foreground (serfdom in Russia had been abolished in 1861). The painting was bought by the leading collector Pavel Tretyakov for a record 10,000 roubles, but Tretyakov wanted Repin to replace the maids carrying the empty icon-case with "a beautiful young girl, exuding spiritual rapture". Repin refused. Tretyakov's large collection was opened as a museum in his lifetime, and is now the much augmented, state-run Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Religious Procession in Kursk Governorate The procession is led through a dusty landscape by
What I Was What I Was What I Was is Meg Rosoff's third novel for young adults. The book was published in 2007, and was shortlisted for both the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. "What I Was" tells the story of a secret friendship between two teenagers, one an unhappy public schoolboy and the other living an independent and isolated life on the beach near the school. It is set on the East Anglian coast in 1962. The book is framed as the reminiscence of an old man recalling the year he discovered love. It is written as a first-person