Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova was one of the most significant Soviet Russian poets of the 20th Century. She faced various challenges throughout her life, such as her work being banned in 1925 and again after WWII. Yet, she faced these challenges with beauty and courage through her poems. This portrait was created by Kuzman Petrov-Vodkin, an important Soviet Russian painter and Akmatova's contemporary. He used darker colors and paid special attention to detail in his paintings. In the figure in the background of the portrait seems to allude to an angelic, religious figure indicating that Akhmatova was being protected by a heavenly source.