The portrait of Emperor Alexander II, on display in the exhibition “Merchant’s Study”, was painted by the Astrakhan artist Alexander Yurievich Davitiyan. The painting was inspired by a portrait by the artist Ivan Alekseevich Tyurin.

The tradition of displaying portraits of the monarchs in public places and in offices was established in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. This custom was promoted by the local elite, which in Astrakhan were represented by merchants of the first guild. The merchant Grigory Vasilyevich Tetyushinov, one of the brightest representatives of this group, was among the delegates who in 1871 welcomed Emperor Alexander II during his visit to the city of Astrakhan.

The son of Nicholas I and heir to the throne, Alexander II was Emperor of Russia from 1855 to 1881. The reign of Alexander II was marked by an era of large-scale reforms: beginning with the abolition of military settlements in 1857 to the abolition of serfdom in 1861 and military reform in 1874.

The work and personality of the tsar received ambiguous assessments during his lifetime. Radical groups were dissatisfied with his controversial policies. Alexander II survived six assassination attempts, the seventh in 1881 was fatal for him.

During his life Alexander Nikolayevich traveled a lot: in 1837 he visited 29 provinces of the European part of Russia, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia, in 1838–1839 he traveled around Europe. In 1871 the emperor visited Astrakhan during his trip to the Caucasus.

It was an exceptional event for the city’s residents — the first visit of the reigning monarch since Peter the Great came to the city in 1722. In Astrakhan Alexander II had meetings with representatives of peasantry, Cossacks, Mangyshlak Turkmens, Persians and Kirghiz people, paid visits to women’s and men’s gymnasiums, Orthodox and Armenian cathedrals, Tatar and Persian mosques. The august guest also visited the theater in the “Hermitage” garden, the port, and the industrial and agricultural exhibition of local products.

Alexander II enjoyed great popularity with the peasants, who were the most numerous class in the Russian Empire at that time. In honor of the emperor’s arrival in Astrakhan, a public garden was laid near the southern wall of the Kremlin, which was soon named Alexandrovsky Boulevard.