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
Lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Court of Russia Lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Court of Russia A lady-in-waiting of the Imperial Russian Court ("придворные дамы") was a woman of high aristocracy at the service of a woman of the Imperial family. They were organised according to the strict hierarchy of Peter the Great's table of ranks, following the woman's "chin" (rank) established on January 24, 1722. All the ancient occupations of the women at the Court of Russia, traditionally held by "boyarynias" (wives of "boyars"), nurses, housekeepers, servants, nannies etc., were abolished and replaced by a new hierarchy inspired by Versailles Court's etiquette and German models, although many Muscovite