Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS) Anna Pavlova in 'The Pharaoh's Daughter' ballet
Public domain, color by Klimbim
Archive black and white photos taken even before the 1917 Revolution are now experiencing a rebirth after an artist painted them in colors.

Artist Olga Shirnina nicknamed ‘Klimbim’ on the Russian Internet adds color all kinds of different archive photos: from Romanov family members portraits to portraits of great Russian writers and World War II heroes. In her works, these people seem to revive, become incredibly alive - and sometimes look directly into a viewer’s eyes.

Here are a few select portraits of the most beautiful women of the Russian Empire.

1. Ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

2. Matilda Kshesinskaya

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

3. Ballerina Anna Pavlova and her pets

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

4. Anna Pavlova in the costume of Swan Lake ballet

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

5. Revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

6. Singer Anastasia Vyaltseva

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

7. Ballerina Agrippina Vaganova

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

8. Countess Sofya Vyazemskaya

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

9. Writer and translator Elizaveta Kologrivova

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

10. Ballerina Tamara Karsavina

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

11. Actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Sputnik; Public domain, color by Klimbim

12. Revolutionary, journalist and poet Larissa Reissner

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

13. Silent movie star Vera Kholodnaya

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

14. A fashionable lady from Tver Region, 1900s

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

15. A student of the Institute of Noble Maidens in St. Petersburg

Now in color: Russian beauties of tsarist times (PHOTOS)
Public domain, color by Klimbim

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