Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich was the second son and heir of Tsar Alexis of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya, brother of Tsar Feodor III, Tsar Ivan V, and Tsarevna Sophia and half-brother of Tsar Peter t
Sophia Alekseyevna was a Russian princess who ruled as regent of Russia from 1682 to 1689. She allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, to install hers
Portrait, 1680s
Ilya Repin's 1879 painting portrays Sophia after her fall from power, confined to a cell in the Novodevichy Convent. Also in the painting, outside the window, a hanging Strelets shows the fate of those who sought to reinstate her.