This image depicts the Third Duma, the representative legislative body of the Russian Empire elected in late 1907, in the person of its chariman Nikolai Khomiakov (1850-1925). Khomiakov’s left hand hidden behind his back suggests the weakness of the left wing of the Duma, while the right wing’s power is shown by his oversize right hand curled into in a threatening fist. A poem accompanying the text refers to the Duma’s right-wing majority as “oxes,” “ravens,” and “vultures.” We should assume that these epithets refer to the Octobrist party, which was the largest in the Third Duma with around one-third of the deputies.

Image: The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia